Circular
15/2020
Barcelona, 8 July 2020
To the members of UCLG
To the Secretaries General
To the Vice-Presidents of United Cities and Local Governments
To the Chairs of UCLG Committees, Working Groups, Communities of Practice and Fora
For information: To the Presidency
Call for participation in the UCLG Consultation Mechanisms
Deadline: 25 September 2020
Dear members,
As you know, the Executive Bureau agreed in May this year to launch a call for participation in the UCLG Consultation Mechanisms.
Context
Since their creation, the work developed by Committees and Working Groups has always significantly contributed to the work of the UCLG network as a whole. The achievements seen since their inception have been great, and those same achievements and lessons learnt allow us to move ahead and reflect on the progress made in fostering the upscaling of practices, and to define a strategy that lead us to develop a new narrative for our movement.
The Consultation mechanisms, including their composition, leadership and focus are renewed by the World Council. Taking into account the renewed leadership of the World Organization and up-dated work plan following the Durban Congress, a call for participation is now launched until the end of September.
Committees
The Committees are organized groups of local government members represented by politicians that get together to work on a specific policy area. They have a dedicated Secretariat and a group of members coming from all Sections of the organization. They report to the World Council, in close coordination with the Policy Councils.
The Committees develop background on specific policy areas that can serve as bases for formal policy positions to be adopted by the governing bodies of the World Organization. These policies must be embedded in the thematic areas defined by the Executive Bureau and the framework of the strategic priorities for the period in progress. Committees are further able to convene meetings among members and promote the implementation of programmes related to their policy area. The results of their work shall be presented to the UCLG Policy Councils for further recommendation to the UCLG Governing Bodies.
There are currently four thematic Committees:
Given the international context and in view of requests of members, it is suggested that a Health Committee is established building on the community that has been shaped in the past months during the pandemic.
Working Groups
The Working Groups gather practitioners with specific skills and expertise that are mobilized around specific topics and projects.
Working Groups aim to implement joint actions and support the implementation of specific parts of UCLG’s core programme. Their activities and reporting are included in the general UCLG work plan and reporting to the World Council.
The local government members of Working Groups may be represented by advisors – with or without a political mandate. The activities of the Working Groups shall be monitored by a political representative member of the Policy Council.
There are currently two permanent Working Groups:
Fora
The Fora are consultation and policy development processes that culminate in an event every two years. They focus on a specific constituency or topic.
Fora aim to gather political representatives of a specific constituency of the membership. Fora may also gather political representatives around a specific topic of critical importance for the agenda of the organization. The Fora should produce policy guidance related to the constituency represented therein and should foster visibility for the issue concerned.
Fora processes are led by a member and supported by a reduced group of members from different regions. Fora-related activities will be included in the annual general UCLG work plan presented to the World Council.
There are currently three Fora:
Communities of Practice
The Communities of Practice are groups of local government members of UCLG represented by technical staff and practitioners convened at the initiative of a UCLG member around a specific topic.
Communities of Practice call learning meetings, suggest studies or programmes and contribute to the different parts of the UCLG network, informing on specific topics. Communities of Practice can develop groundwork for Committees or Policy Councils in close collaboration with the World Secretariat. They report annually to the Policy Councils.
There are currently nine Communities of Practice:
[For more information on how these mechanisms work, you can read the Terms of Reference adopted by the Executive Bureau in Madrid in 2017]
How to express your interest in participating in the UCLG Consultation Mechanisms
Should you be interested in becoming a member of one or several Consultation Mechanisms, we invite you to fill in the online form by 25 September at the latest.
If you are already involved in a Consultation Mechanism and wish to continue your work, we kindly ask you to also fill in the online form, to make sure your contact details are properly up-dated. You can also do this by writing directly to the secretariats of your Consultation Mechanisms.
Next steps
- All the expressions of interest received will be shared with the technical secretariats of the different Consultation Mechanisms.
- The renewed membership and up-dated priorities of the Consultation Mechanisms will be presented to the World Council in November.
Should you have any questions on the process, the statutory affairs team remains at your disposal at the following email: UCLGExBu@uclg.org.
Sincerely,
The UCLG World Secretariat
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