Meetings Of UCLG Africa Governing Bodies -Executive Committee And Panafrican Council Of UCLG Africa : Preparation Of The Elective General Assembly And Climate Challenges At The Heart Of The Proceedings
On Monday, December 13, 2021, the 26th session of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa took place in Rabat, followed in the afternoon by the annual session of the Pan-African Council.
The two meetings were chaired by Ms. Christine Mba Ndutume Mihindou, President of UCLG Africa and Mayor of Libreville, Gabon.
The opening of the Executive Committee was punctuated by speeches by Ms. Asmaa Rhlalou, Mayor of Rabat, His Excellency Mahmoud Shaarawy, Minister of Local Development of Egypt, General Khaled Abdel Al Aal, Governor of Cairo and Ms. Christine Mba Ndutume Mihindou, President of UCLG Africa.
” As the first woman elected mayor of the Moroccan capital city, I would have liked this meeting to be held face-to-face so that you can discover the achievements and projects that His Majesty Mohammed VI has launched through the project of Rabat, City of lights, Cultural capital of Morocco. I hope that this meeting, even at a distance, will also be an opportunity for an exchange of expertise and an efficient implementation of the decentralized cooperation that our organization UCLG Africa seeks to establish ”, declared Mrs. Asmaa Rhlalou.
The Minister of Local Development of Egypt welcomed the operationalization of the regional office for North Africa of UCLG Africa. “In Egypt, we had the honor to host the face-to-face 25 th Session of the Executive Committee in June. We were able to be received by the Prime Minister of Egypt and inaugurate the UCLG Africa regional office for North Africa in Cairo. This Regional Office is now operational. He has established contacts with local governments in the region and with international partners in order to support the organization’s strategy of addressing all the challenges faced by our African cities in terms of economic and urban development and their social and public health extension in terms of upgrading the infrastructure of our African cities. All these challenges, which mostly involve the local level, are exacerbated by the climate and health crisis“, said His Excellency Mahmoud Shaarawy, Minister of Local development of Egypt.
The Governor of Cairo, General Khaled Abdel Al Aal, reaffirmed his full support for the organization of the next Africities 9 summit scheduled to be held in Kisumu, Kenya from May 17 to 21, 2022. “We are mobilizing for a massive participation of cities from North Africa at this great meeting. We promise you that our organization UCLG Africa will also have a strong presence at the COP 27 that Egypt will host in 2022 in the city of Sharm-el-Sheikh. In view of the preparation of COP 27, we are counting on a strong involvement of UCLG Africa’s North Africa Regional Office (NARO). We will make every effort and offer every opportunity to enable this NARO office to accomplish its work and be an African platform for the achievement of the goals and ambitions of our organization, and to promote the establishment of partnership agreements. between our communities” , added the Governor of Cairo.
At the conclusion of the speeches, the President of UCLG Africa, Ms. Christine Mba Ndutume Mihindou , expressed her gratitude to her peers. “ Thank you for having chosen me as president of UCLG Africa. I renew my commitment to serve the organization and to mobilize all energies so that we can together meet the challenges of African local governments. I take this opportunity to renew my thanks to His Majesty King Mohammed VI for the constant support He has always given to our organization ”, declared Mrs. Ndutume, before urging elected officials to mobilize for the major meetings that will take place in 2022.
” Dear colleagues, I am counting on your support to accomplish the exhilarating task of presiding our continental organization of local governments, at a time when (our organization) must ensure that the local authorities of Africa play their role during the major events that will take place in 2022, namely : the celebration of Rabat, African Capital of Culture, the launch of which should take place on January 24, 2022 ; the Round Table of Mayors on African participation in Water Governance, within the framework of the 9th World Water Forum scheduled to take place from March 22 to March 26, 2022 in Dakar, Senegal ; the 9th edition of the Africities Summit to be held from May 17 to May 21, 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya, during which the elective General Assembly of UCLG Africa will take place intended to elect the members to serve in the bodies of our organization ; 7th UCLG World Congress to be held from October 10 to October 14, 2022 in Daejeon, South Korea ; and the COP27 scheduled to take place in Egypt in November 2022. We must ensure a physical presence of the greatest number of our members at these various events, and I am counting on you to mobilize them in the different regions of the continent. I also wish to inform the members of the Executive Committee that the process of starting and signing the headquarters agreement of the UCLG Africa Regional Office for Central Africa is underway in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Mr. Ali Bongo Ondimba ”.
Proceedings
The Executive Committee approved the activity report of the General Secretariat for the period ranging from June to November 2021 and adopted the budget and the 2022 work plan of UCLG Africa. The Executive Committee also adopted a new scale of membership fees. The Executive Committee requested that the said membership fees be considered as a compulsory expenditure voted in the budgets of local authorities and national associations. The Executive Committee also resolved that a Memorandum of Understanding be established and signed between each national association of local authorities and the General Secretariat of UCLG Africa to clearly delimit the rights and duties of each party. These MOUs must have been signed before the UCLG Africa General Assembly to be held on May 20, 2023, in Kisumu, Kenya.
The members of the Executive Committee and of the Pan-African Council received the report of the activities implemented by the Secretariat during the year 2021.
The following elements were particularly highlighted : the organization of the regional caucuses of Central and North Africa in preparation for the elective General Assembly of May 22, 2022 in Kisumu, the other caucuses of East Africa, of West Africa, and Southern Africa to be held in the first quarter of 2022, before the end of February 2022 ; the renewal of the strategic partnership with the European Commission ; the successful participation of the UCLG Africa delegation led by the President of UCLG Africa at COP 26 in Glasgow marked by the signing of a partnership agreement with the Global Center for Adaptation (GCA) ; working meetings with the Minister of Water and Forests of Ivory Coast ; the Minister of the Environment of Gabon ; the Minister of the Environment of Egypt ; the Minister of the Environment of Togo ; the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Environment of Morocco ; the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) ; the Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) ; the Africa Director of the Green Climate Fund ; the Delegation of the United States of America ; the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ; and the organization, animation and participation in numerous special events (side events). The period was also marked by the signing of numerous agreements with the Department of Public Institutions and Digital Governance (DIPGD, UNDESA); the Green Climate Fund; the International Institute of Governance (IIG, Morocco); 01 Talent, and the “Equal Partnerships – African Intermediary / Secondary Cities as Actors and Partners in Urban Migration Governance” program.
Other highlights of the period were the launch in Abidjan on November 30, 2021, at the initiative of Ms. Macoura Dao Coulibaly, President of the Network of Locally Elected Women of Africa (REFELA) and as part of the campaign for African cities without street children, from the countryside of Ivorian towns without children living in the street, in the presence of the First Lady of Côte d’Ivoire, Mrs. Dominique Ouattara ; as well as the inauguration within the framework of the Dakar campaign without children living in the street, of the “House of Children” (“Maison de l’Enfance”), at the initiative of Mrs. Soham El Wardini , Mayor of Dakar, Vice-President of UCLG Africa for West Africa; and the preparation of the celebration of Rabat, African Capital of Culture.
The Executive Committee and the Pan-African Council have also adopted the 2022 work plan and budget of UCLG Africa.
The members of UCLG Africa were invited to attend the following future events in large numbers in 2022:
– Launch of the celebration of Rabat, African Capital of Culture on January 24, 2022, coinciding with the World Day of African and Afro-descendant Culture of UNESCO ;
– The African Union (AU) – European Union (EU) Forum of Leaders and Elected Officials of Local and Regional Governments which will take place on February 15, 2022, in Brussels, Belgium, within the framework of the AU-EU Summit of Heads of State and Government;
– The Round Table of Mayors at the World Water Forum to be held in Dakar, Senegal, from March 22 to March 26, 2022;
– The Africities Summit scheduled for May 17-21, 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya, during which on May 20, 2022, the general assembly of UCLG Africa will renew the members of the governing bodies of the organization ; and during which all will be announced the name of the next African Capital of Culture to be celebrated in 2023 and 2024 (the cities of Kinshasa and Kigali have already applied) ;
– The UCLG World Congress to be held in Daejeon, South Korea, during which the members of UCLG bodies will be elected;
– The Forum of Mayors and Territorial Authorities planned within the framework of the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) which will take place in Sharm-Al-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2022.
For further information please contact:
Gaëlle Yomi: Phone + 212 610 56 71 45
E-mail : gyomi@uclga.org