UCLG Retreat: UCLG Africa’s Priorities in the Global Agenda
From February 15 to February 22, 2021, UCLG Africa took part in the seventh edition of the annual retreat of the world organization of Local and Regional Governments (United Cities and Local Governments, UCLG).
The second day of the seminar under the theme of “UCLG: A Global Community that Cares” had the Africa chapter moderate the first plenary.
The goal was to share with the great UCLG family ideas and points of view on Africa’s priorities on the global agenda of local authorities.
During his speech, the Secretary General of UCLG Africa, Mr. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, paid tribute to the late Mr. Kadir Topaz, former mayor of Istanbul and president of UCLG (2010-2016), who died on February 13, 2021. Mr. Mbassi also reaffirmed his desire that all activities of UCLG Africa be turned towards the future and aligned with the Pact for the Future, supported by the world organization UCLG.
Ms. Rahmatouca Sow, Advisor for International Relations and Political Affairs of UCLG Africa, presented the work plan of the organization focused on the renewal of its strategic priorities, with the aim of making UCLG Africa a “one stop shop” for Local Africa over the 2021-2030 decade (GADEPPA 2.0).
The new strategic orientation includes 3 pillars (Advocacy and mobilization for decentralization, Capacity and knowledge management of local authorities and National Associations, Access to funding and Technical assistance of local authorities and their associations) and fundamentals that ensure the institutional development of UCLG Africa.
These pillars are anchored around 7 priority themes that will enable African local and regional authorities to implement the African Union’s Agenda 2063, the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 and other global development agendas. In this new approach, the regional offices of UCLG Africa will occupy a central place for an offer of local services to members. These themes are: 1- Local Economy and Finance, 2- Gender and youth 3- Climate, biodiversity and food systems 4- Basic services and localization of SDGs, 5-Migration, 6-Culture, 7- Peace and security.
The state of play of preparations for the Africities 9 summit (April 26-30, 2022, Kisumu-Kenya) was also presented during the session.
The question-and-answer session allowed other partners such as UNDP to appreciate the new vision of UCLG Africa and to consider a more systematic collaboration with the organization.
In addition to this session moderated by UCLG Africa, the staff of the organization participated in several other panels organized as part of the annual UCLG retreat.
For more information on the annual UCLG seminar, click here.
