The Third World Forum of Intermediary Cities sets our Constituency on the path towards #COP30
United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)
UCLG represents and defends the interests of local and regional governments on the world stage. Headquarters: Barcelona.
Welcome to your update on UCLG’s efforts to amplify the voice of local and regional governments in global discussions!
Third World Forum of Intermediary Cities in Cuenca
We, the intermediary cities of the world, gathered at the Third UCLG World Forum of Intermediary Cities in Cuenca on 23-24 January 2025, diverse in our representation yet unified in purpose, believe that the collective agenda of the World Forum, its added value in creating citizenships of wellbeing, and the governance of proximity that enshrines the rights of our communities and a fulfilling life is an opportunity against unrest, inequalities and to build peace. This understanding of wellbeing is not exclusive to the larger urban areas, but rather found within intermediary cities and their territories.
Recognize that strategies developed in Intermediary Cities like the municipality of Cuenca, as well as the Ecuadorian Declaration of Intermediary Cities, with the inclusion of citizens’ security, climate change related agendas and finances, have been an inspiration to the results of this World Forum: with and through the participatory mechanisms generated by the municipalities:
- Citizenship in Intermediary Cities must be empowered to become territorial entrepreneurs of social and climate justice.
- Responsible citizenship involves exercising the right to fully support municipalities in their pursuit of socially and ecologically sustainable territories.
- Citizenship should actively be involved in the solution-making and policymaking processes within municipalities.
We, the leaders and partners of Intermediary Cities, commit to creating enabling conditions to achieve these objectives, by:
Read our statement here.
COP16 in Riyadh
On December 6, during Governance Day at COP16 in Riyadh, local and regional governments took center stage in the fight against Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought (DLDD). Through the Global Taskforce, coordinated by UCLG in partnership with ICLEI , a delegation of 30 mayors and leaders participated in key discussions, emphasizing their frontline role in addressing these pressing issues.
The Global Taskforce High-Level Working Session brought together local leaders and global partners, including UNECE/FAO Forests , UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) , and the World Economic Forum , to discuss immediate, locally driven actions. Leaders from affected regions shared their challenges and committed to a unified response, resulting in the Call for Engagement —a pledge to strengthen local contributions to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification process. Additionally, the Riyadh Process for Local and Regional Governments was proposed to institutionalize local leadership in addressing DLDD.
The Mayors’ Forum facilitated discussions on land and water management, with high-level participation from the COP16 President, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Water, Environment, and Agriculture, and UCLG leaders. The event reinforced the need for multilevel governance, stronger financing, and sustained recovery mechanisms to combat land degradation and climate threats.
While local governments are increasingly recognized in global discussions, their full integration into UN frameworks remains a challenge. Leaders at COP16 stressed that local action is essential for tackling climate change, gender inequality, and food security, ensuring sustainable and community-driven solutions.
The Call for Engagement invites cities worldwide to collaborate with the UNCCD, strengthening local involvement in designing and implementing DLDD solutions. The Riyadh Process sets a roadmap for long-term cooperation, aligning with the UN Pact for the Future and reinforcing the role of local governments as key partners in global sustainability efforts.
Read more here.
4th Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination by UNESCO
On Human Rights Day, during the 4th UNESCO Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination hosted by Barcelona City Council , our Secretary General participated as a panelist in the session “Cities as Catalysts: Mayoral Strategies for Inclusive Urban Policies.” The session highlighted the vital role of local and regional governments in creating inclusive policies, engaging communities, and driving grassroots initiatives for meaningful change. LRGs worldwide are working together to develop innovative solutions to combat racism and discrimination.
On the second day of the event, our ASG of Partnerships, Pablo Fernández Marmissolle-Daguerre , emphasized that the current lack of trust in institutions lies not only in issues with public service delivery but also in the normalization of discrimination as a means to access public decision-making roles.
During the event, our World Organization joined the Global Alliance against Racism and Discrimination to take collective action to combat racism and discrimination in cities and communities all around the world.
Read more here.
Webinar Food Security Dialogues: local initiatives in focus
Food security is a pressing global challenge, and local and regional governments play a pivotal role in addressing it. For the past two years, UCLG has made food systems a priority, aligning with its Pact for the Future and the UN 2030 Agenda. In partnership with the Ministère des Affaires étrangères français and the NGO Let's Food , UCLG has been supporting local authorities in developing innovative responses to improve food security and strengthen sustainable food systems.
As part of this ongoing effort, UCLG recently organized a webinar to explore concrete local solutions to food insecurity. This event built upon the findings of the 2023 publication Rising to the Challenge of Food Insecurity: Initiatives by Local and Regional Governments and aimed to foster peer learning among cities. The discussions and testimonials also contributed to the development of a forthcoming MOOC on food security, to be hosted on the LearningWithUCLG platform.
The webinar highlighted inspiring initiatives from various local governments. In Chefchaouen, Morocco, the municipality promotes food sovereignty through cooperatives supporting female producers and advocating for the Mediterranean diet. Mohamed Sefiani , Mayor of Chefchaouen and UCLG’s Special Envoy on Food Systems, emphasized the importance of territorialized food strategies. In Senegal, Fatou Ndoye, representative of the Rufisque Department, showcased the SADMAR project, a program ensuring access to healthy food for school children, reflecting the crucial link between nutrition and education. In France, Salima Djidel , Vice-President of Grenoble-Alpes Métropole in charge of health, strategy, and food security, presented the city’s pioneering experiment with sécurité sociale alimentaire, a solidarity-based food security approach designed to guarantee equitable access to quality food.
Through these experiences, the webinar reinforced three key takeaways: local governments are central to the transformation of food systems; partnerships—both local and international—are essential to building sustainable strategies; and cooperation among territories amplifies impact, fostering the replication of successful initiatives. UCLG, as a member of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), will continue to strengthen its engagement on this critical issue, ensuring that local action contributes to global food security solutions.
Read the full publication here.
WYDE - FEE: Empowering Local Women Leaders: Priorities for Political Participation and Social Transformation
On 31 January 2025, under the umbrella of the WYDE Women’s Leadership initiative, mayors, local elected women and their networks and teams from across the globe met to set the key priorities of the political agenda of the Feminist Municipalist Movement for 2025 and beyond, including #CSW69 and the commemoration of Beijing+30.
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Over 100 participants - women and men mayors and local leaders, elected representatives, their teams, UCLG sections, and #WYDE partners - were reunited online last Friday, 31 January 2025, to discuss the current state of, remaining challenges, and steps to be taken for gender equality agendas to be met, including ODD5 and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Under the WYDE Women’s Leadership initiative, framed by UN Women and co-funded by the European Union , this two-hour online consultation aimed at facilitating joint reflection and discussion with networks of locally elected women, through an Future Envisioning Exercise with networks of locally elected women entitled “Empowering Local Women Leaders: Priorities for Political Participation and Social Transformation”. It allowed identifying and reflecting on priorities of the Feminist Municipal Movement for capacity-building, transforming social norms and overall contribution to Beijing+30 review process and commemoration. The outcomes of the consultation also contributed to the WYDE Expert Group Meeting and framework on social norms on women’s political participation led by UN Women.
More specifically, the session permitted to share information on the participation of UCLG to the WYDE Women’s Leadership initiative, including the objectives of the programme and a roadmap for upcoming activities including the mobilisation of the LRG constituency to the 69th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) to be celebrated from 10 to 21 March 2025 and the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Action Platform. It also explored local strategies aiming at transforming social norms for women’s engagement in political and public life at the local level, and to collectively define capacity-building priorities for local women leadership through a large consultation process.
Those discussions and contributions will directly feed the agenda of the Feminist Municipal Movement for 2025 and beyond, including in the mobilisation for the 69th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69), the celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Action Platform, and the UN Women Expert Group Meeting for the elaboration of a global framework on social norms and women political participation. This Future Envisioning Exercise paves the way to equality and the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals, around a strong, globally shared feminist agenda for equality and care, strategically aligning with UCLG Pact for the Future for Humanity, and contributing to the UCLG Local Social Covenant.
Read more here.
#Culture2030Goal Roadmap 2025: Developing a Culture Goal
The #Culture2030Goal campaign, led by a group of international networks that include UCLG, has recently published a Roadmap for 2025 towards developing a Culture Goal for current and future global sustainable development agendas and frameworks.
The roadmap is designed to create the conditions in which a draft Culture Goal could be discussed by Mondiacult 2025 (to be held in Barcelona in September 2025), possibly extending to a commitment to use it as a basis for future intergovernmental consideration. It builds on preliminary exchanges within the Campaign and with a broader group of stakeholders between October and December 2024 and takes account both of the views expressed and of the resources mobilised, committed, or indicated as potentially made available by participants in these preliminary exchanges.
Read more here.
Empowering Local Women Leaders: Priorities for Political Participation and Social Transformation
UCLG Contributes to the Connective Cities Dialogue on Sustainability Reporting,VLRs and VSRs
UCLG actively participated in the Connective Cities dialogue event on "Sustainability Reporting and Voluntary Local Reviews" (VLRs), hosted by the Association of German Cities in early December. This event gathered practitioners, experts and decision-makers from cities and local government associations worldwide, including city representatives from Germany and the Global South. With a thematic focus on VLRs, VSRs and sustainable development, participants shared best practices and lessons learned to strengthen local implementation of the 2030 Agenda. UCLG, through its Head of Research Anna Calvete Moreno, brought the unique perspective of a global advocacy network, emphasizing the critical role of localization and public services in achieving the SDGs and advocating for a more enabling environment for local governments’ action.
The dialogue, marking the first of four planned Connective Cities events for 2024-2025, served as a platform for interactive exchanges on integrating VLRs and VSRs into national reporting; fostering collaboration between local governments and their associations, networks and partners; leveraging international arenas such as the High-Level Political Forum for Sustainable Development to foster SDG acceleration; and enhancing communication with citizens to leverage sustainability reporting in decision-making. UCLG underscored its long-standing commitment to supporting members in localizing the SDGs and reaffirmed its dedication to enriching the global municipalist movement. The event concluded with actionable insights and a shared vision for jointly advancing sustainability localization and reporting, as well as celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Connective Cities platform, a deep-rooted UCLG partner.
Next on the agenda!
Our yearly Retreat in February under the theme “Local Government and YOUTH shaping the future”
Under the slogan Local governments and YOUTH shaping the FUTURE, this edition will take place from February 17-21 and is designed to put youth perspectives at the center of local action and encourage intergenerational dialogue to shape policies for the World Summit for Social Development and the Countdown to 2030. By bringing together different generations and viewpoints, we aim to rethink essential priorities and strengthen our ability to tackle today’s challenges.
Our yearly Retreat is a unique opportunity for the municipal movement to reaffirm its belief in democracy as a force for building fair and inclusive societies.
Find the detailed program here.
Upcoming online course "Accelerating the SDGs Localization"
We’re launching the 2025 moderated online course "Accelerating the Localization of the SDGs”!
What’s in it for you?
- Practical tools for local & regional governments (LRGs) and their associations to plan, implement, and track the SDGs.
- Real-life experiences, challenges & best practices in SDG localization.
- A 5-month course (72 hours of learning).
- Based on UCLG’s Learning Modules 1, 2 & 3, developed with key global partners.
- Designed for technical experts & policymakers working on decentralized cooperation & the 2030 Agenda.
How does it work?
- Engage in online discussions & mentoring webinars.
- Complete exercises & quizzes.
- Earn a certificate upon successful completion!
Apply here before March 3rd!