The 4th Global Report on Local Democracy and Decentralization, GOLD IV, was presented in Bogotá on Saturday, October 15, at the opening of the last day of the 5th World Congress of UCLG. Elected local leaders, academics and experts took the floor to present the publication, its contents and its scope. Since 2008, the GOLD reports have grown into a landmark publication and a reference worldwide for the study of the most pressing issues affecting and driving the decision of local governments around the world. GOLD IV, in particular, addresses the challenges and opportunities that local and regional governments faces for the implementation of the new global development agendas and, particularly, the SDGs, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the New Urban Agenda.
UCLG Secretary General, Josep Roig, moderated the debate, which included interventions by Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montréal and President of Metropolis; Patrick Jarry, Mayor of Nanterre, a peripheral city embedded in the metropolitan area of Paris; Mohammed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen (Morocco), who highlighted the role collaborative intermediary cities can play in territorial cohesion; Josep Lluís Alay, Commissioner for International Relations of the Province of Barcelona; and Brian Roberts, Emeritus Professor at the University of Canberra and a contributor to the report.
The session was closed by the strong remarks of Edgar Pieterse, Director of the African Centre for Cities, who contributed to the GOLD IV conclusions and made a heartfelt call for integration, development, cooperation and innovation of cities worldwide. The GOLD IV Report brought this agenda forward in its final recommendations, proposing an Agenda of Local and Regional Governments for Habitat III and Beyond: the Agenda gathers a number of messages, recommendations and proposals to inspire local governments as they approach the serious challenges of the urban future for the next decades.
The GOLD IV Report will also be presented in the diverse, comprehensive and inspiring venue of Habitat III, the global conference on human settlements and development. On Monday, October 17, at 3PM, a launch session for the Report will be held at the Habitat III Urban Library, on Floor F2 of the Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana, the venue of the conference. Another session will take place at the Local Authorities Lounge, on Tuesday 18, at 2PM, hosted by the Global Taskforce. Speakers at both events will include Rudiger Ahrend (OECD); Denis Coderre; Mercé Conesa (President of the Province of Barcelona); Jean-Pierre Elong Mbassi (Secretary General of UCLG Africa); Eduardo Moreno (UN-Habitat); and Frédéric Vallier (Secretary General of CCRE-CEMR).
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