Over 300 members of UCLG from over 40 countries around the world are expected to participate in the UCLG World Council, taking place in Dakar (Senegal) on 4-6 December 2012, at the kind invitation of Khalifa Sall, Mayor of Dakar.
Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul (Turkey) and President of UCLG, Muchadeyi Masunda, Mayor of Harare (Zimbabwe), Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan (Russia) and Co-Presidents of UCLG, will chair the UCLG Executive Bureau and World Council meetings. Numerous representatives from all five continents, most notably from Africa, will be present.Wolfgang Schüster, Mayor of Stuttgart (Germany), Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of Paris (France), Fatallah Oualalou, Mayor of Rabat (Morocco), and Presidents of national associations of local governments from Canada, Cambodia, Scotland, France, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal and Sweden have also confirmed their presence.
Local and regional leaders will concentrate their works on the preparation of Habitat III and their contribution to the post 2015 international development agenda: basic services, equality, local development. The position of local and regional governments is essential in the definition of a new urban agenda. Two plenary sessions will take place on these topics, with the participation of UCLG partners, including Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, and representatives from the World Bank, Cities Alliance and the European Commission. The UCLG Committees and Working Groups will meet on 4 and 5 December.
This event is organized in parallel with the Africities Summit, that will take place on 4-8 December, welcoming 5000 participants, and will be centered on the topic: “Building Africa from its Territories: What challenges for the local governments?“
The first World Forum of Regions will take place on 4 December, organized jointly by United Cities and Local Governments (CGLU) and Regions United – FOGAR (ORU-FOGAR), bringing together representatives from regional authorities from all corners of the world. The World Forum of Regions in Dakar will gather Presidents of regions, local elected representatives and their partners, and will be a unique occasion to exchange between elected representatives and draft a shared roadmap to increase influence in the coming international agenda, in particular in the preparation of Habitat III and in the negotiation process for the Post 2015 Millennium Objectives and the future Sustainable Development Objectives.