In less than six months the major Habitat III summit will take place, which will take stock of urban trends and how to deal with the challenges and opportunities of urbanization. What do you need to know as CIB member concerning this summit and opportunities to contribute to the process?
First of all, you need to know that our World Organization UCLG is facilitating the inputs of local and regional governments through the Global Taskforce that gathers all active networks of local governments acting internationally.
So should you have questions write to globaltaskforce@uclg.org and visit the website http://www.gtf2016.org/.
The process so far: the work towards a zero draft document for Habitat III
Regional and thematic meetings have been taking place in all different continents of the world. The declarations from these meeting are inputs for the zero draft of the New Urban Agenda which is to be negotiated among member states of the United Nations. The declarations can be found here.
In parallel, 10 Policy Units with experts coming from all sectors (NGOs, business, local authorities, etc.) have been working to produce Policy Papers that will feed in the Zero Draft.
At the suggestion of UCLG most policy units counted with representation of local practitioners. It is also worth mentioning that Policy Unit 4, "Urban Governance, Capacity and Institutional Development" was co-led by UCLG and "Policy Unit 9 Urban Services and Technologies", was co-led by the German Association of Cities. The policy units and papers can be found here.
Key recommendations by the local and regional governments constituency
The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF) has published key recommendations as inputs from the constituency into the drafting process. Of particular importance for the work of the CIB members is the call to foster the spirit of solidarity through decentralized cooperation.
The recommendations are a first input into the current negotiations on the New Urban Agenda and will be updated in response to policy discussions.
The Zero draft will also influence the Key recommendations. It is expected to be issued on the 6 of May, just before the Local and Regional Government Hearings taking place in New York from 15-17 May.
The GTF recommendations can be found here. The CIB members are invited to share their comments on the recommendations.
Engage in the process
Looking forward, there are important events coming up where CIB members can provide input. On the road to Habitat III, the Second World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments is the political mechanism for participation of the constituency. It will hold its first session on 15 May in NY.The second session will take place at the UCLG World Congress in Bogotá and the last one will take place during the Habitat III Conference itself, on 17 October. CIB members are invited to participate in these sessions and to provide any inputs they consider relevant.Elected representation is encouraged.
UCLG will coordinate the action of our networks in Quito during the Habitat III Conference a call for side events and networking events has been opened. The call is open until the end of May. In case your organization is interested in organizing a session, please inform the UCLG and CIB secretariat to look for opportunities to jointly represent the global network.