Nairobi, Kenya – 30 May, 2019 – During the very first UN-Habitat Assembly, the Global Parliament of Mayors is proud to have been given the opportunity to present the GPM Resolution on “Empowering cities to cope with global challenges”. Initiated by the GPM, 43 Mayors support the resolution, representing 43 cities from 27 countries and 5 continents. This is the first resolution established by two voting rounds on GPM’s Virtual Platform functioning as a virtual parliament of mayors, offering the opportunity to mayors from all around the world to vote on resolutions from a distance while making a global impact.
On 31st May 2019, GPM Executive Committee Mayor Mayor Grace Mary Mugasa of Hoima (Uganda), accompanied by Deputy Mayor Felicitas Kubala of Mannheim (Germany), handed over the GPM resolution to UN-Habitat Executive Director Ms Maimunah Mohd Sharif. On this occasion a bilateral meeting was established between both parties to call for action on the resolution together with a special invitation to the annual GPM Summit in Durban, South Africa, from 9-11 November 2019.
“We are making an effort to lead by example and walk the talk in becoming a more environmental friendly compound”, said Ms Sharif, UN Habitat Executive Director, at the opening ceremony of the first General Assembly 27 May 2019.
The GPM thanks UN-Habitat for acknowledging the resolution and asks UN-Habitat to consider the following:
-To stress that cities and their public representatives must be represented both in relevant international agreements and in international and global bodies and institutions.
-To call on a structural representation of the metropolitan and city-networks represented by the Global Taskforce in regional bodies and institutions as well as international bodies and institutions to advocate for appropriate policies that maximize effective solutions.
-To recommend that “functional urban area” as defines for the OECD metropolitan database is an appropriate definition of “cities”.
-To recommend empowering cities by deepening local representation, expanding participation of citizens and shifting towards circular and domestic economy.
-To stress the necessity to redistribute power and autonomy to cities to improve multi-level governance.
-Finally, to accept the presentation of the GPM resolution to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat and forward it to the UN Secretary-General, international institutions and to continental parliaments and regulatory bodies, as well as to national governments and parliaments.
The united voice and active participation from city leaders are essential to implement the resolution. The GPM is looking forward to continue working closely with UN-Habitat in the near future.