“The global agenda cannot be achieved without the active participation of cities around the world. Without their contribution, there are no rules and policies," Saiz noted at the Urban 20 (U20) sherpa meeting held virtually, Wednesday.
The UCLG secretary general noted that a crisis or pandemic had an impact on cities, local areas, and governments around the world.
“The existence of a crisis proves to us that unity is more important than ever,” Saiz remarked.
In difficult times, Saiz pressed for boosting capacity to continue to promote peace and develop local democracy as the basis of a peaceful society.
"We have achieved great things when Urban 20 put together a strong agenda that can actually support some of the global goals for our planet," Saiz affirmed.
According to the UCLG secretary general, in the last cycle, everyone must understand that the urban era is not only the period of big cities but that of large and small areas and the role of cities and service providers.
“We have also supported the importance of culture in developing resilient and sustainable societies that can foster sustainable peace. We know that sustainable peace is what we really need at this time,” Saiz affirmed.
She appealed to everyone to understand the importance of solidarity in fighting the pandemic and meeting the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“We must also understand that without true solidarity there will be no way to trigger worldwide health coverage and vaccinations for the entire planet. We will not be able to meet the very important goals that we have agreed on within the framework of the sustainable development goals (SDGs),” Saiz stressed.
Saiz said that her side was keen to continue to build on these values and priorities.
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“We are very proud to see that the priorities of cities across the planet continue to be the same. Health is the main agenda. We also recognize that sustainable mobility will be very important, but we do not want to forget inclusion and equity as issues of concern in our work,” he remarked.
According to the official website urban20.org, the U20 was launched in 2017 under the leadership of Mayor Larreta of Buenos Aires and Mayor Hidalgo of Paris to bring together mayors from major G20 cities to inform the discussions of national leaders at the G20.
The U20 aims at facilitating lasting engagement between the G20 and cities, raise the profile of urban issues in the G20 agenda, and establish a forum for cities to develop a collective message and perspective to help inform G20 negotiations.
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Reporter: Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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