United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is an umbrella organisation for cities, local governments and municipal associations throughout the world. United Cities and Local Governments was founded in 2004, when the existing local government organisations - the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA), the United Towns Organisations (UTO) and Metropolis – united their respective global networks of cities and national associations of local governments in a single organisation.(FCMU).[1] United Cities and Local Governments' headquarters, the World Secretariat, is based in Barcelona, Spain. UCLG is the largest local government organisation in the world and understands itself as the united voice and world advocate of democratic local self-government, de facto representing over half the world's population, the cities and association members of UCLG are present in over 120 UN Member States across seven world regions:
Africa (UCLGAfrica), Asia-Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC), Europe (CEMR), Eurasia (UCLG EuroAsia), Middle East and West Asia (UCLG MEWA), Latin America (FLACMA),and North America (UCLG North America). UCLG has also a dedicated "regional" Section for large metropolitan Areas, Metropolis.
Over 1.000 cities are direct members of United Cities and Local Governments, as well as 112 national associations which represent all the cities and local governments in their respective countries. Members vary, from small cities to national local governments associations and regional associations.
On May 8th 2004, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) adopted the Agenda 21 for culture as a reference document for its programmes on culture and assumed the role of coordinator of the process subsequent to its approval.
Its President since November 2010 is Mayor Kadir Topbaş (Istambul). He replaces Mayor Bertrand Delanoë (Paris). Accompanying the Mayor of Istanbul, as Co Presidents are Antonio Costa of Lisbon, Portugal; Johnny Araya of San Jose de Costa Rica; Wan Qingliang of Guangzhou, China; Muchadeyi Masunda of Harare, Zimbabwe; and Ilsur Metsin of Kazan, Russian Federation. Ted Ellis, Mayor of Bluffton Indiana USA is the Treasurer.
The city of Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco will host the next world congress of UCLG in 2013.
The Committees prepare and implement policies within priority areas, as defined by the Executive Bureau and the work programme for the current period. Each Committee can establish one or more Working Groups. The Working Groups develop proposals and/or cooperation initiatives between local governments and their associations in order to enrich the discussions within UCLG.[2]
The standing Committees are:
- Decentralisation and Local Self-Government
- Local Finance and Development
- Culture
- Development Cooperation & City Diplomacy
- Social Inclusion, Participative Democracy and Human Rights
- Gender Equality
- Mediterranean Interregional Commission
- Millenium Development Goals
- Peripheral Cities
- Urban Mobility
- Digital and Knowledge-Based Cities
- Urban Strategic Planning
The four working groups are:
- Capacity and Institution Building (CIB-ACB platform)
- Migration and Co-Development
- The local dimension of the Alliance of Civilisations
- Responsible Tourism and Sustainable Development