From 9 to 13 February 2015, United Cities and Local Government organized a seminar in Barcelona which gathered representatives of eight regional sections of the organization, nine committees and five working groups. There were also partners form UN-Habitat, UNDP, European Commission and partners form civil society and private sector.
This seminar, organized by UCLG World Secretary aimed to create synergies between the different sections, committees and working groups of the organization, with the purpose of pursuing the construction of the New Global Urban Agenda. An important part of the meeting dealt with the strategies to implement together towards Habitat III Summit (2016). The goal was also to identify best articulations between the actions of the network’s stakeholder and to develop joint activities in the framework of the goals defined by the statutory bodies of UCLG.
The Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights was represented by the Co-presidents of the General Council of Seine-Saint-Denis, the Conurbation community of Plaine Commune and the Executive Secretary.
This “retreat” allowed the Committee reminds that social inclusion and human rights should be at the center of UCLG’s action plan, especially through the promotion of the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City adopted by the organization during the World Council of Florence, in 2011. The Committee also made known its availability to contribute to UCLG Action Plan, with the support of strong political backing of its members, and its operational capacity.
Furthermore, the Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights highlighted the significant work initiated with the civil society since its creation, resulting in the creation of the Global Platform for the Right to the City. The Committee suggested the possible merging between the municipality movement organized through the Global task Force and the Global Platform for the Right to the City.
Finally, it was the opportunity for the Committee to express its interest and its availability to support the implementation of peer-to-peer learning on social inclusion and to explore new possibilities to collaborate with sectional regions such as Central Asia and Middle East (UCLG MEWA) or Pacific Asia (UCLG ASPAC).