Mr Sebastião Almeida, Regional Vice-president of the UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights (mandate 2011-2013) and Mayor of the city of Guarulhos (Brazil), recorded a message addressed all Committee members to apologise for his absence at the 2013 Annual Meeting, which took place last 2 October at the 2nd World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders and 4th UCLG Congress in Rabat (Morocco).
Mr Almeida was unable to attend the meeting due to scheduling problems that arose at the last minute, but he wanted to convey a message to all the Committee members in which he stressed the importance of the Committee's political work on human rights and the enhancement of citizenship in which it has been engaged for years. The Mayor of Guarulhos also expressed his interest in reaffirming his political commitment to the Committee's governance structure for the new mandate from 2014 to 2016.
The 2013 Annual Meeting, which was attended by delegates from 25 countries in 6 regions around the world, was especially important due to the presentation of the Committee's 2011-2013 Activities Report and the debate about the composition of the governance structure for the next three-year period 2014-2016. Regarding the latter subject, it was decided that from 2014, the Committee will be led on a collegiate basis with a co-presidency consisting of several cities and institutions, such as the intercommunalities of Plaine Commune and Pays d'Aubagne et de l'Étoile, the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, and the cities of Guarulhos, Montevideo, Nantes, Barcelona and Gwangju.
The cities of Toronto and Sao Paulo, as well as the "Cuidad Sur" association (Chile) and the "Dominican Republic Municipalist Women's Union" expressed interest in playing a greater political role on the Committee.
Please read the minutes of the Annual Meeting 2013 of the UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights for more information.