photo credit: @UN
On Wednesday 15th March, in the framework of the 61st UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, the newly installed Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres invited a number of UCLG’s female political leaders to meet in his office to discuss the role of local and regional governments in contributing to the achievement of the global agendas.
At the meeting, Guterres recognized that local and regional governments will be essential to the achievement of the major global sustainability agendas, and reaffirmed his office’s commitment to supporting achieving the 50/50 goal by 2030.
UCLG Co-President and Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, highlighted the particular role of cities in combatting climate change and the specific leadership role of women in this endeavor. Hidalgo also emphasized the will of all major local government networks to work together to collaborate with the UN.
Mayor of Bangangté and President of REFELA, Celestine Ketcha Courtés presented UCLG’s ‘Be Counted’ campaign, which calls for better data on the proportion of seats held by women in local government, as part of the push to achieve SDG 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment. She asked the Secretary General to specifically look at SDG 5 and 11, both of which will be essential to the achievement of all 17 SDGs.
President of Metropolis Women and Councilor for Feminisms and LGBTI of Barcelona, Laura Pérez, emphasized the role of cities in promoting sustainable development and in the achievement of gender equality.
Chair of the Women’s Institute of Mexico City, Teresa Incháustegui, recalled the way the Beijing Conference set the agenda on gender equality and reflected on the need to renew the global momentum in this area.
Mayor of Tevragh Zeina, Fatimetou Abd El Malick; Mayor of South Tangerang, Airin Rachmi Diany; Chair of the Women’s Institute of Mexico City, and Councilor of Paris, Marie Christine Lemardeley applauded the open spirit of the conversation and confirmed their commitment to continued collaboration with the UN Secretary General’s office.
