Ilsur
Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, President of the UN Advisory Committee of Local Authorities
(UNACLA), took part in the III Forum of local and regional authorities in the
framework of the UN high-level political forum on sustainable development.
Participants of the conference, via Zoom service, discussed the current
situation in the world in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are all
going through difficult times. Local authorities and their administrations are
at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 crisis”, - Ilsur Metshin said, starting his speech.
He noted
that the way of life, education, work, and communication is rapidly changing.
Online interaction is becoming the norm. IT technologies and artificial
intelligence are getting a new stage in the development.
Now, the crucial
issue is to ensure the safety of the urban environment for citizens, the
President of UNACLA emphasized. According to him, previously security was meant
primarily as physical security, and then in the COVID and post-COVID era, the
vector shifted towards ensuring sanitary security.
“The unexpected
outbreak of COVID-19 is a chance to focus on what should be changed in modern
cities, and especially in their technological and digital development. In safe
times, most innovations are difficult to implement and slowly accepted by citizens.
But now, after an immersion into online, we can seriously talk about converting
all types of municipal services to digital form, thereby creating conditions
for maintaining sustainable development,”- Kazan Mayor said.
He emphasized
that the difficult times will pass, but the resilience and experience will
remain. “We stand in solidarity with the efforts made by local authorities
around the world to maintain stability – we are constantly in touch with our
colleagues from all over the world”, - the President of UNACLA said, adding
that such cooperation is the key to combating the global challenges.
“Today,
almost two-thirds of the world's population lives in cities, and this figure
will only grow in the future. The world created from cities will probably be
more innovative, less warlike, more open to cooperation”, - Ilsur Metshin concluded.