I. Metshin: "Municipalities are intermediaries between the people and the...

(KZN.RU, October 5, by Renat Shirmanov)  A meeting of the World Council of United Cities and Local Governments was held at the 4th World Summit of Local and Regional leaders, which took place in the Moroccan capital city of Rabat from October 1 to 4. The key event of the meeting was the election of the organization's leadership, in which Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin was re-elected co- president of UCLG. Mayor of Istanbul Kadir Topbas again became UCLG President.

Mayor of Kazan supported the candidacy of Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux and former Prime Minister of France , who was also elected UCLG co-president. Besides him, Mayor of Quito ( Ecuador), Augusto Barrera; Mayor of the City of Victoria (Seychelles), Jacqueline Moustache Belle, and Mayor of Guangzhou, Zhang Guangning, were also chosen to this post.

Ilsur Metshin noted that the Eurasian Department of the UCLG, which he chairs, encourages all its members to improve the quality of life of their citizens.

"Our mutual understanding is especially vital today, when the world is faced with serious challenges. We need to do everything in our power so that local problems do not evolve into global ones. We need to find optimal solutions and promote civil peace," said the Mayor of Kazan.

Ilsur Metshin also emphasized that municipalities must adopt the role of mediators between the people and government. Events like the summit in Rabat provide an opportunity to defend the interests of local authorities at the highest level.

The Kazan Mayor added that although the UCLG Eurasian department is the youngest, it is one of the most important ones. “By uniting cities and local governments of the 12 Eurasian countries we continually grow qualitatively and quantitatively. Whereas in 2006 we had 39 members, now we have 106. For the past three years, we have organized and held numerous congresses, conferences and 14 workshops in different cities of Eurasia. A striking example of our work, which took place in July last year, was the Eurasian Urban Forum. It gathered more than 300 participants from 79 cities in more than 30 countries. We shared our experience in the development of public services, innovation and heritage conservation. Top experts from the UN, UNESCO and UCLG delivered lectures at forum,” said Ilsur Metshin.

"We represent more than 300 million people. Membership in United Cities and Local Governments must ensure that we all could express our views," said the Mayor of Kazan.

During the UCLG World Council meeting, the capital of the next World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders was chosen. Bogota (Colombia) and Istanbul (Turkey) bid for the honor.

Although Istanbul was the favorite, Kadir Topbas said that an international event of this magnitude was critical for Bogota and withdrew Istanbul's bid. Thus, the next summit will be held in Bogota, Colombia.