South Asian Cities Taking Bigger Steps at its 4th Summit
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Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, SG of UCLG ASPAC, at the Opening Ceremony of 4 South Asian Cities Summit.
THE 4th South Asian Cities Summit was comprised of several sessions attended by urban experts, policy makers and city leaders from the region. The Summit was organised by All India Institute of Local Governments (AIILSG), an active member of UCLG ASPAC, in cooperation with UCLG ASPAC, and with the support of more than 10
partners, including local government associations of Sri Lanka (FSLGA) and Nepal (MuAN), and international organisations such as Cities Alliance and UN Habitat. AIILSG’s Director General Mr. Rajiv Agarwal (IAS Retd.), were among those who welcomed the delegates, emphasising that South Asian cities face common challenges of urbanisation that its cities and municipalities can together resolve. UCLG ASPAC Secretary General spoke and participated in three launching events. Namely, 1) United Networks of Circular Cities, which endorses resource efficiency such as in waste management and energy, 2) Breathing Cities Network, which calls for development of local action plans to tackle air pollution, and 3) Global Covenant of Mayors (GCOM) South Asia, that is an alliance of cities and local governments with a shared vision of the future of urban development on low-emission and climate-resilience – UCLG ASPAC plays a role in facilitating GCOM in the region through a Support Desk. Dr. Tjandradewi also gave remarks at the International Skill Conclave and stressed the role of local governments in capacity building and job/livelihood creation. Finally, it was the first time at the Summit that a South Asian Mayors Forum was organised, and the local chief executive’s views were gathered about the proposal to strengthen the forum and utilise it as platform to advocate to national governments as well as the regional organisation, SAARC. Similarly, participants that joined in the UCLG-led session on Intermediary Cities were pleased to share the challenges they face as intermediary cities to reach development goals (ex. limited budget, geographical characteristics, etc.). Ms. Firdaous Oussidhoum from Chefchaouen, Morocco, the leading city on intermediary cities group of UCLG had been keen to come to the region because their views were not yet captured, and she noted, “there are greater differences here compared to other regions like Europe which is more homogenous” thus the inputs could provide a better understanding of the characteristics and issues of intermediary cities. On behalf of her Mayor, she invited participants to join the 1st World Forum of Intermediary Cities organised by UCLG in Chefchaouen from 5th to 7th July 2018. The “Delhi Declaration 2018: New Urban Agenda and Localising SDGs” was adopted in the closing, and highlighted South Asian countries taking up SDGs and NUA, planning awareness programmes for city leaders and municipal officials, and the South Asian Mayors Forum as a platform for elected representatives to share their ideas and work together with a common vision of sustainable urban development.