News from Secretariat

Welcoming a New Intern from Italy

UCLG ASPAC is welcoming a new Intern: Giovanni Urru (25)! Graduating from the University of Cagliari, in Sardinia, Italy, in 2013 under the Erasmus Program of the European Union, Giovanni also studied at the University of Cyprus and was an exchange student of the Erasmus Program, European Union, at the Interamerican Open University, Argentina, in 2015. June this year, he obtained his Master’s Degree in Law. When asked about his internship in UCLG ASPAC, he was really excited.

“In my mind, joining UCLG ASPAC for my internship was an achievement and now that I’m here I feel proud and very grateful. I always wonder and question on why local governments in, particularly, small villages like the one where I

come from, are often not supported to interact in international relation system, if not within supranational institutions such as, among others, the Committee of Regions in the European Union,” said the man who also has internship experience in NGOs such as Terra Di Mezzo 2000 International and ALDA (European Association for Local Democracy) Skopje.

When asked further on his reason why he chose UCLG ASPAC for his internship, Giovanni said, “I chose UCLG ASPAC to continue my research in other part of the world and to understand fundamental role of local authorities in facing challenges of our planet, diverse of municipalities and how they interact in multilevel governance. Considering that, I can’t think of any better organization than UCLG ASPAC, the biggest organization which represents more than 7000 local governments and contributes effectively to the development of urban areas in Asia-Pacific.”

Giovanni managed to learn and see in practice what he has studied mostly in theory. He wanted to know other part of the world, the decentralization’s process, the legal aspects, and the important role played by local authorities.

He would love to be involved in the local people’s life and discover more about the Asian culture and the traditions. Good luck with the internship, Gio!