. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .
An article from La Vanguardia (translated by CPNN and reprinted without commercial ends)
Mayors of Ibero-America will meet this Thursday and Friday [April 18-19] in Costa Rica to celebrate the XVIII General Assembly of the Union of Capital Cities (UCCI) seeking to advance in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The organization will define its strategy for the 2018-2020 biennium in order to determine how its members can continue to advance in the local implementation of the SDGs.
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(Click here for the Spanish version)
Can cities take the lead for sustainable development?
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A total of 23 international delegations from capital cities will attend the event in San José, including the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena.
According to the organizers, initiatives linked to institutional strengthening, social development, local economic development, sustainable urban development, culture and communication will be addressed, as well as cross-cutting issues such as gender, environmental sustainability, culture of peace, innovation and human rights.
One of the main priorities for the coming period is the incorporation of culture as a strategic area in the organization, since the cultural dimension is fundamental to achieve more just, supportive and sustainable societies.
The Assembly will also present a management report (2016-2018) and an economic balance and will propose the definition of a strategic framework to achieve the effective implementation of the SDGs in Ibero-American cities.
The General Assembly of the UCCI meets every two years and that of 2018 is the second to be held after the cycle change that the organization approved in 2016.
The mayor of San José, Johnny Araya, will participate in the meeting; as well as the mayor of San Salvador, Nayib Bukele; the mayor of Panama City, José Blandón; the mayor of La Paz, Luis Revilla; and the mayor of Montevideo, Daniel Martínez, among others.
The opening ceremony will be attended by the president of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís, and the head of the Ibero-American General Secretariat, Rebeca Grynspan.
I am glad to see there is serious and organized utilization of the 17 SDGs in Latin America. How can we in North America engage our local communities to become assertive in getting these Goals to serve the public interest across national boundaries?
Have our officials thought of the savings that could be realized if pharmacare and reconstructive dental care were joined for maximum economic efficiency? What would be a better way of building international solidarity than enabling comparative economic advantage to be harnessed for the public good instead of short term corporate profits?
Perhaps those who are signatories to Manifesto 2000 could build a network to advance this perspective on the rudiments of the Culture of Peace.