Mayors and senior city officials from around the world celebrated the 5th anniversary of the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA) with renewed calls for decentralisation of power to ensure better service delivery at the community level.The meeting in Washington 8 February was co-chaired by Mayor Joan Clos of Barcelona, and Ms. Inga Bjork-Klevby, Deputy Executive-Director of UN-HABITAT. Mayor Clos, who is Chairman of UNACLA, said that in addressing the challenges of our urbanised modern society, cities and those who managed them had to be considered key to solving urban problems. Citing examples from China, India, Africa and Latin America, he said local authorities were committed to making their contribution to the improvement of urban living conditions and application of the Millennium Development Goals at the local level. Ms Bjork-Klevby, citing the personal commitment and drive of Mayor Clos, said: “We are indeed privileged witnesses of a changing world, where cities have made a decisive breakthrough towards the international recognition of the local dimension of development. This is a very encouraging trend.” She said UN-HABITAT would continue its advocacy work for the promotion of local authorities and the direct involvement of local leaders and their associations in the daily activities of the United Nations for the benefit of the urban poor. For full details of the meeting, see attached PDF Document
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