APA-Dakar (Senegal) City diplomacy is a strong vector of dialogue and cooperation in an evolving world, according to the International Association of French-speaking Mayors (AIMF).
In a world in upheaval, how can we move forward together for local governance and urban planning that meet the major challenges of our time? From April 27 to 29, 2023, 200 participants and 25 mayors from capitals and cities in Africa, America, Asia and Europe met in Paris at the invitation of Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of the French capital and President of the AIMF, to try to answer this question.
According to the local elected officials, three local governance issues have a significant capacity to transform cities and human societies. The first is sustainable urbanism based on ecological buildings, the greening of the city, mobility and quality of life.
The mayors also debated, alongside academics and experts on the fight against disinformation. “If disinformation is often played out online, it is in the heart of cities that the impact of hate speech materialises,” they said.
They sought to answer these questions in order to face up to it: How can we act at the local level to prevent these phenomena that undermine community life and local democracy? How can city diplomacy contribute to protecting populations from the impact of disinformation at a time when it has become a weapon of war?
The members of AIMF also noted the important role of Diasporas in the economic development of territories. In this regard, Anne Hidalgo and her peers indicated that more and more, the mayors of AIMF member cities see Diasporas as strategic partners for development.
A symposium was therefore organised to highlight priority courses of action to facilitate their commitment to impact investments in the territories.
In addition, the AIMF Bureau decided to allocate €1.12 million in grants to projects led and implemented by municipalities for access to water and sanitation, urban agriculture and forestry, sustainable energy, with a direct impact on the lives of four million inhabitants… They will make possible an overall investment of €9.2
million, relying on co-financing from cities and the mobilisation of an ever-expanding circle of partners.
With the Paris 2024 and Dakar 2026 Games approaching, as well as the Francophonie Games in Kinshasa in August 2023, the Board noted the creation of a permanent Sport and Cities Commission under the
presidency of the Olympic capital Lausanne.
Finally, it validated the dates and the theme of the next AIMF General Assembly in Cotonou, Benin from 19 to 21 October 2023 on Art and Urban Cultures.
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