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Mayors Advocate for a Stronger Forum within the UN System

The 5th UN Forum of Mayors (FoM), held on 6–7 October 2025 in Geneva, brought together representatives from 80 cities from all regions. Centred on the theme “Cities shaping the future,” the Forum aligned with the 2025 UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and tackled key global issues such as health and well-being (SDG 3), gender equality (SDG 5), decent work (SDG 8), climate finance, and housing. Participants unanimously called for reinforcing and expanding the FoM within the UN system, recognizing it as a vital platform that bridges local action and global policy-making.

  • October 9, 2025
  • 49
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Mayors and business leaders shape the cities of tomorrow

The Global Cities Hub and the World Economic Forum co-organized a high-level event on 8 October 2025. The Urban Futures Dialogue, held under the theme “Driving Public-Private Collaboration for Future-Ready Cities,” brought together mayors, business leaders, international stakeholders, and civil society to explore cooperation between cities and the private sector.

  • October 8, 2025
  • 108
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Cities in the Lead: Action-Oriented Plans for VLRs

The Global Cities Hub, together with partners and with the support of the Swiss Confederation, held for the 3rd consecutive year a side event dedicated to Voluntary Local Reviews. Over ten cities from across the world gathered for the event. The session highlighted the growing role of local and regional governments (LRGs) in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through transparent, data-driven, and participatory review processes.

  • October 7, 2025
  • 1
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Connecting All Levels to Strengthen Decentralized Development Cooperation

The GCH took part in an OECD–German workshop in Berlin on “The impact of decentralized development cooperation (DDC) on local governance and SDG outcomes.” The meeting aimed to better understand how cities and regions engage in decentralized development cooperation, what benefits it brings, the obstacles they face, and how to assess its impact. Participants included cities and regions, city networks, national governments, and international organizations.

  • September 23, 2025
  • 177
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UN@80: Rethinking Multilateralism with LRGs

The 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly starts on Thursday, 18 September. A record number of heads of states and governments are expected to speak on this Anniversary. The Secretary-General has presented a report providing recommendations to enhance engagement with local and regional governments in advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular the localization of the SDGs. The dialogue with States “identified existing mechanisms that were concrete, practical and cost-effective for enhancing the participation of local and regional governments in United Nations processes.”

  • September 18, 2025
  • 465
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Measuring quality of life and stimulating forward-looking action

Local and regional governments play a crucial role in offering a decent quality of life to their citizens and are key contributors to the common efforts of a people-centered sustainable development. The GCH in collaboration with UN-Habitat and the Quality of Life Initiative organized the Geneva Urban Debate “Measuring Quality of Life in Cities: Connecting Local Action and Global Agendas”. We introduced the Initiative and explored how it can contribute to the different global agendas of international organizations.

  • September 18, 2025
  • 145
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Building Inclusive Digital Infrastructure for Future-Ready Cities

On 15 September 2025, the Global Cities Hub moderated the session on “Scaling People-centred Smart City Solutions” at the Forum on Connected by Design: Building Inclusive Digital Infrastructure for Future-Ready Cities, in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The event gathered local and regional governments (LRGs) representatives and international organizations to explore how Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) can drive inclusion, resilience, and sustainability in cities worldwide.

  • September 15, 2025
  • 190
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INC-5.2: No Treaty, but strong references to LRGs

The resumed session of the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) was adjourned in the morning of 15 August. Described by many as the last good chance to conclude negotiations on a global plastic pollution treaty, it opened on 5 August. The GCH remains confident the treaty will be adopted and will continue working to ensure LRGs are fully recognised in the final text.

  • August 15, 2025
  • 505
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