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Category: News

How can a ‘Citiverse’ help develop people-centered sustainable cities?

On 24 October 2023, GCH and ITU organized a webinar on the citiverse to explore how it can help Local and Regional Governments (LRGs) develop people-centered sustainable cities and what is required on the regulation and technical sides. An excellent line of speakers presented their views, shared their experiences and explained the challenges stakeholders face …

Interview of Yousef Alshawarbeh, Mayor of Amman

Dr. Yousef Alshawarbeh, Mayor of Ammann and member of the Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments granted the Global Cities Hub an interview, following his participation at the 3rd Forum of Mayors (2-3 October 2023, Geneva). Read about the Mayor’s perspective on the international engagement of his city. What you will bring back home from …

Mayors are key interlocutors for international organizations

On the margins of the 3rd Forum of Mayors, the Global Cities Hub provided a unique opportunity for mayors to meet with heads of international organizations (UNHCR, WHO, IFRC, UN Habitat) and engage in a dialogue on urban challenges including refugees’ influx, health, climate change and sustainable urban development. All heads of international organizations emphasized …

Enhancing the engagement of LRGs in the UN human rights system

In response to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ Call for inputs on Human Rights Council resolution 51/12, the Global Cities Hub (GCH) has made a submission on ways to enhance the engagement of local and regional governments (LRGs) in the UN human rights system. Recalling that States bear the primary responsibility …

What is a citiverse?

On 24 October, the Global Cities Hub and the International Telecommunication Union will organize the webinar “What is a citiverse? And how can it contribute to sustainable city development?” If there’s more than one metaverse, there will obviously be more than one citiverse. How can we anticipate which might be the most useful one for …

The Geneva Cities Hub becomes the Global Cities Hub (GCH)

The Geneva Cities Hub becomes the “Global Cities Hub” (GCH) and opens to new members. It remains committed to better connect local and regional governments to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva. In today’s interconnected and urbanized world, cities are more than administrative and economic entities. They are global actors rising on the …

The future shouldn’t suck

The GCH was honored to host a foresight exercise on urbanization and potential conflicts by the UN Futures Lab and UN University Center for Policy Research to discuss how we can re-imagine our ambition in creating a transition to safe, sustainable and more resilient cities. The contributions by a dozen of organizations from the International …

For LRGs to engage with the UN human rights system, capacity building is good but not enough. A new status for LRGs at the UN is required.

On 28 August 2023, the Geneva Cities Hub took part in the OHCHR expert meeting on “Enhancing capacity-building for local governments to incorporate human rights into all their work”, organized in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 51/12. The GCH called upon States to establish a new status for LRGs at the UN, in order to facilitate their …