President of GCH, Sami Kanaan addressed the 47th session of the Congress of Local and Regional authorities at the Council of Europe.
He highlighted that the vast majority of themes addressed by States within the UN and other multilateral organizations are relevant at the local level. If member states begin to better realize that it is in their interest to involve a multitude of actors, including local and regional governments (LRGs), to effectively implement global policies and decisions, the GCH wishes to go further and advocates a more institutionalized role in decision-making processes.
In the context of the debate on the place of LRGs in the multilateral system, he shared experiences of how to connect local and regional governments to the international organizations, particularly the Forum of Mayors, the 4th edition of which was held in Geneva two weeks ago with more than 70 participating cities.
He emphasized that the commitment of LRGs is essential to making multilateralism more inclusive. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities would be a good example for the UN to consider. We need spaces for common dialogue where we can exchange and debate the best solutions to global challenges, such as in Strasbourg and in Geneva which are not far away, especially not in our connected world. The GCH looks forward to working with the Congress and its members in this regard – he concluded.