On 13 December 2024, the GCH was honored to participate in a thought-provoking event (see here: https://lnkd.in/eRNCyd_B) on the power of city diplomacy, organized by the Office of international relations of the Diputació de Barcelona.
During the event, GCH emphasized a crucial point: city diplomacy must not evolve in parallel to traditional State-led multilateralism – it should connect with it and also complement it. Cities need to engage not only with their own States but also with others, showcasing their role as political actors with decision-making power and influence on global issues.
The event featured a discussion on the basis of a paper by Jolie Guzmán and addressed several key topics, including:
- What defines city diplomacy: building relationships, promoting interests but also values, and ensuring representation.
- Factors that facilitate or hinder city diplomacy: resources, relationships with central governments, residents’ support. Also very important: political willingness and personal agenda of city leaders seeking international exposure for various purposes
- The current crisis in traditional multilateralism and the vital role of cities in advancing State-agreed objectives
- The importance of looking beyond cities in the West and in South America to examine the actions and initiatives of cities in Asia and Africa, the world’s most rapidly urbanizing regions.
- The various topics where cities have been vocal on the international stage (democracy, human rights, climate change and the protection of the environment, inequalities and gender-based violence, armed conflict and urban violence, migration).
- While a lot has been achieved by local governments coalitions, a lot of work is still needed to achieve representativeness of cities in global governance.
- The need for cities to prioritize the issues on which they want to engage at the international level.
- The challenge of finding the right platforms for city diplomacy amidst a proliferation of forums – and States’ reluctance to share the stage.
On that occasion, it was a pleasure for GCH to reconnect with partners and friends from the Global Parliament of Mayors, German Marshall Fund Cities, the Human Rights Cities Network, UCLG and the City Diplomacy Lab and reflect collectively on how to best facilitate the engagement of cities at the international level.