UCLG·CGLU · www.uclg.org
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The new organisation instilled a fresh aura in the global arena, and immediately received world-wide recognition. As the first president of UCLG (2004-2010’ and mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoe says: “In a world where more than half of humanity new lives in cities, local authorities are also the key to the solution of major contemporary challenges of all kinds: democratic...; environmental...; economic...; and social, as it is at the local level where the grounds need to be set for creating social inclusion, managing cultural diversity and ensuring human security.” (Preface to the First Report of GOLD - UCLG, 2009).
The second president of UCLG (2010) and mayor of Greater Istanbul Kadir Topbaş believes that “as a result of the efforts of UCLG, a democratically based global organisation, the cities will stop being a part of the problem, and will become global problem solving places... In order to create a more democratic, equalitarian and fair world, ... UCLG, as the main representative body of local governments of the world, is a building block in the international system of decision-making.” (The Closing Speech of UCLG’s Mexico City Congress in 2010).
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