 |
The Constitution of the World Organisation of United Cities and local governments
|
|
|
|
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD ORGANISATION OF UNITED CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Adopted by Constitutive General Assembly, 5 May 2004, Paris, France
Amended by Extraordinary General Assembly, 26 April 2010, Chicago, USA
Amended by General Assembly, 3 October 2013, Rabat, Morocco
PREAMBLE
We, representatives of local governments the world over, serving the populations of rural and urban communities; small, medium and large towns, metropolises and regions; gathered in Paris, France on 5 May 2004 to create a new unified world organisation of local governments.
Recalling:
§§ the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and particularly the principle recognised in Article 21, that the will of the people is the basis of the authority of government;
§§ the considerable work achieved by the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) since 1913 and the World Federation of United Towns and Cities (UTO) since 1957 in developing municipal international relations and strengthening local government worldwide;
§§ the United Towns Charter adopted by UTO in 1957;
§§ the IULA Worldwide Declaration of Local Self-Government, adopted by IULA in 1985 and amended in 1993, and ratified by the UTO in 1994;
§§ the Final Declaration of the World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities adopted in Istanbul in 1996;
§§ the Habitat Agenda and the Declaration on Cities and other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, Agenda 21 and the Political Declaration of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and the Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals;
Considering:
§§ that the world is being reshaped by changing economic, technological, demographic, environmental and social forces;
§§ that the traditional role of the State is profoundly affected by the above trends and that States cannot centrally manage and control the complex integrated cities and towns of today and tomorrow;
§§ that population growth and the continuing process of urbanisation makes the task of local governments, both rural and urban, more complex but all the more essential;
§§ that in this changing world, the essential value of democracy, grounding government’s legitimacy in the people, remains stronger than ever;
§§ that local government is one of the main foundations of any democratic society, being the level of government closest to the people;
Recognising:
§§ the vital role of local government as a force for sustainable development, good governance, sustainable urbanisation and promotion of the rights of the citizen;
§§ the vital role of local government as a force for promoting Human Rights -civil and political, social and economic - as recognised, codified and endorsed by the United Nations;
§§ local government’s responsibility to take an active role in responding to the challenges facing humanity; to fight strongly against poverty, ignorance, intolerance, discrimination, exclusion, insecurity, environmental degradation and cultural levelling;
|
|
|
§§ the vital role of local government as a force for peace and solidarity between peoples;
§§ the diversity of democratic ways and means by which local communities can achieve these objectives;
§§ that local democracy is not just a formal value but must be continuously updated and revised, ensuring genuine equality and participation open to all, men and women;
Emphasising:
§§ that strengthening local government in any country strengthens the entire nation and the world community by ensuring more effective and democratic public policies;
§§ that Municipal International Cooperation and decentralised cooperation, partnership, twinning, international local government diplomacy, sister city links, and mutual assistance through capacity-building programmes and international municipal solidarity initiatives, are a vital contribution to the construction of a peaceful and sustainably developed world;
§§ that the more united local governments are, at national, regional and world level, the stronger they are in voicing the will of the communities they serve;
Committed to:
§§ local democracy and autonomy, i. e. to the principles of democratic decentralisation and subsidiarity in the spirit of inter-connecting spheres of government;
§§ citizen-centred, participative local governance within the principles of decentralisation and subsidiarity;
§§ high ethical standards of public service, efficiency, effectiveness and transparency;
§§ partnership with the international community and other spheres of government, civil society and other key actors; Ordain and establish the Constitution of the World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments as follows:
|
|
|
