The agenda of the XXIV Congress of the Ibero-American Center for Urban Strategic Development (CIDEU, as per the acronym in Spanish) began on Wednesday morning with the General Assembly, which was attended by representatives of 38 municipal governments of Ibero-America, who appointed Mayor Claudia López as president of the network and Ulpiano Suarez, Mayor of Mendoza (Argentina) as vice-president.
"We are honored to receive the presidency of CIDEU: a great opportunity to learn, take on challenges, contribute experience in a global context, and give a leading role to the relationship between cities and their communities in rural areas," said Mayor Claudia López.
Mayor López insisted that "the spotlight put on cities should not be to deepen the urban-rural gap, but on the contrary, should help us find new synergies". For this reason, the Mayor invited the different governments to strengthen actions to care for rural areas, the planet, young people, and women.
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In this tweet, the Mayor refers to the CIDEU presidency:
Nos honra recibir la presidencia del @CIDEU: gran oportunidad para aprender, asumir retos, aportar experiencia en un contexto global y darle un rol protagonista a la relación de las ciudades y sus comunidades con las zonas rurales. Gracias por la confianza, y bienvenidos siempre. pic.twitter.com/RHD31KZbx0
— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) July 13, 2022
At the end of the assembly, the municipality of Mendoza (Argentina) was announced as the venue for the next CIDEU congress, to be held in 2023. This was followed by a discussion on caring for people and caring for democracy and the planet, in which mayors from Argentina, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia stressed the importance of working to reduce inequality, promote education, and care for the environment.
The first panel, moderated by the Mayor of Bogotá, included Ulpiano Suárez, Mayor of Mendoza (Argentina); Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mayor of Monterrey (Mexico); Carlos Guzmán, Mayor of Santo Domingo Norte (Dominican Republic); Aníbal Gaviria, Governor of Antioquia; and Luis Alejandro Fúneme, Mayor of Tunja.
The leaders agreed on the importance of defending and protecting the lives of citizens, fighting inequality, and strengthening education and employment programs for women and young people.
"We owe a historical debt to the women who have carried generations forward at the cost of their development, which is why government actions must promote projects that promote egalitarian societies," said Luis Donaldo Colosio, municipal president of Monterrey.
For his part, Ulpiano Suarez, Mayor of Mendoza, said: "We must think of cities as spaces in which public space is democratized, public policies are co-created, and where citizen participation and education are strengthened, which is the way to create truly sustainable cities".
In the second panel, Fernando Moreira, Mayor of San Martín (Argentina); Francisco Martínez, Municipal President of Oaxaca (Mexico); Rafael Duluc, Mayor of Higüey (Dominican Republic); and Daniel Quintero, Mayor of Medellín, discussed the care of democracy and confirmed their commitment to care for it and for citizens.
Finally, the panelists stated that the duties of the members of this network include: putting into practice in their governments the experiences of caring for women, children, and the elderly; good management of public resources; strengthening citizen participation; care for the environment; and governance and decentralization.
"We concluded that we must prioritize the care of people, so public policies in which age, gender, and sexual orientation matter must be formulated. Local governments should also aim their policies at environmental sustainability and promote green cities, with efficient public transportation, and where pedestrians and cyclists are the priority," said Laura Perez, secretary general of CIDEU.
La Concordia bids farewell to CIDEU and welcomes METROPOLIS
In the completely restored La Concordia marketplace, located in the historic center of Bogotá, Mayor López bid farewell to the international delegates of CIDEU and welcomed the 40 international representatives who will attend the two-day meeting of the Board of Directors of METROPOLIS, a global network that brings together large cities and metropolitan areas from all continents.
During the event, Mayor López presented some of the achievements of the Bogotá-Cundinamarca Metropolitan Region. "Happily we have created the Metropolitan Region. To close gaps, we created the Development and Marketing Agency, which markets food, craft, and tourism products at fair prices. We are setting an example because we are moving from the typical metropolitan area to a region that integrates rural and urban areas," she explained.
The Mayor also pointed out that together with the Governor's Office of Cundinamarca, the District organizes weekly Farmer's Markets in the city's parks. "It's becoming a weekend tradition. This year we will hold 1600 farmers' markets in Bogotá, an average of 20 a week," Mayor López said.
Below is a tweet from the Mayor about the METROPOLIS delegation’s visit to Ciudad Bolivar:
Ciudad Bolívar recibe a la delegación de @metropolis_org con un sol divino. Les mostramos proyectos que avanzan de movilidad sostenible, mejoramiento de vivienda, equipamientos sociales y de cuidado, mejor espacio público y programas culturales que cambian la vida de la gente! pic.twitter.com/LE3rT60oyk
— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) July 13, 2022
Finally, Metropolis members toured the Ciudad Bolivar Transmicable, the Manitas Care Block, the Museum of the Self-built City, and the Tunal Happiness Center (CEFE, as per the acronym in Spanish), where they learned about the policies being implemented by the District Administration in social areas, with emphasis on the Care System.
