About

The World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is the largest organization of local and regional governments in the world. It was established in 2004 uniting the major local and regional government associations from across the globe. UCLG as a global network of cities and local, regional, and metropolitan governments and their associations represents 240,000 cities and regions and 175 associations of local and regional authorities from 140 countries, representing over 5 billion people.

The main mission of the organization is to be a united voice and defender of democratic local self-government values, promoting cooperation between local and regional governments worldwide as well as to leave no-one and no place behind.
At the regional level, mayors and councilors have been elected to represent one of the world's seven regions Africa, Asia, Eurasia, Europe, the Middle East and West Asia and Oceania, Latin America and North America. The UCLG section of metropolises protects the specific interests of cities with over 1 million inhabitants. These cities are also represented by elected mayors and municipal councilors.

The World Council is the principal policy-making body of the World Organization. It decides the World Organization’s policies and ensures that general policies decided by the General Assembly are implemented.

The Executive Bureau is responsible for initiating proposals and carrying out the decisions of the World Council. It is in charge of the World Organisation’s administrative and financial management. Composed of 115 members, it meets twice a year and usually gathers around 200 participants.

The World Council organizes its own World Congress every three years, the last one being held in November 2019 in Durban, South Africa. Each of the seven regions has a quota in it, and for Europe it is 73 representatives. For the 2022-2026 term, NAMRB has one representative in the World Council, the Mayor of Dobrich Mr. Yordan Yordanov. His deputy is the Mayor of Dryanovo Mr. Trifon Panchev.

The Executive Bureau is responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the World Council, for the administrative and financial management of the Organization. It consists of 115 representatives and meets twice a year. Link to the attributed seats of UCLG World Council: https://www.uclg.org/sites/default/files/composition_uclg_governing_bodies_2022_2026.pdf

The Presidency consists of 4 presidents and 6 co-presidents elected by the World Council.

For the 2022-2026 term, the Presidency of the World Council on

Collegial Presidency ticket by rotation: 

Ms. Carolina Cosse, Mayor of Montevideo (Uruguay), year 1

Mr. Uğur Ibrahim Altay, Mayor of Konya (Turkey), year 2

Mr. Jan Van Zanen, Mayor of The Hague, President of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities – NVG (Netherlands), year 3

Mr. Lee Jang-Woo, Mayor of Daejeon (South Korea), year 4

Co-presidents:

Ms. Fatimetou Abdel Malick, President of Nouakchott Region (Mauritania), Chair of the UCLG Standing Committee on Gender Equality,  

Mr. Johnny Araya, Mayor of San José (Costa Rica,) 

Mr. Altay Kulginov, Mayor of Astana (Kazakhstan) 

Mr. Li Mingyuan, Mayor of Xi’an (China)

Mr. Bekhe Stofile, President of the South African Local Government Association – SALGA (South Africa)

Mr. Berry Vrbanovic, Mayor of Kitchener, President Emeritus of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities - FCM (Canada)

The UCLG headquarter is in Barcelona, Secretary General of the organization is Emilia Saiz Carrancedo.