World Congress of Cities supports Mayors for Peace campaign

October 31, 2007

Click link above for full speech of Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba during UCLG conference

Jeju final declaration http://www.cities-localgovernments.org/uclg/upload/template/templatedocs/UCLG_Final_Declaration_ENG.pdf

Jeju (South-Korea), 31 October 2007 - Today the 2020 Vision Campaign received the endorsement of the world largest and most widely recognized mayoral association, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). In its final declaration the UCLG supports the Mayors for Peace campaign  to eliminate weapons of mass destruction and calls on all nation states and armed groups to cease considering cities as military objectives – ‘cities are not targets’.

In his address to the Congress prior to the adoption of the Declaration, Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, President of Mayors for Peace, stressed, “With that Declaration you will be claiming, on behalf of the majority of humanity, that cities are no longer passive hostages to the threatened destruction of our cities. This will be a great milestone. But it is one thing to claim a right, and another to exercise it.” He asserted, “It will take some time and pressure, but we will take our seat at the table and our voice will be heard.”

Ban-Ki Moon, UN Secretary General addressed a specially recorded message to the world’s cities, stating that “the future of humanity will depend on the manner in which cities react to the major challenges posed by globalization.”

Paragraph 12 of the Jeju Declaration states: “We recall that the use of conventional armaments is at present the cause of unbearable suffering for civil populations. We support, moreover the initiative of the Mayors for Peace campaign, which lobbies the international community to renounce weapons of mass destruction. We call on all nation states and armed groups to cease considering cities as military objectives – ‘cities are not targets’.”

Over 1,800 participants united for the 2nd global meeting of cities and local governments under the theme ‘Changing Cities are driving our world". The UCLG was founded in 2004 and has works in an advisory capacity on local government issues for the United Nations.

Within the UN system, UCLG is considered the ‘voice of cities.’ Since the UN Population Funds calculates that this year, for the first time in history, the balance between rural and urban population has shifted in favor of the cities, it can be rightly said that Jeju Declaration speaks on behalf of the majority of humankind.

Thus, while we strive to reach the membership goal by the end of this year of 2020 Mayors for the 2020 Vision, we already have garnered the broad support of the entire urban world. This, and our close cooperation with the UCLG leadership, will greatly strengthen the credibility and impact of our efforts in the coming years, most particularly within the UN system.

The embrace of the rallying cry, “Cities Are Not Targets!” presents a special opportunity to the 2020 Vision Campaign. Mayors for Peace is well established as an anti-nuclear-weapons campaign, but this has limited the appeal of the organization to regions of the world that feel directly threatened by possible nuclear attack. The prospect of conventional attack is far more pervasive and immediate and thus resonates with a more diverse constituency. Mayors for Peace looks forward to developing this part of its 2020 Vision Campaign in cooperation with UCLG and its City Diplomacy Program.

At a Mayors for Peace workshop on the World Congress program, this prospect was discussed in depth with forty city representatives and mayoral association officials from every region of the globe. Fifteen new cities joined up on the spot and another dozen joined in the course of the Congress. The next official tally will show Mayors for Peace membership passing the 1800 mark as it gathers momentum toward the goal of 2020 by year’s end.