Poland — Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson Tamba Koijee has joined his colleagues in Katowice, Poland for the Annual Summit of the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM) held under the theme: "Transforming Together: How Cities Must Lead Democratic, Inclusive and Innovative Change." The event took place between June 24-25, 2022.
Mayor Koijee joined other panelists to discuss ways to explore approaches to the built environment, with particular attention to housing and transportation, that allows cities to welcome new arrivals, providing sustainable housing and economic opportunities for all the residents. Other members of the panel included Emmanuel Serunjoli, Mayor, Kampala, Uganda; Marcin Krupa, Mayor, Katowice, Poland; Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor, Cape Town, South Africa; Helder Sousa Silva, Mayor, Mafra, Portugal; Claudia Lopez, Mayor, Bogoti, Columbia; Omar Al-Rawi, Councilor, SPO, Vienna; Juna Assiago, Specialist, Safer Cities, UN Habitat; Mochamad Nur Arifin, Mayor, Trenggalek, Indonesia and Omar M. M. Filish, Deputy Mayor, Mogadishu, Somalia.
The Mayor of Monrovia Koijee stressed the social infrastructure which encompasses critical areas including democracy, climate change, inclusion, is extremely important. It addresses the deepest issues in our city. It is more relevant with migration, with more people coming to urban areas.
According to him, the adverse effects of climate change that are largely underpinning migration across cities remain nerve-wracking to the extent that all hands must get on deck to derive solutions. "There's a need to bring concerted efforts to bed in this regard because whatever affects one city would potentially influence development negatively in other. The Ukrainian situation with the Russian invasion, he said, should paint a better picture of this affirmation.
At the end of the two days deliberations, members of the GPM including Executive Committee Member Koijee signed a declaration affirming their commitment to among other things deal with urban challenges through the lens of democracy and democratic values, share their best practices in inclusive governance, transparency, and smart, evidence-based, participatory, and socially aware city management, for example in the fields of sustainable city planning, climate protection, education, social inclusion, housing, transportation, the media, the digital agenda, and any other field of common interest; engage in dialogue and action to help bridge the growing geographic, generational,
social, economic, and political divides that have the potential to undermine democratic societies; and keep our cooperation informal, open, and on a voluntary basis, and our work at home steadfastly focused on fortifying democracy.
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"We, the mayors of the undersigned cities hereby declare our commitment to:
Rebuild and reinforce democracy, stand as a bulwark against the erosion of the rule of law,
and fight corruption, state capture, racism, and populist nationalism; stand up for free and fair elections and democratic movements worldwide, push back against electoral fraud, unfair electoral practices, attacks on free expression and civic space, malicious cyber activity, and dis- and misinformation campaigns aimed to undermine
electoral processes; facilitate the democratic participation of all residents, especially marginalized communities; combat human rights abuses, xenophobia, antisemitism, anti-feminism, racism, islamophobia, attacks on civil society organizations, and any other discriminatory practices designed to alienate and exclude from the democratic
process.
