On the evening of May 29th (Beijing Time), the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) held its 2020 virtual session of the Executive Bureau, which aimed to have in-depth consultation and exchange on international priorities and UCLG strategies for the post COVID-19 era, UN 75, future multilateralism, UCLG work agenda and related documents. As a member of UCLG Executive Bureau, Fuzhou has been actively participating in UCLG affairs and activities, and thus leading officials of Foreign Affairs Office of the Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government and staff of the Secretariat of 21st-Century Maritime Cooperation Committee attended the virtual session on time. The session lasted for over 4 hours, attended by around 300 delegates from nearly 100 cities and local governments. Besides Fuzhou, there are another 10 Chinese members of the Executive Bureau attending, including Xi’an (UCLG Co-President), the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, etc.

The session was chaired by Mohamed Boudra, UCLG President and Mayor of Al Hoceima, Morocco. And Virginia Raggi, Mayor of Rome, Italy, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Maimunah Mohd. Sharif, United Nations Under Secretary-General and UN-Habitat Executive Director, Fabrizio Hochschild, United Nations Under Secretary-General and Special Advisor for the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations and other important speakers attended the session and delivered speeches. Mayor Raggi noted that local governments need to establish a new public health system with a particular focus on marginalized people. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros highlighted that the WHO will cooperate with UCLG to defeat the virus together.

Participants also had extensive discussions on UCLG working documents, such as Decalogue for the post COVID-19 era, UN75: Draft Visioning Report and Report of the 2020 UCLG Retreat. They stressed that it is necessary to strengthen the impact of cities and local governments, promote collaboration and coordination among cities around the world and uphold multilateralism, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and jointly address potential global crises in the future.