Crisis responses

Partnership AL-LAS, international joint responses to global crisis

Rosa Arlene María

Expert in Urban Strategic Thinking at CIDEU

Paola Andrea Arjona

Director of the Euro-Latin American Alliance for City-to-City Cooperation

Nelson Fernández

General Coordinator of Al-Las

Marlène Siméon

Director of Platforma, Regional and Local International Action

Jorge Rodríguez

Member of Mercociudades

Greg Munro

Secretary General of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Fernando Nívia Ruiz

Consultant at the Euro-Latin American Alliance for City-to-City Cooperation

Emmanuelle Pinault

Director of City Diplomacy, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

Edgar Bernal

Member of the National Planning Department, Colombia

Agustí Fernández de Losada

Researcher and Director of CIDOB's Global Cities Programme

Octavi de la Varga

Secretary General of Metropolis

Emilia Saiz

Secretary-General of UCLG

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Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a multidimensional global emergency due to its rapid spread in all regions of the world. In this context, horizontal cooperation, networks and solidarity are key elements to face the impact of this crisis. In this sense, the responsibility for establishing measures to prevent the spread of the virus, as well as for subsequent recovery, falls on local and regional governments.

The AL-Las initiative, led by the Government of the Municipality of Montevideo, was created in response to these objectives and consists of an alliance of cities and local government institutions in Europe and Latin America to promote a new form of international action and cooperation from the local level. The alliance seeks to highlight the role played by city networks, as well as their complementary potential in the international action of local governments.

The cities that make up this alliance are Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and the Government of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil; Lima, Peru; Madrid, Spain; Medellin, Colombia; Mexico City, Mexico; Paris, France and Quito, Ecuador, as well as the European networks of United Cities of France and the Andalusian Fund of Municipalities for International Solidarity.

 

12

entities participating in the AL-LAS initiative

27

collaborators worldwide

Challenges

  • Responding to global crises, beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, requires joint and articulated international action by local governments.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic demands that local governments increase their efforts to find responses to the crisis and to anticipate the consequences that are still unknown.
  • Cities need to strengthen their strategies to cope with the impact of the crisis. To this end, international action is a key element in contributing to the recovery and subsequent development.
  • In order to contribute to the fulfillment of local development agendas in the different territories, access to knowledge and the exchange of experiences and innovative practices that generate effective solutions is needed. This requires a dynamic of joint collaboration and cooperation between cities.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic, although it began as a health crisis, has turned into a socioeconomic crisis. Among other consequences, this has resulted in an economic slowdown, as well as a drop in productive activity, employment and income. In Latin America, the World Bank estimates that up to 115 million people in the world will remain in a state of extreme poverty.

Learn more about the challenges being faced by cities and regions

Learn more about other responses and initiatives in terms of Migration:

Towards the Pact

  • In the face of a post-pandemic agenda, it is necessary to ask whether all local networks have the same agenda and what are the existing approaches to meet the challenges ahead.
  •  Decentralization of networks is a key element to face uncertainty, economic and social challenges, and ecological transition in a resilient way.
  •  Beyond the concrete agenda, a debate on principles and values that inspire the Agenda needs to be addressed.
  •  Looking to the future, it is necessary to move from contingency to the need to make policy by taking a long-term view and considering the concrete agendas of cities and their capacity to operate.
  • In the short term, it is important to continue taking advantage of open spaces in the multilateral system and to influence other spaces of power (C2, Bretton Woods, etc.) to build alliances that can have an impact on the urban agenda. In this sense, it will be essential to create alliances with civil society, private organizations, national governments, academic institutions, etc.

For further information on the topic of Public Service Delivery and its impact on cities and regions, please refer to the related resources included below.

Frontliners

Rosa Arlene María

Expert in Urban Strategic Thinking at CIDEU

Paola Andrea Arjona

Director of the Euro-Latin American Alliance for City-to-City Cooperation

Nelson Fernández

General Coordinator of Al-Las

Marlène Siméon

Director of Platforma, Regional and Local International Action

Jorge Rodríguez

Member of Mercociudades

Greg Munro

Secretary General of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum

Fernando Nívia Ruiz

Consultant at the Euro-Latin American Alliance for City-to-City Cooperation

Emmanuelle Pinault

Director of City Diplomacy, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group

Edgar Bernal

Member of the National Planning Department, Colombia

Agustí Fernández de Losada

Researcher and Director of CIDOB's Global Cities Programme

Octavi de la Varga

Secretary General of Metropolis

Emilia Saiz

Secretary-General of UCLG