Joburg's executive mayor Amos Masondo is now a co-president of the United Cities of Local Government (Photo: Enoch Lehung, City of Johannesburg)

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Masondo takes on international role Johannesburg's mayor has joined his colleagues from four other major international cities as co-president of the United Cities of Local Government. He represents Africa on the world body. November 6, 2007 By Millicent Kgowedi AMOS MASONDO, Joburg's executive mayor, has added another job to his already busy schedule. He has been appointed a co-president of the United Cities of Local Government (UCLG), along with four other mayors. The UCLG is the world body of cities and national associations of local government; Masondo was appointed to represent Africa at the second UCLG world congress held at the island of Jeju in South Korea, on Wednesday, 31 October. The first citizen of Joburg, who is the chairperson of the South African Local Government Association, has captained other international organisations and is the immediate past president of the International Council for Local Environment Initiatives (ICLEI). The council is an international association of more than 630 cities, towns, countries, national and regional local government organisations committed to locally designed initiatives for sustainable development. Masondo represents Africa in the UCLG. The four other co-presidents are the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, representing the European region; the mayor of Quito, Paco Moncayo Gallegos, representing the Latin American region; the mayor of Istanbul, Kadir Topbas, representing the Middle Eastern region; and the mayor of Guangzhou, Zhang Guangning, representing the Asian-Pacific region. Founded in May 2004 with its headquarters in Barcelona, Spain, the UCLG counts 136 countries as members out of the 191 United Nations member states. It is the voice of local government on the world stage and a supporter of democratic local self-government. The organisation's programme of action includes increasing the role and influence of local government and its representatives, and promoting democratic, effective and innovative local government close to citizens. This is done through facilitating programmes, networks and partnerships to build the ability of local government, promoting the role of women in local decision-making, and serving as a gateway to relevant information on local government across the world. Its objectives in the African region include ensuring effective political discussions between local and central governments, civil society and the international community, to promote small groupings and address development issues more effectively. Through his co-presidency, Masondo aims to draw attention to Africa's environmental and urbanisation challenges, decentralisation, city diplomacy, local government and gender issues. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za