What is the relevance of the International Habitat Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean (CIHALC)?

After the World Urban Forum (WUF 11) convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) at the end of June 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, the University of Guadalajara, and UN-Habitat itself, announced that the International Habitat Summit for Latin America and the Caribbean (CIHALC) would take place from August 22 to 24, 2022, based in Guadalajara, Jalisco.

Said event will be focused on the analysis and exchange of experiences of cities in the region regarding urban issues in relation to the New Urban Agenda. In the words of Bernd Pfannenstein, CIHALC coordinator, it is intended to establish this meeting as an annual celebration to achieve shared agendas between civil society, private initiative, the government sector and the academic sector in favor of better decisions.

The announcement about this event represents the culmination of the efforts of the interested parties, and especially of the local governments, that they have carried out during 2021 and part of 2022 in terms of urbanization; The Zapopan Urban Forum stands out in the first instance, where for five days during the month of August 2021 more than 200 speakers from different countries met to talk about the future of cities, their development, security, opportunities, and decentralized international cooperation. .

Secondly, we can point to the different forums called Route to CIHALC promoted by Mexican local governments and UN-Habitat, whose center of interest was the interconnection between smart cities and the dissemination of cooperation on urban issues for the strengthening of local agendas and compliance with the New Urban Agenda.

Finally, there are other forums, talks, and meetings of local governments with the aim of exchanging opinions, experiences, as well as points of view to contribute to the improvement of local public management, such as the Forum of Local and Regional Governments in the Agenda 2030, organized by United Cities and Local Governments; the XXIV CIDEU Bogotá Congress entitled "Cities that Care for People, the Planet, and Democracy", among others.

The realization of the CIHALC in Guadalajara brings to the table different conclusions: the relevance of Mexican local governments in the field of paradiplomacy; the collaboration between academia and the government to develop fruitful projects in terms of territorial attraction; the momentum that decentralized cooperation has acquired and the discussions around it for the strengthening of local governments after the year 2020; and the concern of decision makers to build resilience to future natural or man-made disasters from the local sphere.

Regarding the relevance of Mexican local governments in terms of paradiplomacy, it can be mentioned that Guadalajara has been a pioneer in carrying out this type of activity since the end of the 20th century, consolidating its name around the world and developing relevant projects. An example of this is the PACmetro initiative recently awarded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In turn, this professionalization of paradiplomacy has had the support of the academy, represented by the University of Guadalajara, which teaches the Master's Degree in International Relations of Governments and Local Actors, in addition to being the cradle of the Territorial Attractiveness Program and City Brand project. .

Regarding the momentum that decentralized cooperation has acquired after 2020, and the concerns of decision makers to establish resilient governments in the face of future natural or man-made disasters, it is reiterated that in recent months there has been an increase in this types of activities, meetings, forums in which strengthening the local sphere is at the center of discussion.

Finally, for all of the above mentioned, it can be expected that the International Habitat Summit in Latin America and the Caribbean will make a forceful contribution to the urban development of the towns on this continent, being a watershed for future agreements on urban planning, various forums of discussion, and most importantly, concrete actions to save our planet. The wheel has already started to turn and we are more than ready to face whatever lies ahead.