UN Alliance of Civilizations Partners Forum was held in Istanbul and UCLG President met UN Secretary-General 6.06.2012

The Partners Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UN AoC) convened in Istanbul, Turkey on 31 May – 1st June 2012, at the invitation of Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of Turkey, and was co-chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. A special session of the Forum, entitled as “The Alliance of Civilizations, Cities, Citizens” was dedicated to cities, local governments.

70 countries, 15 international organizations, and a significant number of corporations, foundations and NGOs took part in the Forum, affirming the Alliance’s position as a global platform for cross-cultural dialogue and cooperation at a time of growing global interdependence.

More than half of those present pledged new support for the Alliance’s work – both financial and in kind, thereby enabling the Alliance to better plan its future activities and consolidate existing projects. Additionally, participants discussed a wide range of topics relevant to the mandate of the Alliance, including commonly shared values essential for coexistence, cities and diversifying local governance, and the role of the private sector in supporting cross-cultural activities.

Moderated by Mr. Josep ROIG, UCLG Secretary General, the Session on “The Alliance of Civilizations, Cities, Citizens” had Dr. Kadir TOPBAŞ, Mayor of Istanbul, Turkey, President of UCLG and UNACLA; Mr. Khalifa Ababacar SALL, Mayor of Dakar, Senegal and the UCLG Vice-President for Africa; Ms.Linda LEES, Founder and Director, Creative Cities International, USA; Mr. Lütfü SAVAŞ, Mayor of Antakya, Turkey; and Ms. Snezana SAMARDZIC-MARKOVIC, Council of Europe's Director General for democracy, as main speakers.

President TOPBAŞ renewed to President SAMPAIO, UN Alliance of Civilizations High Representative, UCLG´s commitment with the work of Alliance and the promotion of peace and dialogue.
 
Later on, the President of UCLG hosted the UN Secretary-General and his spouse for dinner in his residence and took the opportunity to share information on local and regional authorities´ inputs in Rio+20. The President also invited the Secretary-General to the Urban Summit taking place on 18 June in Rio.