December 18, 2025 | UCLG ASPAC, serves as the coordinator of the Asia-Pacific Local Government Coordinating Body (APLG), organised the APLG Consultation Meeting on Thursday, December 18, 2025, in Jakarta. The meeting was held in a hybrid format, enabling active participation from representatives attending both in person and online.
The consultation brought together representatives from APLG members and partners, including CityNet, C40, ICLEI, UCLG Eurasia, UNDRR, UNU, and other regional and international stakeholders. Participants welcomed the initiative and expressed strong support for developing the APLG Platform as a shared, strategic space to enhance coordination, collaboration, and collective action among local government networks across the Asia-Pacific region.
In her welcoming remarks, Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC, underscored the increasingly complex challenges faced by cities and local governments and the need for stronger governance frameworks supported by effective knowledge-sharing mechanisms. “Local governments today are confronted with interconnected challenges that require not only technical responses, but also stronger governance systems, better coordination, and platforms that allow cities to learn from one another,” she stated.
Throughout the consultation, members actively shared perspectives, concerns, and technical inputs to ensure that the APLG Platform is developed in line with its original objectives and target users. Discussions focused on how the platform can be integrated and inclusive, while deliberately avoiding duplication or overlap with existing platforms operated by individual organisations. Participants highlighted the importance of complementarity, interoperability, and clarity of roles to ensure that the platform adds value and strengthens collective impact.
Participants also emphasised that the platform should serve as a facilitating mechanism, connecting existing initiatives rather than replacing them, and enabling deeper collaboration across advocacy, cooperation, and capacity-building functions. The strong engagement reflected a shared understanding that the platform must move beyond parallel or fragmented efforts and instead support coordinated and purpose-driven collaboration among members.
Dr. Bernadia further highlighted the role of APLG as a regional coordinating mechanism, providing a neutral and inclusive space for alignment and dialogue among diverse local government networks.“APLG plays an important role in bringing different networks together, aligning priorities, and strengthening cooperation across the Asia-Pacific region,” she added.
The consultation marked an important initial step in gathering collective perspectives before moving into the platform design and development phase. Inputs generated from this meeting will inform the next stages of work, including refining the platform’s scope, structure, and governance arrangements. The APLG Consultation Meeting concluded with a shared commitment among members and partners to collaboratively shape an APLG Platform that effectively serves its objectives and responds to the evolving needs of local governments across the region.
