April 5-7, 2023 | New Delhi – UCLG ASPAC and the All India Institute of Local-Self Governments (AIILSG) co-organised the 6th Asian Cities Summit 2023 aiming to build a better urban future with collaborations and collective actions and engage cities from the entire Asia and Pacific. This event attracted the interest of over 400 delegates from more than 25 countries.
The Summit preceded with the Third Women Leadership Workshop (WLW) 2023 organised on April 5, 2023, where experts from Asia came together to discuss and address some of the major issues on the road towards women’s empowerment. WLW brought up discussions on ‘Women, Power and Leadership’, ‘Importance of Quota for Women in Politics’ and ‘Women Entrepreneurship and Wellness’.
Organised sessions spotlighted various themes such as ‘Collective Urban Response to Evolving Crises,’ ‘EU Support to Climate Smart and Inclusive Urbanism in India’ and ‘India’s Urban Transformation: Opportunities and Challenges,’ ‘Developing Smart PPPs in Cities’ and other relevant topics.
Dr. Bernadia encouraged Asian city leaders at the Summit to discuss ways to make cities more inclusive and climate-resilient. The Secretary-General also highlighted the efforts of AIILSG to bring together local government leaders in Asia by providing a platform for knowledge sharing and mutual learning as well as building resilient cities to tackle the evolving urban challenges. She also congratulated the Government of India for taking the leadership of the G20 for period of 2023, which will provide greater role for local governments in contributing to the global perspective.
Mr. Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General of AIILSG, shared about the institution’s work in local governance and municipal capacity building. He earmarked the strengthened capacity of India’s local governments in addressing the urban issues towards sustainable and resilient cities.
Speakers underlined that Asia will see rapid urbanisation in coming years; thus, cities need to be well prepared to handle the issues emerging from these challenges and strengthen urban local governance system to make cities resilient. In the end of the Summit, Dr. Bernadia also delivered the closing speech highlighting the success of the Summit as well as encouraging the strengthened partnership among city leaders in Asia and the Pacific to address the current challenges and to leverage the opportunities for better future.