The first regional meeting of Mayors for Peace in Latin America held in the Colombian capital of Bogota on June 4th established a regional chapter of Mayors for Peace. Representatives from Bogota (Colombia), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Cartago (Costa Rica), Lima (Peru), Mexico City (Mexico) and Tegucigalpa (Honduras) participated as well as the coordinator of the UN Habitat Safer Cities program from the UN headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Summit was opened by a video message by President Matsui, Mayor of Hiroshima and the President of Mayors for Peace, in which he commended the City of Bogota for its leadership and vision in hosting the first regional Summit of Mayors for Peace. After the presentation of the results of a Mayors for Peace survey held in the region, concerning the regional integration of the global Mayors for Peace network, active discussions on how to promote Mayors for Peace and develop activities in the Latin American region were held.
The participants agreed on the following points:
– The Latin American chapter of Mayors for Peace is established.
– Bogota and Cartago are welcomed as new lead cities in the region following Mexico City and Santos (Brazil).
– The next and second regional meeting will be hosted by Mexico City during the first half of 2016.
– Subsequent technical secretariats will be housed in rotation by those city halls that host future regional meeting(s).
– Thus, the next technical secretariat of Mayors for Peace will be established in Mexico City until the next regional meeting.
The participants also approved the Bogota Peace Declaration, which supports the peace negotiations in Havana toward a peace agreement to put an end to the Colombian armed conflict. It also recognizes that nuclear weapons, together with climate change, are the most significant challenges that humanity faces today and calls on national governments to redirect military expenditures to satisfy the urgent needs of the local governments and their citizens. The Bogota Peace Declaration concludes that Latin American cities live with common problems such as unemployment, poverty, violence, phenomena related to migration, and proliferation of weapons which need to be addressed comprehensively by national and /or local governments.