The intervention of Ahmed Abulaban, City Director of Ramallah, cut through the policy language of the session. Speaking of life under siege in Gaza and daily attacks in the West Bank, they thanked cities for maintaining ties. “Your solidarity matters,” they said. “Your voice gives us strength.”
The exchange drew attention to Barcelona District 11, cited during the discussions as a concrete example of city-to-city cooperation with Palestinian municipalities. Barcelona has ten administrative districts; “District 11” is the name given to a newly announced international cooperation platform, framing the city’s global action as an extension of its territorial governance beyond municipal borders.
Barcelona District 11 channels the city’s international engagement towards cities and territories facing conflict or crisis, prioritising long-term partnerships over ad hoc support. It operates through technical cooperation between municipal departments, institutional partnerships with local authorities and support for local public services under strain, aiming to strengthen administrative capacity and continuity of local governance.
In the Palestinian context, this has meant sustained institutional links with municipalities operating under severe constraints, keeping channels of cooperation open when national and multilateral frameworks are stalled or contested. More broadly, District 11 formalises Barcelona’s practice of city diplomacy: using municipal competences — planning, public services and technical expertise — as tools of international solidarity.
The political relevance of such cooperation was underscored in the room. In contexts of violence and isolation, maintaining city-to-city ties preserves institutional visibility and continuity for local governments under pressure.
As global multilateralism becomes more fragmented, initiatives like District 11 show how the municipal movement is practising networked governance in concrete terms. The moment in the room was a reminder that behind every framework of cooperation are real municipalities facing real constraints — and that for cities, solidarity is part of how they govern.