The UCLG Congress was a unique opportunity to celebrate the 15th anniversary of FMDV, the Global Fund for Cities Development, and to recognize its work during the last session of the World Council.
Sello Dada Morero, President of FMDV and Mayor of Johannesburg, said: “This is not simply a birthday but also a handover. We are here to open the next chapter, to translate local needs into the language of national agendas. We cannot ask local communities to do more and more while money is out of their reach. Instead, let us make this the age of territorial finance and invest where transformation actually happens.”
Carlos de Freitas, Executive Director of FMDV, affirmed this: “When we change the way finance works, we change the way development happens. Together, we can give our territories the future that they deserve.” Emilia Saiz, Secretary General of UCLG, expressed that for UCLG, FMDV means family, “a catalyst that transforms local ambitions into stable, investable realities. It’s a bridge between cities’ need and the financial resources required to meet them; an innovator that has challenged traditional approaches to municipal finance; a trusted partner and a pioneer.”
Read more about FMDV: https://www.financeyourcities.org/
