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Bilbao joins the governing board of the UCLG, the largest world organisation of cities and local governments

The city of Bilbao has played a major role during the World Council that the United Cities and Local Government (UCLG) organisation has been holding in the Chinese city of Beijing from 8th to 10th June. This association, that includes capitals and regions that represent half the citizens on earth, has asked Bilbao to join its Executive Bureau, its main governing body.

The regional authorities present in Beijing have backed Bilbao's promotion to join the main management body of UCLG in order to help the capital of Bizkaia with the organisation of the World Summit against the Digital Divide, to be held from the 9th to 11th of November. This backing is particularly important given that the cities and local governments of 127 countries, out of the 191 states that belong to the UN, are represented in this organisation.

Bilbao leads the way in digital solidarity

Furthermore, Bilbao will head the UCLG’s work on plans relating to the Information Society. The World Council of this organisation has defined its future action into six areas that it considers to be fundamental for the equal development of all the citizens in the world. One of these areas is that of new communication technologies and it has set up an Information Society Commission, whose vice-president will be Bilbao, to develop a plan of action.

This Commission has established two lines of work for the coming months. Priority is being given to Digital Solidarity, so that all the world's inhabitants can enjoy their universal right to equal opportunities to use the Internet. The second line has been defined in the Local Digital Agenda, where the Commission has already approved a plan of action which each local authority should implement in its city or region to fight against the digital divide and achieve the development of the Information Society. These measures shall be ratified tomorrow, Friday, by the UCLG World Council and shall be added to the final Plan of Action that will emerge from the Bilbao Summit, where contributions will be made by representatives from all the continents.

The "II World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society" in Bilbao will be attended by over 2,000 representatives of cities and local authorities from the five continents. Days after the congress in Bilbao, the World Summit on the Information Society will be held in Tunis, where the strategy for digital solidarity designed by the local institutions will be set out for the governments of the countries. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, will be one of the first to receive this message and will transmit it to the different governments.

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