Congress Secretary General Mathieu Mori addressed the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM) Annual Summit 2023 on “Empowering, Engaging and Caring Cities: Delivering Democracy and Development with the Next Generation” that took place on 18 November 2023 in Skopje, North Macedonia. The GPM Summit brought together mayors from around the world to highlight the important role of cities in building a democratic, sustainable and inclusive world.

In his keynote speech at the opening of the Summit, the Secretary General emphasized the important role young people should play in decision-making processes, starting from local level. “The Congress is the first, and so far the only pan-European political assembly to directly integrate youth delegates in its plenary sessions,” he pointed out, using as an example Congress Youth Delegate from North Macedonia who was attending the Summit. The Secretary General also underscored that strengthening and defending democracy, and promoting citizen participation at  local level was more crucial than ever in the face of current and upcoming challenges, and that the GPM Summit played an important role in making citizens’ voices heard.

On the occasion of the Summit, the Secretary General met with President of North Macedonia Stevo Pendarovski, and held bilateral meetings with Mayor of Skopje Danela Arsovska, Chair of GPM Summit and Mayor of Braga (Portugal) Ricardo Rio, the North Macedonian association of local Authorities (ZELS), the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS) as well as the Director and Founder of the Human Rights Cities Network Frederique Hanotier.  

Secretary General Mori also opened the Ceremony of the Benjamin Barber Award, which was won by Mayor of Banjul (Gambia) Rohey Malik Lowe.