The sub-forum entitled "Urban Social Safety Nets and Community Governance" inside the 2023 Global Mayors' Forum was held on December 9.
Representatives from nine cities, including Bogotá of Colombia and Gwangju of South Korea, were invited to share their innovative practices in community management and improving the livelihood of residents, particularly focusing on vulnerable groups.
Claudia López Hernández, Mayor of Bogotá, Columbia, introduced the Bogotá Care Blocks project, which led to the city being shortlisted in the 6th Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation. To enhance the economic autonomy of women who serve as primary caregivers, the project operates mainly through Care Blocks, employing an "ease-of-access" approach. This approach offers educational, leisure and income-generation services to caregivers, while simultaneously offering professional assistance to the individuals they care for – children, people with disabilities, and the elderly.
Kang Gi Jung, Mayor of Gwangju, South Korea, also introduced their shortlisted project, named "Gwangjuness Community Care," which aims to provide care for everyone in need. Dong-office (smallest administrative division) care managers visit individuals in their homes, check their situation, and apply for needed services. Gwangju has launched 16 new care services and plans to allocate an annual budget of 7.74 million USD to encourage citizens facing economic hardship to make use of these care services. "Care Call" has been launched as a single application channel to increase convenience.
In addition, representatives from Tharaka Nithi County in Kenya, Ramallah in Palestine, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation in India, Cape Town in South Africa, Victoria in Seychelles, Jakarta in Indonesia and China also shared the practices of their cities to improve community governance and social safety nets through innovative mechanisms and improvements in education. Their projects cover a variety of aspects including food system resilience, urban infrastructure, vulnerable group care and community management.
Zhao Longyue, Dean of the School of International Governance Innovation of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, told GDToday that the sub-forum involved different cities around the globe and enabled people to understand each other, including their history, their culture, and their new methodology and thinking. "We learn from each other, understand each other, and promote the cooperation of each other, and eventually we can improve the whole situation and keep the world better and better," he said.
The event was organized by the School of International Governance Innovation of the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, while the panel discussion was hosted by GDToday.
Reported by Jasmine
Video by Zhang Tianxiong
Edited by Olivia, James
