From 11 June to 13 June the delegation of Latvian Association of Local and Regional Government (LALRG) participates at the meeting of the Policy Committee of Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) and at the international conference “Equality, diversity and inclusion” in Bilbao (Spain).
Main topics on the agenda of the Policy Committee of CEMR were evaluation of the action plan 2018, the agenda of the CEMR Retreat in September which will work out guidelines for the organization's development. The Policy Committee also continued the ongoing discussion on the budget of the European Union (EU) after 2020.
The international conference “Equality, diversity and inclusion” is organised by CEMR and its slogan is “Difference unite us!”. The programme consists of 33 sessions and a hundred speakers (60% women) including representatives of cities, European institutions and international bodies such as UN Women, the European Institute for Gender Equality and the Coalition of cities against racism, among others.
The debates tackle themes that are extremely current and of local interest, amongst which special mention can be made of: political participation of women, security in public spaces and social networks, the rights of the LGBT collective, inclusion in the labour market, integration of immigrants and open government.
Over 500 local and regional European representatives debate on Equality, Inclusion and Diversity in this conference, to draw to a close on 13 June with the presentation of the conclusions document.
Mudīte Priede
LALRG Secretary General