The jury of the UCLG City of Bogotá Peace Prize consists of the following people:
- Mr. Wim Deetman, Former mayor The Hague, former chair of the UCLG Committee on City Diplomacy
- Dr. Tarik Kupusović, former Mayor of Sarajevo
- Prof. Rafael Grasa, Professor of International Relations of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and former President of the International Catalan Institute for Peace
- Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, Deputy Director of UN Habitat, Former Mayor of Kigali
- Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, former Joint Special Representative of the UN and the Arab League in Syria, former UN Special Envoy in Iraq, former UN Special Representative in Afghanistan
- Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, former Mayor of Hiroshima, and former president of Mayors for Peace
- Ms. Janny Vlietstra, former Senator in the Netherlands, former Mayor and former Vice-President of the Municipal Platform for Peace
This jury was represented at the UCLG Congress by Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, Prof. Rafael Grasa and Ms. Janny Vlietstra. As delegation of the jury, they received the full mandate of the other jury members to choose the winner on their behalf. The jury meeting was chaired by Ton Rombouts, Mayor of ‘s Hertogenbosch, Chair of the Commission for International and European Affairs of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities and Vice-Chair of the UCLG Committee on Development Cooperation and City Diplomacy. Daan Stelder of the Peace Prize secretariat was present to provide further support.
The jury members express their strong appreciation of all finalists’ projects and presentations. All five shortlisted local governments showcased inspiring examples of the diverse range of ways in which local governments can contribute to peacebuilding and peacemaking at the local level. Every single one of these local governments is therefore considered to be of the quality of a winner, and deemed worthy of recognition and support. The jury commends the local government staff involved for their resolve and creativity in contributing to the prevention and resolution of conflict, and fostering a culture of peace at the local government level.
While all finalists displayed a quality that deserves the spotlight, the UCLG City of Bogotá Peace Prize ultimately can only have one winning candidate. The jury has selected the municipality of Kauswagan from the Philippines as the winner of this first edition of the prize.
