• Home
  • About
  • News
  • The prize
    • The prize
    • Criteria and Selection Procedure
    • The Jury
    • Winner 2022
    • Winner 2019
    • Winner 2016
  • Apply
    • Apply
    • Eligibility Check
  • Publications
  • Contact
  • en
  • fr
  • es

The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace

May 1, 2025

Key Role of Cities and Territories in Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention

At the Municipal Peace Talks in 2024 the The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace was officially launched. Acknowledging the growing importance of cities and territories in fostering peace, this Charter on Municipal Peace builds on the principles from key international frameworks such as the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda, and the United Nations Future Summit, the UCLG Peace Prize, and forums like the Conference of City Diplomacy (2008, The Hague) and the Forum of Cities and Territories of Peace. As cities and territories are central to addressing challenges such as violence, inequality, and polarization, this Charter outlines an inspiring framework for municipal governments to lead peacebuilding, conflict prevention, and the promotion of inclusive societies.

The Charter consists of four parts:

  • Part 1: Preventing Radicalization and Polarization
  • Part 2: Tackling Urban Violences
  • Part 3: Reducing Disputes between Communities
  • Part 4: Migration and Human Mobility

Call to action

This Charter on Municipal Peace highlights the transformative power of cities and territories to build a more peaceful, just, equal, and inclusive world by addressing the root causes of violence, promoting participatory governance, and fostering social cohesion. Violence and conflicts can take many forms but are often linked to socio-economic and cultural injustices and inequalities. The key role of cities and territories in promoting peace and preventing conflicts must be strengthened through their capacity to prevent radicalization and polarization, combat urban violence, reduce disputes between communities, and promote sustainable human mobility. Cities and territories know their own contexts, realities and populations. They have the capacity to find innovative solutions for coexistence and partner with civil society, business community, NGOs, citizens initiatives and a long list of actors. Thus, we need better ways to incorporate the knowledge of cities and territories to national and international debates, forging co-decision systems/schemes that cocreate conditions for peacebuilding and conflict solution. Local governments have the capacity to play a key role in global efforts to prevent conflicts and foster peace; that is so because they know/understand their own communities and contexts better than other spheres of government. It is essential to move towards multi-level governance structures in which local governments actively participate in peacebuilding initiatives. The existence of numerous networks and initiatives highlights the richness and diversity of city diplomacy and decentralized cooperation. Ultimately, this Charter is a call to strengthen the role of local governments in peacebuilding, to advance towards just, inclusive, and peaceful societies, and to unite efforts to safeguard democracy and human rights.

Find the link to the whole The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace here: https://www.vng-international.nl//sites/default/files/The%20Hague%20Charter%20on%20Municipal%20Peace.pdf

Latest
news

The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace
May 1, 2025
Aftermovie UCLG Municipal Peace Talks
April 26, 2025
UCLG Municipal Peace Talks 2024
December 10, 2024

Latest
news

The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace
May 1, 2025
Aftermovie UCLG Municipal Peace Talks
April 26, 2025
UCLG Municipal Peace Talks 2024
December 10, 2024

UCLG Peace Prize

The Prize celebrates successful initiatives undertaken by local governments and stimulates others to follow suit.

Contact

UCLG Peace Prize Secretariat
VNG International

  • P.O. Box 30435
    2500 GK The Hague, The Netherlands
  • Tel.: + 31 70-373 8413
  • Email: Peace.Prize@VNG.NL 

Recent Post

The Hague Charter on Municipal Peace

Follow us

Copyright © 2025 | UCLG Peace Prize
All rights reserved
Site by Gopublic
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT