Emilia Saiz is a lawyer by profession and has devoted her professional life to promoting the role of local governments in development, as well as fostering relationships among cities and their associations around the world. She began her journey as an international advocate for local government in 1997 at IULA, one of UCLG’s founding organizations.
She has led programs focused on institutional capacity development and decentralized cooperation, and has been an active promoter of women’s empowerment, social inclusion, and international partnerships.
She played a key role in the creation of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments and has represented local and regional authorities in major international processes such as Rio and Beijing
+20, as well as the Climate Agreement, the SDGs, and Habitat III.
Furthermore, she has been deeply involved in the institutional development of United Cities and Local Governments as a “network of networks.” During her tenure at the World Organization, she has been appointed to numerous panels, both personally and professionally. Notably, she has participated in Cities Alliance, the Global Partnership Alliance, and the Global Compact Cities Programme.
Her term as Secretary General of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) began in 2018. When asked about her priorities for the coming years, she mentions ensuring that global agendas are built upon local priorities, and that international action by local governments is understood as an indispensable means to meet local needs—with solidarity, justice, and accountability at the core.