The Bureau of the Congress CG/BUR27(2019)321 20 June 2019 Candidates for the North-South Prize 2019 Document submitted for approval to the Bureau of the Congress on 28 June 2019 1 This document is classified confidential until it has been examined by the Bureau of the Congress Tel ► +33 (0)3 8841 2110 Fax ► +33 (0)3 8841 2719 [email protected] CG/BUR27(2019)32 North-South Prize 2019 The North-South Prize is awarded every year to two personalities (preferably one from the North and the other from the South, keeping, when possible, the gender balance). The Prize rewards their commitment to the defence and promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law as well as to the development of intercultural dialogue and the reinforcement of the North-South partnership and solidarity, in conformity with the principles and priorities of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. As institutional stakeholder of the North-South Centre, the Congress is invited to propose two candidates for the North South Prize 2019. List of possible nominations 1. Maroua DRIDI, Mayor of Menzel Abderrahman, Tunisia Maroua DRIDI has been Tunisia’s youngest mayor since the municipal elections of May 2018. Having trained as an architect, she has distinguished herself through her efforts to promote development in her municipality, through pipe-laying work and street-paving. Highlighting the problem of underfunding in the municipality, she managed to find 43 000 dinars worth of savings in the budget for improvements to the local football grounds and waived her right to an official car, transferring the funds thus freed up to the municipal council’s budget. Her priorities for her municipality are as follows: modernising administration and bringing services closer to citizens; streamlining the management of human and logistical resources; eradicating bureaucracy. She hopes to boost economic development in the local area by speeding up current projects and developing the industrial zone, in order to provide stable revenues for the municipality and create an environment conducive to investment. 2. Jean-René ETCHEGARAY, Mayor of Bayonne, France A lawyer specialising in public law, Mr ETCHEGARAY has been involved in local politics since the age of 23 and Mayor of Bayonne since 2014. As of 2017, Jean-René ETCHEGARAY is also the president of the intermunicipal authority of the Basque Country, which he was actively involved in creating. Mr Etchegaray is one of the people behind the strong show of solidarity in the region towards migrants arriving at the Pyrénéés-Atlantiques border, who significantly grew in number in 2018. In October that year, he converted the former Municipal Social Action Centre into a reception centre for migrants, to ensure they were treated with dignity in his town. His initiative is designed to address a failure on the part of central government to tackle security and humanitarian issues. He requested financial support from central government for the reception centre but was refused. Mr ETCHEGARAY has also worked hard to ensure a lasting peace process in the Basque Country. 3. Nabila HAMZA, Vice President of La Marsa City Council, Tunisia Elected in the municipal elections of 6 May 2018, Nabila HAMZA is the Vice-President of the Municipality of La Marsa. She is also a sociologist, feminist activist and expert, specialised in gender issues, social development and good governance. She has also worked on the links between women and terrorism. She was the President of the "Foundation for the Future", an association committed to strengthening civil society organisations in their efforts for the construction of democracy and the protection of human rights. In November 2011, the Arab-European Centre for Human Rights and International Law awarded her the "Arab Human Rights Prize 2011" for her efforts to strengthen human rights principles. She was Executive Director of the Arab Women's Centre for Training and Research (CAWTAR), a regional centre based in Tunisia and funded by UNDP, UNFPA and IPPF. Ms. HAMZA has worked as a consultant for UNDP, UNFPA, the European Commission and the Economic and Social Commission for East Asia. She has coordinated many regional programmes, such as the regional programme "Fight against violence against women" (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation). She worked as an expert for the Arab League for 10 years. 4. Anne HIDALGO, Mayor of Paris, France Anne HIDALGO has been Mayor of Paris since 5 April 2014. A long-standing activist for gender equality and climate action, she is the president of the C40 Cities network and launched the Women4Climate initiative, which aims to help 500 young women between now and 2020 to take bold climate action in the world’s largest cities. She was awarded the title “Mayor of Distinction” in the 2018 World Mayor. 2/5 CG/BUR27(2019)32 On 20 February 2019, she announced the creation of an international legal support platform for mayors across the globe wishing to take legal action in climate matters, particularly against states which fail to abide by the Paris Agreement. On 24 April 2019, she presented a letter signed by the mayors of 12 major French cities which calls on the state to accept its responsibilities and “guarantee migrants decent accommodation”. 5. Corine MAUCH, Mayor of Zurich, Switzerland Corine MAUCH was both the first woman to become Mayor of Zurich in 2009. The city of Zurich, the largest Swiss city, is described by the concept of "super diversity", with more than 45% of its residents of foreign origin. Following the significant increase in the number of refugees arriving since the end of 2015, the city has adopted an "Integration Policy 2015-2018" aimed at promoting equal integration and the provision of equal opportunities for all its residents, while promoting a welcoming culture that fights discrimination of all kinds and supports peaceful coexistence among citizens. This policy also includes a second component of "international commitment" through which Corine MAUCH intends to support Lebanese cities facing many difficulties in welcoming and integrating refugees. These actions included the renovation of a school in Homin el Fawkaa to accommodate more Syrian refugee children and a hospital in Kaakyet El Jeser, one of the poorest regions in Lebanon. The city of Zurich supports the port city of Tyre, in southern Lebanon, in the management of Syrian refugee flows. This international commitment is also reflected in the active participation of the City of Zurich in the Solidarity Cities network. In addition, in September 2018, the city of Zurich was the first Swiss city to put in place a comprehensive action plan for the equality and protection of the fundamental rights of trans people. Ms. MAUCH was a finalist for the 2018 World Mayor Prize. 6. Fatimetou MINT ABDEL MALICK, President of the regional council of Nouakchott, Mauritania Fatimetou MINT ABDEL MALICK is the president of Regional Council of Nouakchott since 2018 and she is the first woman to hold this position. She took part in the first UN-HABITAT General Assembly, held in Nairobi from 25 to 29 May 2019 where she pleaded for the anchoring of decentralisation and cooperation between member cities and all institutions or bodies interested in the issue for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. She also participated at the 2019 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction where she said that local and regional authorities should have a greater role to play in risk management and community organisation. She was mayor of Tevragh-Zeina from 2001 to 2018, making her the first woman in her country to hold this position. She was President of REFELA - the Network of African Local Elected Women (REFELA) from 2012 to 2015. She is specially involved in the empowerment of women, environmental protection, and social cohesion. 7. Fadhel MOUSSA, Mayor of Ariana, Tunisia Fadhel MOUSSA is a passionate human rights lawyer and former dean of the School of Law, Political and Social Sciences at the University of Tunis. He was a member of the National Constituent Assembly between 2012-2014, during which time he participated in the drafting of a new constitution. Elected as Mayor of Ariana on an independent list in May 2018, he launched the project “Smart City for Ariana” in November 2018, which aims to introduce a series of applications to facilitate municipal action and interactive communication with citizens. He aims to make the city a good place to live which fulfils its population’s expectations of well-being. On 8 May 2019, he entered into a partnership with the financial services and rating agency PBR Rating to promote transparent financial management in the municipality. He firmly believes in the importance of the local level when it comes to supporting the achievements of the Tunisian transition: “The democratic transition has lost momentum at national level and has, unfortunately, failed to achieve its objectives. But municipalities can breathe new life into it. And the political parties, weakened by a poor image, can recover at local level and act, with and for the people.” 8. Michael MÜLLER, Governing Mayor of Berlin, Germany Michael MÜLLER has been the Governing Mayor of Berlin since 11 December 2014. Mr MÜLLER has been particularly active on the issue of refugee integration. It was during his term of office, in January 2019, that the City of Berlin joined the international network “Solidarity Cities” which works to support the reception and integration of refugees and asylum seekers. It was also during his time in office that the Land of Berlin drafted a strategy document for the integration and participation of refugees, covering 3/5 CG/BUR27(2019)32 the following areas: reception, housing, health care, child and family welfare, education and access to the labour market, social integration and participation.