Emilia Saiz

Emilia Saiz is a jurist by profession and has devoted her professional life to promoting the role of local governments in development as well as fostering relations between cities and their associations worldwide.
She started her journey as local government international advocate in the founding organization of UCLG, IULA in 1997.
She has led programmes dedicated to institutional capacity building and decentralized cooperation. She has actively promoted women empowerment, social inclusion and international partnerships.
She played a critical role in setting up the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments and has followed and represented local and regional governments in iconic international processes.
Her mission as Secretary General of UCLG started in 2018. Her priorities for coming years are ensuring that the global agendas are built from local priorities with solidarity, justice and accountability at the centre.