It is my great pleasure to invite you to the 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum, which will be held from October 10th-13th here in Gwangju, with the theme ‘Climate Crisis and Human Rights’.

Gwangju, a city of democracy, human rights, and peace, has hosted the World Human Rights Cities Forum annually since 2011. The Forum seeks to share the vision of ‘Human Rights City Gwangju’, based on the spirit of the May 18 Democratization Movement in 1980 and the Declaration of the Asian Human Rights Charter in Gwangju in 1998.

This year we will discuss the issue of the climate crisis, to search for human rights-based action plans toward a sustainable future together before it is too late.
In this regard, the Forum will focus on the following four points:

① What are the major human rights issues linked to the climate crisis?
② Who are more vulnerable to the crisis?
③ What are innovative actions that can be taken to counter the crisis?
④ How can we promote international solidarity to cope with the crisis?

In finding and implementing action plans at local and global levels, I want to emphasize the importance of solidarity and collaboration among local governments.

As such, it is my great pleasure to cordially invite you to the 12th World Human Rights Cities Forum, to share your experiences and insights with like-minded local government officials, human rights experts and activists.
I sincerely hope to meet you in Gwangju in October.
Thank you.

KANG Gi-jung
Mayor, Gwangju city