Mexico City Mayor Ebrard Advocates Safer Cities Leticia Paula Cruz - Rumbo de Mexico
go to original September 6, 2012

Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard (Wikipedia)

MEXICO CITY – Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard proposed on Tuesday the creation of the World Safe City Fund to help mayors around the world combat escalating violence in their cities.

Ebrard made the announcement during the first meeting of the Global Network of Safer Cities (GNSC) in Naples, Italy, which is being held under the auspices of the 6th annual World Urban Forum. Ebrard will serve as president of the GNSC through 2016.

At the meeting, Ebrard said that the institutional structure of governments must change so that cities and local governments can assume a more important role in local decision making. He said that his plan would require an overhaul of the way cities and local governments are financed, adding that currently cities do not have enough access to international capital.

The mayor pointed to recent programs implemented by Mexico City’s government that he said have helped reduce crime, while violence and theft in other cities throughout the country have skyrocketed.

One of the capital’s success stories, Ebrard added, is “Yes Prep!,” which provides financial help to low-income students and has contributed to a significant reduction in the number of children who drop out of high school.

“In financial terms, this investment has been much lower than what we have spent in the modernization of our police forces, but it has been much more effective in fighting crime,” Ebrard said.

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