“Social inclusion is at the core of our agenda. We intend to guarantee the rights of the most vulnerable by expanding opportunities for social and productive inclusion, particularly for women, youngsters and families. We aim to gradually overcome the socio-economic and spatial exclusion, discrimination and segregation that prevent a free, collectively sustainable and happy life. It is necessary to collaborate and exchange knowledge with other cities and institutions around the world, to learn from experience and implement informed and improved public policies.”
– Mayor Claudia López
Claudia López was elected Mayor of Bogotá in October 2019 and started her mandate on the 1st of January 2020. She is the city’s first female mayor and also the first openly gay mayor in Bogotá’s history. She has an emphatic focus on environmental, social and anticorruption issues.
Mayor López was a Senator of the Republic of Colombia between 2014 and 2018 and the vice-presidential candidate in the 2018 presidential election for the Green Alliance party. As a senator, she set an example in the fight against corruption, and became a prominent figure in the political arena. She is recognised for her tenacity and enormous capacity for collective action, which led her into academia and public service.
Prior to commencing her political career, Ms López worked as a journalist, researcher and political analyst. She studied Finance, Public Administration and Political Science at the Universidad Externado de Colombia. She has a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Urban Policy from Columbia University and a PhD in Political Science from Northwestern University in the United States.
In May 2020, the Bogotá City Council approved Mayor López’s Development Plan. The plan emphasises collective action and civic culture to address social and environmental challenges, to promote an open government, fight corruption, and build caring institutions that can contribute to a more inclusive and sustainable society. The plan has five objectives: to provide equal opportunities, change habits to mitigate climate change, to implement Colombia’s peace agreements, facilitate sustainable mobility, and provide transparent and open governance.
Seeking to provide equal opportunities, Mayor López promotes gender equality and inclusion through measures to prevent the disproportionate burden of care roles (both caring for dependents and unpaid work within the home) on women, 11 measures specifically tackling discrimination against LGBTI individuals, and the introduction of financial instruments and guidelines to guarantee inclusion and strengthen employment opportunities for the LGBTI community.
Mayor López is also committed to tackling violence towards women and LGBTI communities, combatting institutional racism and xenophobia, recognising Indigenous and Afro communities, and the effective inclusion of senior citizens and people with disabilities.
The city of Bogotá is implementing two programs to promote the digitalisation of SMEs and entrepreneurs. The programs will offer training in digital marketing, channels for online sales, and provide logistics and credit solutions to expand their markets.
Despega Bogotá provides access to an online sales platform for SMEs, marketing campaigns, a logistics solution for sales, online training in finance, management, and digital skills, and access to tailor-made credit and insurance. The program works through the online app CIVICO, which implements digital campaigns and seeks to reach 30,000 SMEs and entrepreneurs.
MiBogotáWeek promotes the products of SMEs on the Mercado Libre digital platform and the businesses benefit from the electronic commerce. MiBogotáWeek trains companies in online sales, and marketing, and logistics. The companies receive professional photographs of their products and a 30% discount on the platform’s sales commission for 90 days. The only requirements to be a beneficiary of the program are to have an email address and a bank account, and to produce or distribute merchandise. The program intends to reach 5,000 SMEs this year.
Bogotá seeks to increase access to these programs by providing training in online sales, finance, marketing, and management skills to informal SMEs, and create digital platforms where they can see their business grow.
Mayor Claudia López, has made the climate crisis a political priority and aims to reduce greenhouse gases by 50% by 2030, and achieve full decarbonisation by 2050.
Bogotá’s Development Plan provides a new framework for a 30-minute city, green corridors and green districts. The plan ensures a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and protects against the recovery worsening the climate crisis. All programs, projects, and decisions must consider their impact on the environment and contribute to the circular economy.
The city is prioritising green job creation to restore its main ecological structure and develop a circular economy and sustainable food supply. It also aims to reduce particulate matter in Bogotá by 10% and, in the southwest of the city, by 18%.
Bogotá aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2024.
Mayor López plans to use an economic recovery package to create jobs supporting environmental initiatives and to attract green investments for employment creation.
Bogotá’s public transport network is also transforming to reduce pollution and improve the quality of life for city residents. The city is adding two bus lines, building a subway network, cable cars, and updating and expanding (by 226km) cycling routes.
Basic income
Introduced in March, 2020, Bogotá’s Solidarity System was originally set-up to provide a basic income to those unable to meet living costs as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown. Mayor Lopez plans to transition this into a basic income program to reduce the impacts of poverty on women, and reduce inequality in the city. The system was implemented by the city authority, with help from the banking sector, following analysing national and local databases, and telephone confirmation.
Opportunities for Young People
Mayor López aims to provide opportunities for vulnerable young people, aged 14 – 28 years, that are not in education, employment or training, and are at risk of juvenile delinquency. The program aims to encourage 50,000 young people to take up training and education activities, and to provide improved social services to this age group.
Housing
USD $52.4 million is being invested to build 10,500 housing units in the next four years, with priority given to households headed by women, people with disabilities, victims of armed conflict, the ethnic population and the elderly. A housing improvement program has also been implemented to improve household sanitary services, increasing the number of washbasins in the most deprived households of the city, allowing the most vulnerable population to follow basic hygiene procedures, such as hand washing for the prevention of COVID19. Bogotá’s Solidarity Rent Scheme provided 3,077 rent subsidies during the COVID-19 crisis, and aims to provide a total of 30,000 towards the payment of monthly rent by vulnerable individuals, to prevent them losing their homes.