Councillor Allan Casey, city convener for Workforce, Homelessness and Addiction Services, recently met with fellow members from cities including Chicago, New York, Paris, Denver, and London, where a joint declaration, affirming each city’s commitment to ending homelessness locally, regionally and globally and commit to a two-year workplan, was signed.

The International Mayors Council on Homelessness was created in 2023. It’s a forum for leaders, mayors and other elected members from more than a dozen cities across three continents, to discuss the most pressing challenges, share evidence on tactics that have worked and bring their city’s perspectives into the UN agenda.

Councillor Casey said: “Glasgow is delighted to be a member of the International Mayors Council on Homelessness. Collaboration remains at the heart of our approach to tackling what is a highly complex social issue. Glasgow and our wider partners continually strive to improve our response to addressing the significant impact homelessness can have on individuals.

“Nobody should need to sleep on the streets in Glasgow and where we can, we’re keen to learn from others about how we can improve lives, and our services. We continue to help the most vulnerable citizens rebuild their lives through our Housing First approach and the experience gained from managing a worldwide global pandemic has been instrumental in shaping new ways of working which focus on complexity and risk rather than homelessness status alone.”

The International Mayors Council first convened online in June 2023 and has met virtually over the course of the year to hear from experts, exchange evidence-based best practices and to jointly develop a declaration of their commitment to addressing homelessness.