UMass Boston conference establishes The Forum for Cities in Transition

Representative delegations from four cities -- Derry/Londonderry (Northern Ireland), Mitrovica (two municipalities: one Kosovar and one Serbian), Kirkuk (Iraq) (including the chairman of the Kirkuk provincial council and all the leaders of the ethnic blocs in the council), and Nicosia (Cyprus) (two municipalities: one Greek-Cypriot and one Turkish-Cypriot) -- led by their respective mayors or chief administrators met at the University of Massachusetts Boston, from April 14 to 16, 2009, and after three days of intensive interaction decided that the creation of a permanent Forum for Cities in Transition from conflict would be in all their interests. This Forum will meet once a year at a meeting hosted on a rotating basis by one of the member cities.

The Forum for Cities in Transition is an initiative of the John Joseph Moakley Chair at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The Secretariat is shared by the Northern Ireland Foundation and the Moakley Chair. The Forum's website is maintained by the Northern Ireland Foundation.