The headquarters of the UCLG organization is located in Barcelona, Spain. The central office primarily handles policies, activities, and projects conducted on a global scale. However, to encourage more active collaboration among members and to address the differences in regional policies, it was decided to establish regional branches of UCLG. For example, while local governments in the Middle East and Africa may share common issues, they also face region-specific challenges. The understanding that these regional problems can be overcome through joint efforts motivated UCLG to establish these branches. These organizations operate across nine different regions.
Municipalities in the Middle East and West Asia are organized by UCLG-MEWA, headquartered in Istanbul. Municipalities in Africa are represented by UCLG-AFRICA, based in Rabat, Morocco. Local governments in the Eurasia region are represented by UCLG-EUROASIA, headquartered in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. There is also UCLG-NORTH AMERICA, based in Canada, and UCLG-ASPAC for the Asia-Pacific region. UCLG’s European branch is managed by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), which is a network of all national local government associations in Europe.
In addition to regional branches, UCLG has two sub-organizations: METROPOLIS, which represents metropolitan cities, and FLACMA, which represents local governments in Latin America. CEMR, METROPOLIS, and FLACMA operate independently within their own structures but are affiliated with UCLG as part of its global lobbying umbrella.