World Mayor

World Mayor is a biennial award organized by the City Mayors Foundation since 2004. It intends to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, as well as honour those who have served their communities well and who have contributed to the well-being of cities, nationally and internationally. The organisers make it plain that the award has no connection with any city or organization and is run on strictly non-commercial lines. Helen Zille and Leopoldo Lopez discussed their 2008 nominations on the BBC World Service programme Outlook. The Guardian looked at contenders for the 2014 prize.^[1] The 2018 World Mayor Project was dedicated to women mayors.^[2] The 2020 World Mayor Project is dedicated to mayors who have made the relief of poverty one of their top priorities.^[3] The winner of the 2021 World Mayor Prize Ahmed Aboutaleb was presented with his award at a ceremony held in the Dutch Senate by its President Jan Anthonie Bruijn.^[4]

The 2023 World Mayor Prize was dedicated to Friendship between Cities. It will be awarded to a mayor and city that have made outstanding contributions to friendship and cooperation between towns and cities at home and across borders.

The 2025 World Mayor Prize is dedicated to 'Mayors Fighting Poverty'. The organisers of the World Mayor Project are seeking mayors from large cities, towns and villages who have put measures in place to support the least well-off in their communities. We are looking for initiatives that other towns can apply. The initiatives may be small-scale or have the potential to provide poverty relief beyond the mayors’ communities.

The 2025 World Mayor Project will be run on the World Mayor 2025 and Women Mayors platforms.

The City Mayors Foundation commissions the trophy presented as the World Mayor Prize. The trophy was conceived by Tann vom Hove. It was designed by artist Manuel Ferrari and is handmade out of steel by the metalworker Kaspar Swankey.^[5]