Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General, had participated in the 18th General Conference and Executive Board at the Arab Towns Organization (ATO), in Amman, Jordan, on 24-25 June 2019. The conference was organized jointly by ATO and Greater Amman Municipality at Hussein Cultural Center in Amman, Jordan.
The conference started with the Opening Session attended by many mayors of Arab countries, other countries and NGOs. During the Opening Session, Dr. Yousef Al- Shawrbah, Mayor of Amman, welcomed the participants and thanked them for accepting the invitation, especially the delegation that came to represent UCLG-MEWA. He also commended the ongoing cooperation between Greater Amman Municipality and UCLG-MEWA. Ahmed Al-Subeeh, ATO Secretary General, stressed the need to continue the cooperation and the exchange of experiences between UCLG-MEWA and ATO, and he also mentioned the importance of this cooperation for the MEWA region.
As UCLG-MEWA, we sought to activate the role of comprehensive sustainable development and build a strategic partnership between the public and private sector and civil society institutions. Moreover, the issues and obstacles of building and developing sustainable cities, the effectiveness of municipal councils and local administrations and methods of upgrading their performance through the latest experiences have also been discussed with the participation of a number of politicians, decision-makers, experts, researchers, academics and economists from the public and private sector, civil society institutions and partners. We have also exchanged information and ideas on the most important issues, scientific and practical applications in a wide range of fields related to sustainable development.
We held a meeting with Mayor of Amman, Dr. Yousef Al-Shawrbah, and briefed him on the most important activities of UCLG-MEWA and our preparations for the 6th UCLG-MEWA Congress, which will be hosted by Greater Amman Municipality on 9-10 July 2019. He welcomed the Congress and expressed his readiness to host the Congress in July.
At the end of the ATO conference, Secretary General Duman presented a commemorative plaque to Mayor Al-Shwarbah and Ahmed Al-Subeeh, ATO Secretary General.