Idealkent Awards found their owners at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris. On behalf of UCLG-MEWA, President Mohamed Saadie and Secretary General Mehmet Duman attended the award ceremony.
Idealkent Awards were handed out on January 16, 2020 at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris. The award ceremony, which was also attended by local government representatives from the MEWA Region, started with the opening session.
During the session, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General Mehmet Duman stated that they continued their efforts with the aim of creating cities that respond to innovations in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, he pointed out that UCLG-MEWA advocated the necessity to empower local governments both financially and administratively in every platform.
Secretary General Duman also underlined that projects and activities that will make cities more livable can be developed by taking international agendas as a reference point, especially the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.
UCLG-MEWA President Mohamed Saadie, who attended as a speaker in the panel entitled “The Future of Cities and the Role of International Organizations in Strengthening Local Governments” after the opening session, emphasized the importance of UCLG-MEWA’s international mission and mentioned the activities of the Organization in the region.
The awards were presented to the winning projects that had a positive impact on cities and their population while having UCLG-MEWA President Mohamed Saadie among the presenters.