Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General, attended the online live stream talks hosted by İstanbul Rumeli University Global Policies Research Center (RUPAM) on June 5, 2020.
Speaking at the talk entitled “Local Governments in Outbreak,” Secretary General Duman informed the participants about the activities of some local governments in Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine in the fight against COVID-19. Duman emphasized that local governments had played a very critical role in the fight against the pandemic and added that the central governments’ policies had been effective and meaningful with the support of local governments. During his speech, Duman stated that the local governments in the MEWA Region realized the severity of the situation and accordingly implemented emergency policies.
In addition, he talked about the activities of UCLG-MEWA’s host city Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Nevşehir Municipality, Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, Bağcılar Municipality, WALD, Union of Municipalities of Dannieh, Tehran Municipality, and Ramallah Municipality during the fight against the pandemic.
He highlighted that UCLG-MEWA had collected good practices from its members and shared them in three languages with the world. Also, he mentioned the live UCLG-MEWA Local Government Talk held with Prof. Dr. Haydar Sur, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Üsküdar University as well as the guideline prepared to guide municipalities’ cultural activities.
Lastly, Secretary General Duman underlined that local governments in the MEWA Region are fighting effectively against this crisis and that they combat the pandemic in many areas, including public health, social support and culture.