Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General, paid a visit to Mounir Anouti, Consul General of Lebanon in Istanbul, Turkey, in his office on 26 July 2019 and briefed him about the ongoing works and activities of the organization.
During the visit, Mr. Duman informed Mr. Anouti of the urgent need to expand our cooperation with the local governments in Lebanon, especially since the visit came immediately after the 6th UCLG-MEWA Congress hosted by the Secretariat of Amman in Jordan on 9-10 July 2019. In the Congress, Mohamad SAADIE from Lebanon had been elected as the president of the UCLG-MEWA, and several Lebanese municipalities had also been elected to the administrative and presidential bodies of the UCLG-MEWA committees for the period 2019-2022.
Mounir ANOUTI expressed his interest to be part of the UCLG-MEWA activities and his willingness to organize events in Lebanon and in Istanbul with the cooperation of the UCLG-MEWA in order to exchange knowledge between local governments in Lebanon and the local governments in Turkey. In this regard, Mehmet DUMAN referred to UCLG-MEWA Pilot Project for Mapping the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that was implemented in Turkey as a successful project and agreed with Mounir ANOUTI to implement this project with the local governments in Lebanon.
The meeting ended with the discussion of the different aspects of collaboration which can be formed between the UCLG-MEWA and the Consulate General of Lebanon for the benefit of the Lebanese local governments.