Sustainable Development Forum Held

UCLG-MEWA Resilience Forum & Board of Directors meeting was held between 21-23 June, hosted by Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality. Throughout the Forum, Resilience Training, Opening Session, High Level Dialogue: Resilience Panel, Board of Directors Meeting and Trabzon Resilience Declaration (TRD) signing ceremony were held. Resilience Panel, moderated by WALD Chairman Dr. Mehmet DUMAN, was held with the participation of Trabzon Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Murat ZORLUOĞLU, Konya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Uğur İbrahim ALTAY, Kalkylya Mayor Faisal SHRAIM and Ajloun Mayor Hamzeh ZGHOUL.

In his speech, Dr. DUMAN said, “A change in understanding on disasters, disaster governance, devastating consequences and urban resilience, both in our region and around the world, is urgently needed. The basis of this new understanding is the inclusion of local governments in multi-level disaster governance and increasing the resilience capacity of cities.” These dimensions, in which our cities are directly concerned, require local governments to take a more active role against disasters, be included in management strategies and take more effective measures.

Continuing in his speech, Dr. DUMAN mentioned that We must continue the work on this subject without interruption. By strengthening cooperation between disaster governance, urban resilience and local governments, we can better prepare our communities for potential future disasters. Only in this way can we build a safer, resilient and sustainable future and the forum ended with his words.

Subsequently, the Trabzon Resilience Declaration was signed by Murat ZORLUOĞLU, the Mayor of Kütahya and UCLG-MEWA Treasurer Prof. Dr. Alim IŞIK, Murat ŞENKUL, Jonieh Mayor Juan Hobeiche, Gölcük Mayor and UCLG-MEWA Deputy Treasurer Ali Yıldırım SEZER. While this declaration was accepted by the participants, Trabzon signed an exemplary declaration in the field of resilience.