 The winners of three prize-winning urban projects which came out on top at the Lebanon Municipal Urban Forum 2012, will be sent to the sixth session of the World Urban Forum in Naples in September to share their best practices.
The Lebanon Municipal Urban Forum 2012 was held at the UNESCO Palace on June 8 and 9, 2012 under the theme: Communication, Networking and Experience Exchange. The event was organised by UN-Habitat under the patronage of the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities.
This two day event saw a high level closing ceremony on Saturday 9 June where prizes and awards were distributed for Municipal Best Practices. Of 21 submitted projects, three municipalities were awarded the first prize – a trip to the Naples forum. They are:
- Al Fayhaa Union of Municipalities for the Tripoli Environment and Development Observatory project;
- Al Shouf el Aaal Union of Municipalities for the Wastewater Disposal and Treatment project;
- Aytaroun Municipality for Establishing a Dairy Processing Plant.
The ceremony was attended by Mr. Khalil Hajal, Director General of Municipalities, Mr. Doudou Mbye of the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Africa and the Arab States, Mr. Guido Benevetto representing Italian Cooperation in Lebanon, and Mr. Mohamad Basbous representing the Order of Engineers and Architects.
The Lebanon Municipal Forum 2012 was organized in the framework of UN-Habitat's project for Improved Municipal Governance for Effective Decentralization in Lebanon funded by the Italian Government. With the support of Beirut Municipalities and the Order of Engineers and Architects, the event was the highlight diverse national efforts that promote local community development which is managed by some 1,000 municipalities around the country.
The two-day Forum included a varied programme comprising eight working sessions and workshops addressing a number of topics related to municipal work. They looked at administrative decentralization, public-private partnerships, the role of municipalities in enhancing public safety, local and regional planning frameworks, and the role of engineers in developing municipal work, in addition to other important topics. Another important part of the event was the launching of a training manual detailing local strategic planning prepared by UN-Habitat in cooperation with the Directorate General of Municipalities. |
