The general assembly of United Cities and Local Governments – Middle East and West Asia (UCLG-MEWA) elected the president of the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities – APLA and Ramallah mayor Eng. Musa Hadid as Co-President in the organization. The election was conducted in the closing of the sixth conference of UCLG-MEWA held at Al-Hussein Cultural Center in Amman over the course of the past two days.
The general assembly also elected APLA’s President Musa Hadid and mayor of Bani Naim Municipality Mr. Ali Manasra as members of the UCLG’s executive office.
UCLG-MEWA held its sixth conference entitled “The Role of Local Governments on Managing Immigration” in presence of heads of local authorities in the Middle East and West Asia region members of UCLG. Palestine had strong representation through great participation from mayors of Palestinian local authorities and APLA’s executive director Abdallah Anati in the different meetings, committees, and councils of UCLG. The municipalities off Hebron, Nablus, Asira Al-Shamaliya, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Beitunia and Dura were elected as members in a number of councils and committees at UCLG-MEWA.
APLA President, Eng. Hadid emphasized the importance of Palestinian representation in regional and international events. He stressed that APLA is constantly seeking to facilitate the official participation of local authorities in international events relating to the local government sector, which will allow them to establish partnerships, strengthen relations and exchange expertise with their international counterparts. APLA president stressed that APLA’s position of leadership in UCLG-MEWA highlights the important role of APLA in different international organizations and opens additional opportunities for local authorities in Palestine to expand their prospects and promote their ability to provide better services to the public. He also stressed on the importance of having a number of Palestinian local authorities in the different councils and committees of UCLG-MEWA.
In the same context, APLA’s executive director Eng. Anati renewed APLA’s commitment to provide all available capacities towards serving APLA’s members and represent them through APLA’s vision and approach aiming at developing and building the capacities of local authorities in Palestine at the level of elected officials and executive staff. He also stressed on the importance of collective work between Palestinian local authorities to increase their roles at all levels.
