Director of Qalqilya Municipality, Eng. Abdelmo'men Afanah participated in the ICMA annual conference held in Portland-USA over 4 days. He participated in a specialized session for international members of the organization, attended by tens of representatives from countries around the world as a representative of APLA and Palestinian City Managers Network.
Eng. Afanah, during APLA's speech, presented the issues local authorities dealt with during and after Covid-19 pandemic in general, and the challenges municipalities’ directors faced in particular. Additionally, he clarified the implications of Coronavirus on citizen needs on one hand, and the response of local authorities to those needs on the other. Furthermore, he pointed out the role of APLA in supporting its members through continuous communication with Mayors, directors and employees of local authorities on one hand, and coordinating with the central government, donors and partners for following up the various needs of local authorities and addressing them in a way that guarantees the continuity of providing basic services to their citizens on another hand.
On the side of the conference, Eng. Afanah met the organization's President, Troy Brown, and its Executive Director, Mark Ott and a number of representatives of states and entities participating in the global event in the context of networking and discussing potential means and horizons of cooperation through enhancing partnerships based on exchange of knowledge and expertise.