The US-Arab Cities Forum that was held in Amman, and was hosted by the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) with the participation of American, Arab, and Jordanian mayors, recently came to a close.
Mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, affirmed the importance of holding such informative meetings, the end results of which have bearing on planning and issues that concern all stratum of society, such as the welfare of children, youth, and the elderly. He voiced his hope that the forum would continue to be held, thus maintaining constant communication.
Daley also expressed Chicago’s pride in the exceptional relationships that link the City to Amman and Casablanca, and added, “Through friendship and cooperation, we can overcome all obstacles and build a brighter future for future generations.”
From his end, the Mayor of Amman, Engineer Omar Maani, thanked the Mayor of Chicago, stating that Daley was a friend of the Arab civil community and Arab thinking, praising his constant efforts to develop the Arab community in Chicago.
Eng. Maani confirmed that the outcome of the forum dialogues had received the attention and interest of the American mayors who were unable to attend the event.
Both Eng. Maani and Daley gave their thanks to the participating mayors and all those who helped make the forum a success.
The forum concluded with a number of sessions, the first of which tackled the tenets of good governance. The session kicked off with a lecture by the Mayor of La Paz / Bolivia, Ronald MacLean-Abaroa, on corruption in cities, entitled “Transparency in Urban Management.” During the lecture, he reiterated that fighting corruption helps increase municipal revenues, improve services, and strengthen people’s confidence and input.
The Mayor of La Paz also delineated the key steps to fighting corruption, such as diagnosing the problem and placing a strategy to deal with it, as well as implementing and enforcing such a strategy; the whole process should also largely depend on the involvement of citizens.
From his end, Mayor of Frisco / the United States, Maher Masso, highlighted the main projects that the municipality was implementing, during his talk about public participation, in terms of parks, open areas, passageways, public arts, and technology, none of which could be achieved without public participation.
From another angle, Mayor of Dubai, Hussein Loutah, gave a presentation about Dubai’s experience in becoming an electronic government, stating that 90% of the City’s municipal services are electronic. Furthermore, when reviewing the Municipality’s future plans and electronic initiatives, he pointed to its future intention to make all services electronic, thus allowing citizens to receive any service without having to refer back to the municipality.
Executive Director of Property at the Department of Financial Affairs in Abu Dhabi, Dr. Abdullah Al Baloushi, introduced attendees to the electronic system for land management in Abu Dhabi, explaining that customers can carry out all land-related services electronically.
Concluding the first session, Manager of Amman City eng. Ammar Gharaibeh, talked about GAM’s approach for institutional change and development, explaining that this was achieved by focusing on citizens, shifting from individual work and centralization, to collective work and decentralization, and focusing on the community’s contribution.
In a work paper he presented on “Institutional Reform: Citizens First – Enabling Workers,” Eng. Gharaibeh highlighted GAM’s restructuring plan, which aims at achieving institutional change through pinpointing the necessary requirements and priorities of the City and citizens, thereby strengthening services in terms of quality and efficiency.
Gharaibeh also drew attention to GAM’s human resources systems, the automation projects, citizen participation in policy-making, GAM’s approaches, and GAM’s means of communication and interaction in its dealing with citizens, all of which bolster transparency and establish good governance.
The second session was chaired by the Executive Director of Social Services and Sustainability at GAM, Ms. Taghreed Fakhouri, and was entitled “Children and Youth Programs through the Participation of Non-Governmental Organizations.” Director of Programs at the National Center for Culture and Arts / King Al Hussein Foundation, Muhanad Noufal, spoke about the Center’s role in serving culture and arts and augmenting them through the participation of the local community. He also commended GAM’s efforts in supporting the public cultural and artistic movement, and its cooperation with the Center.
During his presentation of a work paper entitled “Art: The New Entrance for Convergence with the City,” Director of the Walls for Art and Development Association / Alexandria, Suleiman Abdul Mutaleb, outlined the Association’s part in developing Al Maks, and in finding jobs for youth and women. He explained that Al Maks was a random region suffering from old housing and the lack of aesthetic aspects, and so volunteers renovated the houses, painting and decorating them.
Within this context, Director General of the Jordan River Foundation (JRF), Valentina Qussisiya, demonstrated JFR’s role in bolstering a dynamic Jordanian community, through establishing and supporting sustainable social, economic, and cultural programs, in collaboration with the relevant parties. These are derived from national requirements and priorities that aim at empowering communities and individuals.
Qussisiya stated that JFR’s work and activities focus on protecting the rights and securing the needs of children, as well as enabling communities and individuals. She pointed to JRF’s strategic partnership with GAM, through the Queen Rania Al Abdullah Center Family and Child Center that provides the local community with various services and training opportunities in the field of child-care.
During the forum’s closing session, Patrick Madden, from the Sister Cities International Organization / the United States, raised the issues of partnership between cities, citizen involvement, co-education, and breaching the gap between different cultures.
Madden commended the Sister Cities program that aims at achieving commercial and economic development; offering help in municipal, technical, vocational, arts, culture, education, and youth fields, providing humanitarian aid, and achieving development and sustainability on an international level.
