Ammon News - Mayor of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) Yousef Shawarbeh participated in the Fifth Local and Regional Governments Forum on the 2030 Agenda held in the United Nations headquarters in New York from July 7 to 12 on the occasion of the 2022 United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF).

Speaking at the forum, the Mayor said this gathering will serve sustainable development goals to enable cities and local governments to contribute to global efforts in order to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Amman, like many other cities, is facing several urban challenges, such as population growth due to migration and multiple refugee waves, as well as the effects of climate change and the Coronavirus pandemic, thus requiring global efforts to keep pace with such issues through plans and programs that enhance the quality of life to build resilient and inclusive cities, Shawarbeh added.

He pointed out that the GAM supports efforts to achieve sustainable development goals and has offered several urban and comprehensive plans such as the Amman Resilience Strategy, the Amman Climate Change Plan, the Amman Green City Action Plan, and the 10-year Amman Smart City Roadmap.

On 10 January, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and UN-Habitat held a national webinar on the preparation of the Voluntary Local Review (VLR) of Amman, the first in the Arab region, which is expected to be finalized and presented during the HLPF.

The Mayor added that the recently-launched strategic plan of the GAM for 2022-2026 goes along with the Economic Modernization Vision, indicating that it operates in four domains related to life quality and environment; transportation, traffic, and infrastructure; investment; and legislation.

The forum was organized by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments (GTF) in partnership with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and UN-Habitat.