UN and WALD signs Declaration of Intent

United Nations in Turkey and World Academy for Local Government and Democracy Foundation (WALD) signed a Declaration of Intent for strategically collaborating for achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

The Declaration of Intent was signed at WALD’s headquarters in Istanbul by Alvaro Rodriguez UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey and Mehmet Duman WALD Executive Board Chair.

Speaking at the ceremony, UN Turkey Resident Coordinator Alvaro Rodriguez said that the Declaration of Intent is of great importance for the joint work carried out for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework. Rodriguez emphasized that working with local municipalities is of great importance in reaching the SDGs.

Also speaking at the signing ceremony Mehmet Duman, Chairman of the Board of WALD stated for the localization of SDGs, several projects on combatting climate change, use of renewable energy, gender equality, disadvantaged groups and decent work are conducted.

Duman said, "With our WALD E-Parliament Youth Platform that we have established, university students from many different countries of the world come together with their peers in Turkey and have the opportunity to discuss with international and Turkish leaders many issues from education to health, from environment to climate change, from economy to politics”

On May 11, the second E-Parliament session was held in Istanbul with the participation of UN Turkey, Beykoz Municipality, WALD Foundation, EU Delegation and Turkish-German University representatives.

Sustainable Cities, one of the priority issues of the Sustainable Development Goals, was discussed in the session, chaired by Mehmet Duman, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of WALD Foundation.

In the session, UN Turkey Resident Coordinator Alvaro Rodriguez, Beykoz Mayor Murat Aydın, EU Delegation to Turkey representative Angel Gutierrez and Turkish-German University Prof. Dr. Burhanettin Aykut Arikan and Prof. Dr. Elif Nuroğlu met with young people.

Students from various countries also attended the hybrid meeting online.

UN Turkey Resident Coordinator Rodriguez said that today, urbanization has reached great proportions throughout the world, and that good planning and management in all countries is of great importance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.