DM attends fourth World Mayors' Summit in Istanbul

He made the remarks while attending the Fourth World Mayors' Summit, which is currently held in the Turkish city of Istanbul and will conclude Sunday April 15, as the head of a high-level Dubai Municipality delegation. The summit is attended by mayors of more than 100 cities from around the world, in addition to ministers and senior government officials.

Lootah said the summit largely dwells upon multicultural understanding, the role of cities and local governments in developing peace and cooperation between cities.

"Intercultural dialogue has become one of the most prominent solutions for living together in peace and harmony in a world where diversity is conceived as an asset," he said.

The summit, he said, focuses on three main themes which are "Cities' Diplomacy - A Role Model for Peace"; "The Alliance of Civilizations: The Role of Cities and Local Governments"; and "Millennium Development Goals and Cities".

He said the role of local administrations has undergone a transformation, becoming a driving force in defining world politics. The path to global peace is built on strengthening local and regional cooperation, which plays a vital role in the development of democracy, the economy and culture.

"As our resources and problems have already reached the limits of local and regional means, local administrations have to act as pioneers in the dissemination of economic welfare, democracy and peace," he said.

Lootah noted that cities and local governments can and should play an important and specific role in international co-operation for peace, development and human rights. In a stable environment cities and local governments, with their know-how, are extremely capable of contributing significantly to local development and local government capacity building through city twinning, exchange programs and technical assistance. Moreover, in an environment of violent conflict and post-conflict, city and local government leadership has the ability to mobilize the good will and energy of their civil societies and to contribute to peaceful dialogue and solutions.

The DM delegation to the summit, which also includes Abdullah Raffia, Assistant Director General for Environment and Public Health Affairs, Farhan Hassan Al Marzouqi, Head of Media Section, met Kadir Topbaº, Mayor of Istanbul, and discussed with him ways of boosting cooperation between the two cities. Discussions of similar nature were also held with mayors of various other cities.