Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli on Thursday inaugurated a ceremony marking the “World Cities Day 2024” at Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria governorate, in the presence of a galaxy of ministers.
Open discussions alongside cultural, art, sports and entertainment events will take place on the sidelines of the celebration, with the participation of international and local delegations to push forward the participation of youth in the formation of sustainable cities and societies.
The event reflects the pioneering global status of Alexandria city and its cultural, civil and historic legacy.
The Mediterranean city has been developed to be a sustainable one till the year 2032 and to be ready for hosting similar mega international events.
The World Cities Day 2024 falls within the framework of the state’s arrangements to host the World Urban Forum (WUF12), set to take place between November 4-8 in Cairo, under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
World Cities Day brings Urban October to an end on October 31 each year and was first celebrated in 2014. As with World Habitat Day, a global observance is held in a different city each year and the day focuses on a specific theme.
The Global Observance of World Cities Day 2024 is held under the theme Youth leading climate and local action for cities.
Young people advocate for bolder steps and actions to tackle climate crisis in our cities.
The event draws attention on how to capture these bold ideas and ambitious targets and turn them into achievements.
Director of Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) Ahmed Zayed said that Egypt exerted strenuous efforts to overcome the urban random problems by a scientific way and worked out well-examined plans that made the world lauds the Egyptian experiment.
Alexandria is an icon Mediterranean city, he said, adding that it spreads the Egyptian culture which is based on love and peace, thus asserting to the whole world that the way of development and building is more important than the way of war and conflicts.
He said that the theme of the World Cities Day on youth leading climate and local action for cities and young people advocate for bolder steps and actions to tackle climate crisis in our cities reflect noble goals that correlate with the development priorities in Egypt, including the climate, youth, local domestic action and urban sustainability.
These issues reflect the goals of Egypt’s national strategy 2030, topped by building human beings, maintaining the environment and development sustainability, he said.
The BA is always working via constructive partnership with all the ministries and institutions of the state to achieve the goals of sustainable development and improve the cultural awareness of youth, including awareness about issues of environment, climate and urban sustainability, he added.
Meanwhile, Alexandria Governor Ahmed Khaled said this international ceremony aims at boosting international efforts to accelerate urbanization and promote cooperation and exchanging expertise between the countries to implement the solutions and seize the opportunities to improve the quality of life inside the cities, support collective action and rally international efforts to face challenges that hinder sustainable urbanization.
Alexandria lies at the western edge of the Nile River delta. Founded in c. 331 BC by Alexander the Great,[8] Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilization, eventually replacing Memphis, in present-day Greater Cairo, as Egypt’s capital, he said.
