17 August 2022 | UCLG ASPAC, as the permanent member of the Asia-Pacific Mayors Academy, held a virtual Graduation Ceremony for its third batch last 17 August 2022. A total of eight Mayors from six countries completed the programme: Mr. Nahid Bagirov (Ismayili, Azerbaijan), Mr. Vugar Novruzov (Naftalan, Azerbaijan), Mr. Md. Jillur Rahman (Chandpur, Bangladesh), Mr. Anil Kumar (Kochi, India), Mr. Abd Hamid Hussain (Sepang, Malaysia), Mr. Ismail Rafeeq (Fuvahmulah, Maldives), Mr. Jerry Treñas (Iloilo, Philippines), and Mr. Maftun Abbasov (Shusha, Azerbaijan).
The Mayors undertook the programme from December 2021 to June 2022. The learning framework of the Academy is structured around The Future of Asian and Pacific Cities 2019 Report which identified four pillars: Future of Urban and Territorial Planning, Future of Urban Resilience, Future of Smart and Inclusive Cities, and Future of Urban Finance. UCLG ASPAC led the development and delivery of a dedicated module on COVID-19 Recovery which introduced COVID-19 recovery frameworks and linked COVID-19 recovery with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
During graduation, Mayors presented their final initiatives which addressed the areas of sustainable agriculture (Ismayili), tourism infrastructure (Naftalan), climate change resiliency (Chandpur), flood prevention (Kochi), smart city solutions (Sepang), services digitisation (Fuvahmulah), medical facility development (Iloilo), and sustainable infrastructure (Shusha). The initiatives were proposed by the Mayors as part of their application and developed in consultation with Faculty and experts through the Academy.
In her message, UCLG ASPAC Secretary General Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi acknowledged how the Mayors’ initiatives reflect the visions and ambitions of local governments to achieve the global agenda on sustainable development and create a better quality of life for the people. She noted that this will be part of the legacy that the Mayors will leave for the people to remember. She also hoped that the Mayors will be able to apply what they learned from the Academy.
UCLG ASPAC is a permanent member of the Asia-Pacific Mayor Academy Advisory Board. For more information on the Academy, visit https://www.asiapacificmayorsacademy.org/.
