GOLD-2 Workshop 27.04.2012

GOLD II Workshop was held on 15 March 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey. The goal of the GOLD II Workshop was to ensure that the final text reflects the views of local governments all around the MEWA region. As such the participants were invited to analyze the accuracy of the chapter’s content and to present recommendations for inclusion in the final text.

The main goals of this exercise were to ascertain the adequacy or lack thereof in terms of allowing sub-national governments sufficient sources of income to fulfill their responsibilities, and to determine the degree of fiscal autonomy that sub-national governments can exercise.

The invited experts assumed responsibility for preparing short presentations in PowerPoint format offering an overview of local government finance in their respective countries, cases of best practice in the relevant field and comments on the draft chapter content. Another important aspect of this work consisted of contributions to the formulation of policy recommendations to be incorporated into the chapter.

The regional experts who participated in this important gathering were the following: Mr. Mehmet S. Tosun, the author of the draft chapter and academician; Mr. Edgardo Bilsky and Mrs. Claire Frost representing the UCLG World Secretariat; Mr. Cenk Tıkız and Mr. Kerimcan Yıldırım representing the UCLG-MEWA Regional Secretariat; Mr. Lian Touma, local finance expert from the municipality of Aleppo, Syria; Mr. H. Hakan Yılmaz, local finance expert and lecturer at Ankara University Political Science Department; Mr. Isam Akel, the Executive Director of the Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA); Mr. Muaffak al Hajaj, Mr. Atef Rawahneh and Mr. Salim Alnabulsi representing Jordanian local authorities and the respective ministry; Mrs. Nouha al Ghousayyni, Mayoress of Baakline Municipality, Lebanon; Mr. Bechir Odeimi, Director of the Technical Office for Lebanese Cities; Mr. Ahmed Hayajneh, local government expert and ministry official, Saudi Arabia; Mr. Mohamed Bassem Oulabi representing the Arab Towns Association (ATO); Mrs. Berrin Aydın and Mr. Mustafa Dönmez representing the Union of Municipalities of Turkey; Mrs. Nathalie Le Denmat, from the French Development Agency (AFD); and Mrs. Olivia Paton, representing the Barcelona Provincial Council. The Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General of UCLG-MEWA, Mr. Selahattin Yıldırım and Mr. Sadun Emrealp, respectively, were also present to welcome the participants and open the proceedings.