MAYOR Benhur Abalos of Mandaluyong yesterday spoke before the United Nations Public Service Forum currently being held in Goyang, Republic of Korea.
The forum carries the theme “Innovating Governance for Sustainable Development and Well-being of the People” and aims to promote successful innovations that have been implemented by the public sector all over the world.
Abalos’ discussion centers on Mandaluyong’s experience in meeting new requirements in governance and achieving sustainable social, economic and institutional development.
He joins respected personalities from the academe, business and government in sharing their breakthroughs with the rest of the world.
This is not the first time that Abalos had been invited to share his innovative programs in the city in international forum of this magnitude.
He was also invited as speaker and panelist to the UN Habitat’s World Urban Forum held in Medellín, Colombia, to the Asia Pacific Cities Summit on Reshaping the Urbanomics of Cities in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, to the Global Development Debate on Greening Urban Growth in Penang, Malaysia.
At the International Congress of Ministers of Justice in Rome, Italy, he underscored Mandaluyong’s efforts in upholding life and the global abolition of the death penalty.
Aside from the speaking engagement in Korea this June, Abalos also received an invitation from the UN Institute for Training And Research which organized the First Mayoral Forum on Migration to be held in Barcelona City, Spain while the Hongkong government has extended to him an invitation to discuss the revolutionary reconstruction of the public cemetery into what is now known as the Garden of Life Park Cemetery.
Mandaluyong has received numerous awards from local award-giving and regulatory boards because of this and many other projects.
The city received Galing Pook Awards for its life-changing programs: Garden of Life Park and the Project TEACH, a community-based program addressing the needs of underprivileged children with special needs.
It is also a Most Child Friendly City and a Most Business-Friendly City. For its impressive nutrition programs, the city was adjudged a Green Banner Awardee and eventually a CROWN Awardee by the National Nutrition Council while the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority honored the city with the Kabalikat Award for its excellent Manpower Development and Training Center. The UN Public Service Forum will run till June 26 at the Korea International Exhibition Centre in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province in South Korea.
Jenny Herrera
June 26, 2014
