February 7, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
A DELEGATION from the City of Johannesburg will trek down to Cape Town to attend the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) congress, where Joburg Executive Mayor Amos Masondo is expected to cede his presidency.
The ICLEI is an international association of more than 600 local government members that are implementing sustainable development initiatives. Masondo has been president since 2003. The congress will run from 27 February to 3 March at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. A new executive committee will be elected.
"The mayor won't be attending the congress and in his place the member of the mayoral committee responsible for development planning, Hilda Mokoena, will lead the delegation," says Flora Mokgohloa, the director of environmental planning and management. "She will be accompanied by 19 people from the City consisting of members of the mayoral committee and City officials."
The congress coincides with the local government elections but arrangements have been made to make sure all members of the delegation have a chance to cast their votes.
Mokgohloa says that in discussion with Masondo, it was suggested that the delegation be split into two groups. "It was suggested that consideration be given to have one group attend the first two days and return on Wednesday morning to vote, while the other group could attend from Wednesday afternoon till the end of the congress."
The City of Johannesburg has a long-standing relationship with ICLEI, begun when the association began hosting its partner, the Africa Secretariat, in 2001. The last congress was held in 2003 in Greece, where Masondo was elected president.
"The congress also follows the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in 2002, at which the ICLEI and the City of Johannesburg hosted a local government session as a parallel event," Mokgohloa says. "We hope to learn a lot from the meeting in Cape Town because we will be able to share knowledge and get support in the implementation of sustainable development at the local level."
Founded in 1990, the ICLEI was established when more than 200 local governments from 43 countries convened at the inaugural conference, the World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future, at the United Nations in New York.
The theme for this year's conference, Out of Africa: Local solutions to global challenges, is in line with the fact that the ICLEI is an international organisation that "promotes the realisation of global challenges such as poverty and environmental impacts", according to Mokgohloa.
Among others, Johannesburg has selected the following topics for discussion at the conference: climate protection, water governance and management, biodiversity protection, poverty alleviation and gender and sustainability.
Mokgohloa says the new executive committee of the ICLEI will be confirmed at the congress. "Since the executive mayor will be handing over, it [has been] suggested that he host a farewell dinner for all delegates in honour of his presidency and to thank the ICLEI members for the support offered during his term of office.
"The dinner will also provide an opportunity to publicise the work that the City does that aligns with ICLEI activities," she says.
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