The Institute holds the twelfth meeting of the “Cities in Action” webinar series on Innovative Urban Partnerships: Nouakchott’s Approach in Improving Basic Services, Mauritania – Nouakchott as an Exemplary Model.

The Arab Urban Development Institute organized its twelfth session of the Cities in Action webinar series on Wednesday evening, 11 Shawwal 1446 AH, corresponding to 09 April 2025, in the presence of several specialists and professionals interested in urban development affairs.

Dr. Abdulla Difalla, moderator of the webinar and Professor of Urban Planning, began the session with an overview of the webinar series and highlighted its importance in enriching the discussion on urban development across all Arab cities. He also stressed that the benefit of these sessions lies in identifying pioneering urban development projects and exchanging ideas on mechanisms and the elements of success.

The meeting was initiated with a presentation by Dr. Saleck Moulaye Ahmed, Director of Studies, Programming, and Cooperation for the Nouakchott Region, with over 10 years of experience in urban planning and sustainable development. He led several mega-development projects and studies in Nouakchott.

Dr. Saleck presented the innovative partnership approach established with the Swiss City of Lausanne and other French cities, which focused on providing sustainable solutions to the problem of water shortages in previously marginalized neighborhoods. He touched on the challenges Nouakchott faces, such as prioritizing different projects, coordinating between multiple stakeholders, and ensuring the sustainability of projects.

Dr. Salk highlighted the results achieved through this partnership to improve the water and sanitation system in Nouakchott, including the construction of new systems, the establishment of public faucets, and the provision of water tanks.

He emphasized the importance of the multilateral partnerships’ role in supporting sustainable urban development, with funding mechanisms that relied on financial contributions from Swiss and French cities. He also stressed the importance of political commitment and coordination between local and international levels to expand such partnerships to other areas such as education and health.

He noted the importance of community interaction and the need to adopt a social approach in line with the specificities of slums to ensure community acceptance and positive interaction with future projects.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Abdulla Difalla thanked the attendees for their interaction and valuable participation, commending the outstanding role of Dr. Saleck Moulaye Ahmed, in leading this exceptional project. He also stressed the importance of continuing these meetings to enhance cooperation and knowledge exchange among urban development specialists.