The city
of Matola (Mozambique) was elected as the new city that holds the presidency of
IOPD and that will organize the 16th IOPD Conference during the
General Assembly of IOPD members held in the city of Madrid (Spain) on March
25. Matola is a city of the Maputo province, with around 900,000 inhabitants,
which has an elected local government since 1998,
The Mayor of
Matola Mr. Calisto Cossa presented the project for the 2016 presidency, with
the ambition to celebrate for the first time in Africa an IOPD Conference. Mr.
Costa exposed the social, economic and political progress is living Mozambique,
and the importance of holding a Congress as a way to show the development, also
the field of citizen participation.
The other
cities interested in the presidency of the International Observatory on
Participatory Democracy withdrew his candidacy, so the city of Matola was
elected unanimously by the members present at the General Assembly of the IOPD.
The
delegation of Maputo who was also present at the Assembly showed his support
for the project, and announced the collaboration to develop the Conference.
Other members of the IOPD also showed their willingness to work for the
organization of the event and welcomed the election of the Mozambican city.
It is
planned that the 16th IOPD Conference will be held from 4 to 6 May 2016.
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