Stavanger – September 25, 2017 – At the start of the Annual Convening of the Global Parliament of Mayors (GPM), Mayor Leoluca Orlando (Palermo) received the Dr. Benjamin Barber Global Cities Award. Mayor Orlando is rewarded for his tireless endeavour to defend migrant rights and create a safer city by fighting organized crime.
He advocates on behalf of the most vulnerable citizens, including economic migrants, and welcomes incoming migrants every time a ship arrives at the port of Palermo personally. He works with the EU to promote freedom of movement for migrants, offering his city as a blueprint.
By his outspoken policy, Mayor Orlando contributes substantially to the further development of global urban governance and citizens rights and is an inspiration to mayors all over the world.
“It is an honour to reward Mayor Orlando with the first ‘Dr. Benjamin Barber Global Cities Award’ for his outstanding actions to advance citizens rights. Dr. Barber envisioned a world where there are no refugees or others, but only neighbours and global citizens of a peaceful, just and sustainable planet. Mayor Orlando is making that world a reality, one day at a time”, says Mayor Patricia de Lille (Cape Town), Interim Chair of the GPM Committee.
The Global Parliament of Mayors created the ‘Dr. Benjamin Barber Global Cities Award’ to commemorate outstanding action or research on urban governance, contribution to advancing the values and principles set out by the Global Parliament of Mayors. By that, the GPM honors its founder, Dr. Benjamin Barber, author of the book ‘If Mayors ruled the World’ (2014), who passed away in April 2017.