Prince Mansour bin Meteb bin Abdulaziz, The Minster of Municipalities and Rural Affairs has sent a cable of felicitation to Abdulaziz Al Husein, Mayor of Al Madinah Municipality and Head of Madinah Urban Observatory on winning United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) Scroll of Honor received at last World Habitat Day celebration in Washington, USA. According to UN-HABITAT website, Al- Medina Al-Munawarah Local Urban Observatory won Scroll of Honour Award For pioneering a Local Observatory System now used elsewhere in the country and in the Middle East for smart urban planning It was awarded for pioneering data collection which has had a major impact on the lives of the people living in Saudi Arabia and beyond. Its main impact has been on vulnerable groups, especially women whose associations are involved in all the agency's processes. It has been at the forefront of monitoring the Millennium Development Goals, poverty alleviation and the upgrading of informal settlements. Urban residents have been the direct beneficiaries of the activities of the Observatory as they become more and more aware of the situation in their city particularly through the information disseminated by media and in brochures, reports as well as the agency's website. Because of its success, the Observatory has been replicated in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.
