BELGIUM – Queen Mathilde of Belgium is interested in the programs run by Makassar Mayor Danny Pomanto in his city. The mayor himself said it in his Instagram, @dpramdhanpomanto, while participating in the 2023 Brussels Urban Summit (BUS).
Danny was chosen to be one of the 18 mayors from around the world to have a discussion with the Queen in the event’s royal lunch session.
He said that mental health was a topic they discussed at that time–and he was given the opportunity to explain how he deals with people’s mental problems through the program he runs in Makassar.
“We shared what are the programs of the Makassar City government, such as Jagai Anakta’, social mitigation in tourist alleys, and how do we put children in outing classes so the children don’t get stressed,” said Danny.
“Besides that, in the education sector, the outing class program exists to help the students not feel excessive pressure while at the same time strengthening the spirit of solidarity among them,” he added.
The Jagai Anakta’ Program is an effort to detect social problems that often involve children, both as perpetrators and victims of violence, early.
Danny instructed the Makassar Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection (DP3A) to immediately issue the documents of containers as the center for the program.
He wants the container not to be devoid of public services as long as it is a service center for the community. This is because the container as a Recovery Center is the center for solving all problems.
Meanwhile, the social mitigation of tourist alleys is a program run by Danny by utilizing every alley in Makassar to become a business asset in the form of MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises).
This hallway is formed in such a way with various educational messages in it. Some are used as a place for playing ende-ende–which are loved by children, some are used as a source of organic vegetables.
In other words, tourists who loves the atmosphere of a village will feel at home for staying in this place.
Danny said that the programs attracted the attention of Queen Mathilde of Belgium and the participants who were present at that time.
The Queen herself encouraged the program he was running to continue to be carried out to lessen the weight of mental problems some people in Makassar have.
“The Queen of Belgium gave a very good response to the explanation and gave encouragement so that policies in the mental health sector continue to be strengthened amidst the current stressful situation,” he said.
One to be noted, the 2023 Brussels Urban Summit (BUS) officially ended last Thursday (15/6). This international event took place in the Belgian capital, Brussels, from 12 to 15 June 2023.
Only 23 cities from 18 countries were invited to attend–and Makassar City was one of them.
Apart from being attended by Queen Mathilde of Belgium, the lunch session was also attended by Rudi Vervoort (Minister-President of Brussels), Pascal Smet (State Secretary), Phillippe Close (Mayor of Brussels), Mayor of Montevideo Uruguay, Mayor of Leipzig Germany, Mayor of Athens Greece, Mayor of Bologna Italy, and Mayor of Glasgow United Kingdom.
