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The City of Atlanta hosted delegations from nearly 100 countries in 2024, including the royal couple from the Netherlands and the president of Kenya, among many other dignitaries and diplomats.
The Mayor’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs officially welcome 89 groups representing 98 nations, a testament to the city’s role as a crossroads for commerce and culture, according to the office’s annual report.
That was an increase in hosted countries, from 55 to 98, on a decrease in the number of delegations, from 120 to 89, compared to the report issued last year.
Not only did the city extend its hospitality to outside visitors, but it also continued to celebrate the diversity of local citizens, as Mayor Andre Dickens intended when he combined the international affairs and immigrant engagement functions in 2022.
“Our commitment to inclusion fuels the remarkable diversity that defines our community, drawing people from across the world who call Atlanta home. These global citizens enrich our city, fostering stronger and more vibrant neighborhoods,” the mayor said in the report.
City Hall opened its doors to community functions including a Ramadan celebration for its Muslim residents, Mexican Independence Day and Diwali for the Indian community, along with naturalization ceremonies and a World Migrants Day showcase.
The city also saw inbound groups from sister cities including Fukuoka, Japan, and Nuremberg, Germany, which participated in programs aligned with the mayor’s special focus on youth engagement and entrepreneurship.
In addition to health programs and community resource events, the city’s iSpeakATL program, which provides free interpretation services to community members seeking city services, logged 15,834 minutes of interpretation across 1,318 calls, the vast majority seeking help in Spanish.
On the outbound side, city officials participated in trade missions or attended conferences in France, Ireland, Sint Maarten, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Mr. Dickens traveled to Ireland for the Georgia Tech football game and to South Africa (both Cape Town and Johannesburg) for a reciprocal trade mission.
The top five inbound countries by delegates included Nigeria, South Africa, Germany, Canada and Kenya.
City Hall also hosted courtesy visits with locally posted consuls general from Argentina, Haiti, Colombia, Canada, Nigeria, Guatemala, South Korea, Peru, Ireland and Belgium.
“2024 was a year of bolstering Atlanta’s international presence and reaching new heights in our goals to empower our city’s local communities. With the help of our 310 local, national, and international partners, (our office) excelled in the areas of diplomacy, business, sports, education, and neighborhood empowerment,” Paulina Guzman, the director of the Mayor’s Office of International and Immigrant Affairs – Welcoming Atlanta, said in the report.
See the full report below:
MOIIA-2024-Annual-Report-Screen-1
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