29 August 2021 – Dr John Jabbour, WHO Representative to Oman, paid a field visit to the site of the Al-Hail health neighbourhood project – one of the projects implemented as part of the Healthy Cities Network after Muscat joined the initiative implemented in partnership with the Health Organization International, Bloomberg Charitable Foundation and executive partner of the Vital Strategies Foundation in December 2019.

The WHO Representative listened to a detailed explanation about the project and its objectives, as well as the progress of work. He was accompanied by the Deputy Wali of Seeb, the Director General of the Office of the president of Muscat Municipality, and the acting Director General of Health Services in Muscat, in addition to the technical team supervising the implementation of the project, which is represented by representatives of WHO, the Office of the Governor of Muscat, the Ministry of Health, and the German University of Technology.

Dr Jabbour said: "This project is one of the projects that promotes physical activity and safe mobility, through the implementation of engineering interventions to provide an enhanced environment for physical activity and promote safe mobility in residential neighbourhoods. And it will serve as a model that can be followed in the various governorates.” He also noted that there was close cooperation between WHO and the Ministry of Health about the implementation of healthy cities, villages and neighborhood initiatives, as Oman is considered one of the leading countries in the initiative in the Region.