http://copudo.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/682937
He was enroute to Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi to board a flight for Rwanda where he was scheduled to launch a maternal health campaign and meet with President Paul Kagame.

Recognized for his outspoken nature and strong leadership, the Nigerian-born Taju as he was popularly known, was adamant in his beliefs that Africa and its people were perfectly capable of solving their own problems. As a prolific writer and public debater, the Nigerian political scientist joined the United Nations Millennium Campaign in March 2006 as the Deputy Director for Africa. His most prominent role was to direct the Africa team in motivating people across the continent to become more proactive in engaging their leaders to deliver on the Millennium Development Goals.

“His most untimely and tragic death on Africa Liberation Day comes as a terrible shock,” said Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. “He was a true son of Africa, a tireless campaigner and champion of Africa and Africans at home and around the world. May he rest in eternal peace. Our prayers are with him and his family.”

Africa Liberation Day on 25 May 1963, marks the occasion when the leaders of 32 independent African states met to form the Organization of African Unity. It is on this day that Africa and the rest of the world reflects upon the development and growth of the continent.

Prior to joining the United Nations Millennium Campaign, Dr. Tajudeen was the General Secretary of the Pan African Movement Secretariat in Kampala, Uganda and Co-Director of the London based human rights and peace organization, Justice AFRICA. He was also a freelance journalist and widely sought after commentator on African affairs in major global media and across Africa, including Radio France International, Al-Jazeera, the BBC and Voice of America. He is well known for his syndicated weekly column, “TAJUDEEN’S POSTCARD”, which was widely circulated online and published in a number of newspapers across Africa.
]]> Fri, 29 May 2009 10:46:00 -0400 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/682937 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/624181 The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) “Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development” scheme will provide grants between $5,000 and $25,000 to groups, steered by people between the ages of 15 and 32, promoting sustainable urbanization.

“In this time of worldwide economic crisis, it is not only banks and automakers who deserve financial support, we also need to encourage youth who are often best placed to solve problems in their communities,” said Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT.

“We must harness the energies of the young if we are to overcome the problems of urban poverty,” she added.

The Norwegian Government-backed initiative aims to support efforts in employment, education, environment, health and safety, among other areas.


]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:29:00 -0400 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/624181 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/624179
The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development will provide grants between $5,000 and $25,000 to organizations led by young people, aged 15-32 years.

“In this time of worldwide economic crisis, it is not only banks and automakers who deserve financial support, we also need to encourage youth who are often best placed to solve problems in their communities,” said Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. “The Opportunities Fund is designed to provide financial support of up to one million dollars per year, to youth-led initiatives aimed at sustainable urbanization. We must harness the energies of the young if we are to overcome the problems of urban poverty.”

Of the one billion slum dwellers in the world today, it is estimated that more than 70% are under the age of 30. Yet these young people have few resources available to improve their own living environment. This is a major oversight as there are many youth-led initiatives in slums and squatter settlements that are in urgent need of financial support.

The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development has been established with support from the Norwegian Government specifically to provide funds to youth-led community initiatives. The initial grant is for two million dollars over two years with a possibility of renewal.



The fund is committed to support innovative youth-led projects in areas such as employment, education, environment, health and safety. Applications from organizations partnering with government agencies and the private sector are encouraged. Projects promoting gender equality are particularly welcome.

Applications details are now available at www.unhabitat.org/opfund.

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2009 12:25:00 -0400 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/624179 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/618787 Kuwait City



UN-HABITAT has opened a new office in Kuwait City aimed at supporting the agency’s activities in the region.

A ceremony on 11 March was presided over by the UN-HABITAT Director of Regional and Technical Cooperation Division Mr. Daniel Biau and Mr. Ahmed Al-Adsani, Executive Director of the Arab Towns Organisation, on the occasion of the opening of UN-HABITAT Kuwait Office.

Top on the agenda of the office’s activities will be to offer support to local authorities and stakeholders to promote sustainable urban development and active implementation of the Habitat Agenda at the city level. In doing that, the office will closely cooperate with the Arab Towns Organisation and its subsidiaries. It will also partner with the Kuwaiti Government to respond to current and future urban development challenge when requested by the government.

Mr. Biau introduced the new chief of Kuwait Office, Mr. Tarek El-Sheikh to Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi Director of International organizations department in Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the UN Resident Coordinator Ms. Valerie Cliff. In his introduction, Mr. Biau explained that the office’s main focus would be to assist Arab cities and towns.

And fresh from its opening, UN-HABITAT Kuwait office later in the week joined the Arab Towns Organisation in celebrating the Arab Towns Day on 15 March 2009 in Kuwait. Mr. Sheikh planted a tree on behalf of UN-HABITAT in the friendship and peace garden as well as sending goodwill message to the Executive Director of Arab Towns Organisation Mr. Al-Adsani.
]]> Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:39:00 -0400 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/618787 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/618785 Luanda



UN-HABITAT and the government of Angola on Thursday signed an agreement that will allow the agency to establish a national office in that country.


Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director UN-Habitat, with Dr Antonio Paulo Kassoma,Prime Minister of Angola

The five year agreement was signed by UN-HABITAT Executive Director, Mrs Anna Tibaijuka and the Vice Minister for External Affairs George Rebelo Chicoty. Also present were the Prime Minister Antonio Paulo Kassoma and the Minister for Urban Development and Housing Diankumpuna Sita José.

The agreement was the outcome of fruitful discussions Mrs Tibaijuka had with the Angolan officials when she was in Luanda for the World Day celebrations last October. It was also made possible due to the strong support of the UN Resident Coordinator in Angola Mrs. Jocelline Basile-Finlay.

Responsibilities for the office will include encouraging international cooperation to implement the Habitat Agenda in Angola, cooperate with regional and international organizations, national government, local authorities, civil society institutions and private sector and promote the implementation of UN-HABITAT global programmes and global campaigns in Angola.

The office, to which the Angolan has pledged the first USD 680,000 will also raise funds, together with UN-HABITAT Headquarters, for the formulation and implementation of activities and programmes in Angola, promote and implement UN-HABITAToperational activities in Angola as well as organize international, regional and national conferences on human settlements issues.

During the talks with the Executive Director, the government of Angola expressed the need for immediate support of UN-HABITAT on two specific matters - housing (social housing and finance) and land reform.

]]> Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:33:00 -0400 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/618785 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/609997

The United Nations is supporting underprivileged young people’s initiatives to turn their cities into better places – and you can be part of that. Tell UN-HABITAT how you would tackle major challenges like poverty, HIV/AIDS, poor education and health, crime, and unemployment, and you could receive a grant under the Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development.

We are entering an era in which the majority of the population now lives in cities. Many of the cities experiencing the most rapid growth are in developing countries; however, that growth has been accompanied by increasing poverty, youth unemployment, and environmental degradation.

UN-HABITAT helps the urban poor by transforming cities into friendlier, healthier and greener places and providing them with better opportunities. UN-HABITAT works with organizations at every level, including local governments and youth, to build, manage, plan and finance cities that are livable for all.

For the first time, the UN is dedicating funds specifically aimed at addressing the issue of urban youth unemployment.

By directly funding, engaging with and researching the results of innovative grassroots urban youth-led initiatives, UN-HABITAT will build the capacity of local and national governments to develop effective policies and practices.

In the first two years, the Fund will disburse 1 million USD in grants per annum, thanks to a generous contribution from the Government of Norway. Small, grassroots initiatives are eligible for funding up to (and including) 5,000 USD and larger projects are eligible for funding from over 5,000 to 25,000 USD.

The call for applications will be announced on March 23rd, 2009. Application documents will be available shortly at www.unhabitat.org/opfund. Please check back regularly.

For more information send your inforamtion and questions to opfund@unhabitat.org
]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:34:00 -0400 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/609997 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/588615 Nairobi, Kenya



The United Nations headquarters in Kenya on Monday launched a charity drive to help millions of people facing starvation in their host country.

The ‘Hunger is not an option’ campaign was launched by Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT in her capacity as Director General of the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON).

She appealed to staff members, who number an estimated 3,000, to purchase food vouchers so that the Red Cross can help feed as many people as possible.

“Hunger is not an option,” she said. “But at the moment for 10 million people it is a reality. And as a UN family we have to grapple with the underlying issues. There is food in this country, but the real problem is access.”

A representative of the Kenya Red Cross, Mr. Abdi Noor, said that the famine crisis in Kenya was unprecedented because of a combination of failed rains, and violence and displacement following disputed 2007 presidential elections.

“This therefore means that even areas that have usually been food independent have now been forced to rely on food aid,” he said.

On a separate matter, Mrs. Tibaijuka announced that the World Health Organization in cooperation with the Governments of Italy and Switzerland, would send two surgeons who specialize in burns to Nairobi to help treat the victims of a devastating fire that hit downtown Nairobi last week.

Outside of Vienna and Geneva, Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is home to one of three headquarters of the world body outside the global HQ in New York.
]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:42:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/588615 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/588613 Lausanne



UN-HABITAT and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday signed Memorandum of Understanding aimed at promoting youth empowerment through sport by targeting mainly vulnerable and disadvantaged communities world-wide.

The landmark pact was signed by Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, UN-HABITAT Executive Director, and the IOC President, Mr. Jacques Rogge, at the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

A joint statement issued at the ceremony said that through the agreement both sides would strive to encourage advocacy and field-level activities in pursuit of these objectives through UN-HABITAT’s offices and the National Olympic Committees. They would also encourage youth to participate in sports activities and thus promote the Millennium Development Goals to alleviate poverty and to improve the living conditions of slum dwellers everywhere.

“This MOU between UN-HABITAT and the IOC is an important step forward in meeting the challenges of sustainable urbanization especially in the developing world. We must not forget that over 50 percent of slum populations are made up of young people and there is no better way to give direction and motivation than by encouraging them to participate in sports,” said Mrs. Tibaijuka.

The two organizations agreed to establish a follow-up committee that will meet annually to further define, develop, and maintain a programme of international cooperation and implement activities of common interest. The aim is to enable a regular exchange of information and lessons learned, as well as to prepare, publish and disseminate information of mutual interest on the role of youth and sport in urban development.

“The IOC is working closely with a number of UN agencies. The Memorandum of Understanding with UN-HABITAT is another step to promote development through sport and to support the UN Millennium Development Goals. Through this collaboration the IOC and UN-HABITAT will focus on the urban poor: millions of people, particularly children in the slums, for whom sport can bring escapism and hope”, said Mr. Rogge.
]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:41:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/588613 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/580137 Barcelona, Spain



The City of Barcelona and the World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments hosted the Cities Alliance Annual Public Policy Forum, on 20 and 21 January, which this year focused on ways to improve the effectiveness of development aid.



La Pedrera (Catalan for 'The Quarry'), is a Barcelona landmark designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi during the years 1906–1912. Photo © D. Biau / UN-HABITAT


Local and regional government representatives, donor agency representatives and development institutions agreed on the need to improve city management to combat poverty at the global level, by focusing efforts on the poorest neighbourhoods and by putting local actors in the driver’s seat of urban development.

“Cities are ready to fulfill their responsibilities to the most disadvantaged among their citizens. We cannot, however, be truly effective unless we reinforce joint plans and strategies with all the actors involved in development. For this to happen, there needs to be an agreement between local and national governments and multilateral organizations,” the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, declared at the opening of the forum.

The participants urged the international community to redouble efforts to attain the Millennium Development Goals, which they said could only be achieved if local authorities were brought in as 'real' partners.

Acknowledging the relevance of the principles established by the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, participants asked national and international stakeholders to ensure that, in the implementation of international programmes of action, such as the Accra Agenda for Action, local governments are systematically included in the definition, implementation and monitoring of these projects.

The representative of UN-HABITAT, Mr. Daniel Biau, said that his agency was fully committed to the principles of the Paris Declaration on country ownership, the alignment of external support on national priorities and harmonization of external assistance, including around the newly defined UN-HABITAT country programmes.

Launched in 1999, by the World Bank and UN-HABITAT, the Cities Alliance partnership is dedicated to urban development. It brings together development agencies, national governments and local authorities. The World Organization of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), a member of the Cities Alliance, provides leadership in various areas such as local finance and decentralization
]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:38:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/580137 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/580135 NewYork



UN-HABITAT is to field a mission to Gaza to assess the damage and to take part in the early recovery programme as part of the larger UN assessment team which was initiated earlier this week by the UN Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon after his visit to the region.


Damaged Warehouse at UNRWA Headquarters. Pic © UNMultimedia

In a statement issued in New York, the Executive Director Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka said: “In line with UN-HABITAT’s technical mandate, the focus of this advance mission will be to focus on shelter and settlement recovery, basic infrastructure rehabilitation and to support to local authorities in managing post-conflict reconstruction. In fact, our Habitat Programme Managers on the ground are already taking part in the initial consultations.”

She concluded by committing UN-HABITAT to extending support and expertise to the Palestinian people in Gaza in order to help them overcome this humanitarian disaster.

The 22-day conflict claimed over 1,300 lives and wounded 5,450 as well as causing widespread suffering and destruction.

During his visit Mr. Ban Ki-moon said: “I have come to Gaza to see for myself the extent of the damage caused by the last three weeks of fighting and to demonstrate my solidarity with the population of Gaza and to assure you of the United Nations and the international community’s full support to help you overcome this difficulty.”

As a full member of the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Humanitarian Affairs, UN-HABITAT’s contribution and response with regard to upcoming rehabilitation and reconstruction needs are fully integrated with the United Nations system efforts led by the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA.

For further information see also http://www.un.org/News/

]]> Fri, 30 Jan 2009 04:24:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/580135 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/558827 Baluchistan, Pakistan

For the residents of the south western Pakistan region of Baluchistan, a bleak winter was a looming reality until an intervention by UN-HABITAT helped them to put roofs over their heads.

A winter in the open with the attendant calamitous effects would have been a double disaster for the 800 families residing in the mountainous area who suffered a huge blow last October after a devastating earthquake hit the area.

The earthquake of magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale hit the area on 29 October 2008 affecting a huge swath of land extending from Ziarat district, some 110 kilometres northwest of Quetta, to Pishin and Harnai districts. According to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority the total population affected by the earthquake was 68,200 people.

The Government Response Plan, mapped by the District Authorities, Pakistan Military and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in consultation with the Emergency Shelter Cluster, assigned UN-HABITAT the construction of 947 transitional shelters in 19 villages in the Union Councils of Kutch, Kawas and Ziarat in the District of Ziarat in Baluchistan province.

To realize this mandate, UN-HABITAT applied for and managed to get some USD 900,000 from the United Nation’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). Through the Shelter Cluster, UN-HABITAT launched a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, inviting NGOs for partnership in implementation. Ultimately two NGOs, the Taraqee Foundation and Islamic Relief were selected based on technical and operational capacity to join UN-HABITAT for implementation of the transitional shelter project. Moreover, several in-kind donations of shelter materials were received from USAID, Bali Memorial Trust and Zaman Foundation.

Out of a total of 947 shelters assigned to UN-HABITAT, 299 transitional shelters in 6 villages are being constructed by Taraqee Foundation under a partnership agreement with UN-HABITAT, while another 302 shelters (with same number of pit latrines) are being constructed by the Islamic Relief in 2 villages under similar arrangement. The remaining 346 shelters are to be constructed by UN-HABITAT directly.

According to the UN-HABITAT Country Programme Manager Siamak Moghaddam, the enthusiasm the beneficiaries had exhibited for the agency’s transitional shelters was proof that UN-HABITAT was the best placed organization in housing disaster victims.

““UN-HABITAT is extremely happy with the support we received from CERF, NDMA and the Pakistan Military. As the premier UN agency in charge of human settlements we believe such partnerships are very crucial in helping people whether victims of disasters or not, to get shelter,” he added.]]> Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:48:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/558827 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553295 Lilongwe, Malawi


The first Malawi Urban Forum, held in Lilongwe from 8-9 December, brought close to 200 stakeholders to seek solutions to what is considered to be the most significant demographic and poverty dynamic in Malawi today - rapid urbanization and the urbanization of poverty.

The theme of the first Malawi Urban Forum was “Harmonious Urbanisation: the Challenge of Sustainable Urban Development in Malawi”, chosen in line with this year's World Habitat Day theme and also the focus of the World Urban Forum held in November, in Nanjing, China.

The forum zeroed in on Malawi's key urban priorities which include urban planning, shelter, energy and environment, gender, youth, disability, HIV/AIDS and public-private partnerships to promote sustainable urbanization. Meetings, which included a session for parliamentarians, were moderated by key experts.

Participants came from a many sectors and included government officials, members of parliament, local authorities, private sector organizations, urban utility providers, to civil society organizations, community representatives, universities, professional institutes, and other urban practitioners.

The forum exhibition featured best practices, case studies, urban applications such as Geographical Information Systems for urban development, water and sanitation systems as well as exhibits on housing, urban agriculture and community groups efforts. The meeting received wide media coverage; a special television programme and a live radio debate enabled the wider public to take part in the discussion on priority urban issues.

The level of support for this first urban forum in Malawi underscores the importance of addressing rapid urbanization in the country. Support was received from the United Nations Development Programme, the German development agency (GTZ), Action Aid, UN-HABITAT, the Center for Community Development (CCODE), the Malawi Institute of Physical Planners and the Malawi Government through its Ministries of Housing and Lands.

A number of resolutions were passed at the forum. These will be circulated in a comprehensive report which will be published television programme together with papers presented at the Forum.











]]> Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:10:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553295 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553293 Mrs. Tibaijuka was asked the following question at the Chief Executive Board meeting of the United Nations in Poznan, Poland, on Thursday 11 December:

Question: To Ms. Tibaijuka (UN-HABITAT):
With rapid urbanization, so much of the action is planning for our habitats of twenty years from now. Our choices will play out in spatial planning, building industry standards etc. As a small agency facing this enormous task, how are you working with other parts in the UN system to address these issues, as well as urban transportation and other action at the local level?

Below is a summary of her response.

It is no coincidence that global climate change has become a major international development issue at precisely the same time and the same pace as the world has become urbanised.
We live in a world where, according to UN-HABITAT’s research, 1 billion people languish in slums, mostly in developing countries. In a process we call the urbanisation of poverty, the locus of global poverty is moving into cities.

So when it comes to urban planning, we have to find a system that works to alleviate the plight of slum dwellers. It must combine concerted action by local authorities, with that of national governments, civil society and the international community.
If we fail to do anything about this, that figure is projected to double over the next 30 years to 2 billion, making the cauldron of misery and the potential impacts of disaster, twice as great as today. Member States of the United Nations committed themselves to “achieve a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020” (Target 11, Goal No.7).

UN-HABITAT is the agency mandated to help governments, municipalities and all urban actors find the way here. It means too that we have to link urban planning to the global challenges created by the urbanisation of poverty, and the threats posed by disasters that result from climate change. We need to think globally and locally at the same time.

We have to be careful that powerful economic interests may feel threatened by planning recommendations; that plans may not reflect the priorities of community groups, especially when it comes to climate change mitigation, and thus that they might not reflect the priorities of politicians either. With such issues in mind, we have, for example, started working with cities in Ecuador, Mozambique, the Philippines and Uganda to integrate climate change concerns into their planning processes.

At the national level, we are working with UNDP and UNEP. Municipalities, communities, and states all engage in planning. And we therefore work at the national and local level at the same time so that local processes become part of a country’s national processes and priorities.

Communication of problems, especially those like climate change impacts expected in a long time hence, is a key to successful planning. In this new urban age, many mega-cities around the world loom as giant potential disaster traps. In sub-Saharan Africa, slum dwellers constitute over 62 percent of the urban populations.

In south Asia, the figure is close to 50 percent. Everywhere it is the urban poor who live in places no-one else would dare set foot - along beaches and river estuaries prone to flooding, alongside slopes vulnerable to landslides after heavy rains. They live in shaky structures that would be flattened the instant disaster hit, causing untold loss of life and destruction.

As UN-HABITAT plays a more and more active role in humanitarian crises around the world, we work as one UN ever more closely with our sister agencies through our seat on the Executive Committee of Humanitarian Agencies (ECHA), as well through as our participation in the Inter Agency Standing Committee working groups in Geneva.

On the question of a breakthrough for energy conservation in new housing: She cited the example: UN-HABITAT and UNEP is developing an exciting new project with the governments of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda on Promoting energy efficiency in buildings in East Africa.

As 40 percent of the total national energy consumption is used in buildings, this project will save at least 10 percent of that energy – an amount sufficient to cover the total energy needs of Rwanda and its neighbour, Burundi. With UNEP we are setting up a city network for energy efficient buildings so that cities in the developing world can benefit from the latest thinking and the best ideas.

Finally, on the urban transport question and other action at the local level: How we plan, manage, operate and consume energy in our cities is the key driver behind the phenomenon of global warming. As we all know, urban transportation is the planet's fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.

As such, just one dollar spent reducing this is the
single most cost-effective measure local governments can take in climate change mitigation. While cities must indeed “adapt” to the impacts of climate change within their boundaries, they remain in the driver’s seat in terms of continued efforts at mitigation. As I said earlier, planning is the key. There is still time to reduce the overall impact of this ecological catastrophe by better planning. As cities sprawl, energy consumption vastly increases both from transport and housing energy distribution costs. Low-density, sprawling cities are two to three times more expensive to run and service than more densely populated cities.

UN-HABITAT promotes urban development strategies that integrate better land use planning, environmental conservation and transport systems. We promote public transport and non-motorized transport as alternatives to over-reliance on the private automobile. With UNEP we serve on the steering committee of the Eco-mobility alliance.

It represents a broad swathe of government, civil society and private sector to fashion better urban transportation and reduce its ecological footprint; we work directly with UNESCAP in Bangkok, and ECLAC in Santiago on UN Development Account projects.

These promote more sustainable urban infrastructure investments in our cities, including those in urban transport and urban energy access; and we work under the inter-agency "UN-energy" group as part of a One UN to encourage sustainable energy consumption. Many of the climate change problems begin and end in cities. Reducing urban poverty will thus make a huge contribution to reducing climate change and its impacts.]]> Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:06:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553293 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553291 POZNAN, Poland



The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon on Thursday said the world had to avoid backsliding in the fight against global warming and devise a "Green New Deal" to fix the twin climate and economic crises.

In an address to more than 100 environment ministers from around the world, he said the crises were an opportunity to address both challenges simultaneously:

"Managing the global financial crisis requires massive global stimulus. A big part of that spending should be an investment - an investment in a green future, an investment that fights climate change, creates millions of green jobs and spurs green growth.


The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.
Picture © unescap.org

"We need a Green New Deal", he told the ministers gathered in Poznan, Poland for UN climate talks overshadowed by the concerns about a global recession.

"Yes, the economic crisis is serious," he said. "Yet when it comes to climate change, the stakes are far higher. The climate crisis affects our potential prosperity and peoples' lives, both now and far into the future."

"This is a deal that works for all nations, rich as well as poor. It is an idea that was embraced with enthusiasm at the recent development conference in Doha, Qatar, and at the meeting of finance ministers in Warsaw which concluded this past Tuesday.

"We also urgently need a deal on climate change to provide the political, legal, and economic framework to unleash a sustained wave of investment. In short, our response to the economic crisis must advance climate goals, and our response to the climate crisis will advance economic and social goals," he said.

In short, Mr. Ban, said, "what we need, today, is leadership -- leadership by you". Prior to the address he held a private meeting with heads of UN agencies, including Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, to discuss these issues. She also later addressed an open meeting of the Chief Executive Board of the United Nations presided by Mr. Ban.

The Poznan talks are reviewing progress at the halfway mark of a two-year push to work out a global pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, the UN pact binding 37 nations to curb emissions by about 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012.

Mr. Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, took the cue and added: "We need to hear, feel and see your resolve to complete the task that you set us all in Bali a year ago. You launched the Bali Road Map to fulfill this task – not to procrastinate on it. The Bali Road Map is about issues of today, not about delay."

He cited examples of what he called clear signs of urgency – Mauritania in the grip of a triple stranglehold with a spreading desert, encroaching ocean and worsening floods. The Maldives island nation saving up for exodus because of rising seas.

"Distrust and suspicion have haunted these talks for much too long," Mr. de Boer said. "This is your opportunity to move on, to tell the world how you will deliver together, to tell the world how you will reach out to each other on finance and technology, to tell the world how you will create governance structures for finance in which no one is more equal than the next."

Developing nations, such as China and India, say recession is no excuse for the rich to delay fighting climate change. "If Europe sends a signal that it can make deep cuts only in the prosperous times, what are the developing countries supposed to say?" asked Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo.

In Poznan, details of a new Adaptation Fund to help poor countries adapt to the impacts of rising seas, droughts, floods and heat-waves are among the most contentious remaining issues. Tuvalu's Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia, whose Pacific island nation is threatened by rising seas, accused some industrialised nations of "burying us in red tape" to deny access to cash in the Adaptation Fund.

The fund could reach about USD 300 million a year by 2012 to help build coastal defences or develop drought-resistant crops.

"We will not sink," he said to applause. "Were not contemplating migration ... we will survive," 'Mr. Ielemia said.

Addressing the plenary on behalf of the world's least developed countries, Mr. Mohamed Shareef, Deputy Minister of Housing, Transport and the Environment of Maldives, said there was no time to lose.

"We understand the need for discussion and to bring ideas to address climate change – but we don't have the luxury to waste time any more," he said. "We have to consolidate our ideas and concrete steps should be agreed to take the decision on time. Copenhagen is only a year from now…"

He said the world's poorest countries appreciated steps being taken by the European Union. Speaking for the Union, French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Barloo said the world's most powerful economic bloc would be ready to cut its emissions by up to 30 percent if an agreement is reached in Copenhagen next year.

]]> Mon, 15 Dec 2008 13:03:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553291 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553287 Poznan, Poland



Mayors and local authorities representing cities around the world this week urged delegates attending a milestone session of climate change talks to ensure that cities are kept high on the agenda given that they are home to half the world's population and responsible for much of the emissions that cause climate change.

"The voice of cities has to be heard at the COP in Poznan," said the city's mayor, Ryszard Grobelny, referring to the 14th Conference of the Parties which started last week under the auspices of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC).

He was speaking at a Local Government Climate Session co-organized by Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) and the Association of Polish cities.
Picture © UNFCCC

In a joint message to the conference, they said: "We, cities and local governments, represent half of the world's population; consume up to 80 percent of all energy, implement strong local climate actions; commit to ambitious reduction targets, mobilize citizens around the globe; and offer national-local partnership to limit global warming.

"It is the local authorities which have a much closer relationship with their citizens than national governments. It is our duty to ensure that the opinions and voices of our citizens are heard when it comes to climate change," Mr. Grobelny said.

Echoing his views, the Mayor of Entebbe Uganda, Mr. Stephen Kabuye who serves as Vice-President of ICLEI, said that local authorities were in a special position.
"We need to go to the leaders and we need to go down to the schools, the places of worship to spread the gospel of climate change," he said. The issues at hand in Poznan were so important that if not well handled – all the other problems (of urban poverty) could get worse, he said.

World leaders meeting in Poznan are expected this week to create a successor treaty to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, in which dozens of nations, but not the United States, agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Several mayors said they hoped this position would now change.

In Bali last year, nations set a goal of negotiating a successor to Kyoto, which expires in 2012, in Copenhagen in 2009. Delegates in Poznan are discussing ideas and setting a work schedule leading to Copenhagen.

But the economic crisis and the timing of the talks have dampened expectations for the conference. There was concern that sour economy may discourage wealthier nations from agreeing to help fund cleaner energy in developing countries. And the United States is being represented in Poznan by the Bush administration.
President-elect, Barack Obama, who has promised to take strong action on climate change, did not send representatives. But he said in a statement: "The time for denial is over. We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now, that this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intend my administration to do."

Mr. David Cadman, a Vancouver City Councillor and President of ICLEI added that the problems were urgent and that the world could no longer delay on a sound climate change agreement.

"Climate change is happening all around us. We are in a crisis. We have to make some very substantial changes. The world's cities have got it; now national governments need to hear us."

UN-HABITAT's Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, who arrived in Poznan this week, will raise the urban profile at the meeting as the United Nations focal point for cities.
]]> Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:02:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/553287 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/550333
When Kisum bekem a siiti,
Suzzana Owiyo bekem Witney Youstoone

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
Dennis Oliech bekem Thiieerry Heenri,

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
Louis Otieno bekem Lari King

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
Obama became a Seneta and Kogelo village become municipality,

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
lek victoria bekem an osen

When Kisum bekem a siiti
all the mbuta in the lek bekem wales

When Kisum bekem a siiti
all fising boats bekem sips

When Kisum bekem a siiti
all omena bekem saks

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
all fisamen became sip captens

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
Gidi Gidi Maji Maji bekem Boys-To-Men OMera

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
Mercy Myra bekem Jennifer Lopez

When Kisum bekem a siiti,
Achieng Abura bekem Queen Latifah

Soult i.... bt do we Say....
when Obama becomes presitent.....
all luo's become AmeriKans
Raila become Prime Minister of Africa

Kisumu city become New York super City Yawa
Nyanza province became Nyanza DC (like Wasington DC )

Ida Odinga become Hilary Odinga
Fidel Castro Odinga become George Bush Jnr Castro Odinga
River Nyando become Mississipi

Lake Victoria become Atlantic osen

All boda boda in Kisumu become Hummers


YAWAA
call me on my samsuuung.... on my soosiall(social)
line....( PHONE NUMBER NOT SOWN FOR SEECURITII PAPASES


BADO MAPAMBANO,MAPAMBANO!!!!! MAPAAAMBANNOO!!!!!!

....Haya u can join me

BADO MAPAMBANO,MAPAMBANO!!!!! MAPAAAMBANNOO!!!!!!A
]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:29:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/550333 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/546873
The following information was released by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme:

UN-HABITAT in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and the NGO Maji na Ufanisi, last week opened new public toilets and bathrooms intended to help improve the lives of destitute Nairobi slum dwellers.

The agency's Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, hailed the new facilities designed to serve some 20,000 people and built at a cost of approximately USD 140,000 under the Kibera Integrated Water, Sanitation and Waste Management Project, part of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme.

Said Mrs. Tibaijuka: "The collaborative effort we have witnessed under the Kibera Water and Sanitation initiative assumes greater importance in the face of one of the most pressing issues facing our world today - rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies and policies. Kenya's slums are growing at an unprecedented rate."

The Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme was set up in 2004 as a collaborative initiative between the Government of Kenya and UN-HABITAT. It draws on the expertise of a wide variety of partners in order to improve the livelihoods of people living and working in slums and informal settlements in the urban areas of Kenya through the provision of security of tenure and physical and social infrastructure, as well as opportunities for housing improvement and income generation.

Background

At the fourth session of the World Urban in Nanjing, China this year, Kenya's Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Development, Mr. Mutula Kilonzo, Minister for Nairobi Metropolitan Development and Mrs. Tbaijuka, signed a special agreement to help uplift Nairobi. The ceremony was witness by Prime Minister Raila Odinga and several other senior officials.

Under the agreement, UN-HABITAT agreed to lend support to the establishment of the Ministry, preparation of Nairobi Metropolitan Strategy and a Spatial Development Plan.

The plan dubbed, Nairobi Metro 2030, aims to grow and develop Nairobi into a world class region, able to create sustainable wealth and quality of life for its residents, investors and offer an unmatched experience for its esteemed visitors. Further, it provides a framework through which the people of the Nairobi Metro Region will respond to current and future challenges over the next 22 years.

Backed by in-house experience and extensive global networks of professionals/practitioners and institutions, the plan is supported within UN-HABITAT's mandate as the City Agency of the United Nations in addition to the fact that Cities are the engines of economic growth.

The Memorandum of Understanding will be signed against the backdrop of the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum (3-6 November) in Nanjing, China, attended by a wide range of partners from non-governmental organizations, community based organizations, urban professionals, academics, to governments, local authorities and national and international associations of local governments. Under the theme of Harmonious Urbanization: The Challenge of Balanced Territorial Development, the forum provides all actors, a common platform to discuss urban issues in formal and informal ways and come up with action oriented proposals to create sustainable cities.

Nairobi Metro 2030 is part and parcel of the overall national development agenda. This agenda is encapsulated in Kenya Vision 2030 and the Grand Coalition Government Policy Agenda. These two documents are the country's response to dealing with five key development issues, namely rapid economic growth, employment and balanced wealth creation, poverty alleviation, meaningful youth engagement and a vigorous pursuit of regional equity in all its manifestations.

Therefore, the Nairobi Metro 2030 Strategy aims at optimizing the role of the Nairobi Metro Region in the national development effort. It will be targeted at ensuring that it facilitates the effective and efficient utilization of the NMR's resource endowments as well as an instrument for developing the other regions of the country through effective economic and other structural linkages to the rest of the country

]]> Fri, 05 Dec 2008 09:48:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/546873 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/543203
Nairobi 26 November 2008: UN-HABITAT in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and the NGO Maji na Ufanisi, is convening a handing-over ceremony of water and sanitation facilities built under the Kibera Integrated Water, Sanitation and Waste Management (K-WATSAN) Project, part of the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP). The ceremony is scheduled to take place on Wednesday 26th November, 2008 starting at 9.00 am.



KENSUP was set up in 2004 as a collaborative initiative between the Government of Kenya and UN-HABITAT. It draws on the expertise of a wide variety of partners in order to improve the livelihoods of people living and working in slums and informal settlements in the urban areas of Kenya through the provision of security of tenure and physical and social infrastructure, as well as opportunities for housing improvement and income generation.



K-WATSAN is a pilot demonstration project implemented in Soweto East (one of Kibera’s 13 villages) that aims to improve the livelihoods of people, by supporting small-scale, community based initiatives in water, sanitation and waste management, and by providing basic services, infrastructure and capacity building.



The project is guided by the following objectives:



· Improving water, sanitation and waste management through the provision of storm water drains, communal water and sanitation facilities, and small-scale door-to-door waste collection and recycling services;

· Improving mobility within Soweto East, by constructing a low-volume road, taking into account the needs of non-motorised transportation users;

· Providing household power connections in conjunction with the Kenya Power and Lighting Company;

· Establishing a computerized community and youth resource centre, a dispensary for small children and a rehabilitation facility for children with disabilities;

· Strengthening the institutional and technical capacities of selected key target groups by conducting training courses.



K-WATSAN introduced and tested UN-HABITAT’s new development approach within KENSUP and focused on the provision of basic infrastructure, such as water and sanitation, as a start to improving life for people living in the slum. The local community has been fully involved in the project which demonstrates that slum dwellers can take responsibility for their living conditions, and that their contribution is essential in finding lasting solutions. Their participation also builds social cohesiveness and integration within their community.





For more information, please contact: Sharad Shankardass, Spokersperson Head, Press Media Relations Unit, Tel: 7623153, or Ms. Zahra Hassan, Media Liaison, Tel: 7623151, Fax: 7624060, E-mail:habitat.press@unhabitat.org, Webiste: www.unhabitat.org



]]> Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:03:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/543203 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/543207


United Nations Member States have committed to scale up their response to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Investments made in the AIDS responses over the last 10 years are starting to bear fruit and an increasing number of people in developing countries are receiving life-lengthening antiretroviral drugs.



However, an estimated 33 million people are still living with HIV, and there were 2.7 million new HIV infections and some 2 million AIDS-related deaths in 2007. For every two people put on antiretroviral drugs, another five become newly infected.



Sustaining leadership requires the world to focus on AIDS every day of the year. “By investing in AIDS we can halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and move forward in our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,” says the UN.



The 20th anniversary event is being marked under the theme: “Lead, empower, deliver”.



Secretary-General on World AIDS DAY



Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon, in a statement ahead of the day, stressed the need to “sustain leadership”, build upon achievements, and maintain momentum. “The need to lead, empower and deliver on AIDS is as real and urgent as ever,” he said.



“We have to end the stigma and discrimination that still stop so many people from learning how to prevent HIV and get treatment,” stressed Mr. BAN.



Fewer people are being infected with HIV, and fewer people are dying of AIDS, he noted. “This success owes itself to people all over the world who are taking the lead to stop AIDS,” said the secretary-General.



Governments, he said, are delivering on their promises to scale up universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. However there is no room for complacency. “AIDS will not go away any time soon. People are still being infected with HIV faster than we can get them on treatment. AIDS is still one of the top ten causes of death worldwide, and it is the number one killer in Africa,” stated the Secretary-General.



An audio file of Secretary-General’s remarks will be available on 1 December in MP3 format on the UN Audio Library web site.



AIDS Outlook



The joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on Friday, 28 November launched a new report: AIDS Outlook that provides perspectives on some of the most pressing issues that will confront policymakers and leaders as they respond to the challenges presented by AIDS in 2009.



“In many ways the year ahead will be a year of transition—and acceleration,” said a UNAIDS statement. Many countries are reviewing their national strategies on AIDS, and “even though political commitment for AIDS is at an all-time high, recent developments in the financial world will test the resilience of many,” noted UNAIDS.



The report, the UN agency said, is an opportunity for reflection on what has been possible to achieve with leadership as well as for refocusing on some key areas that are impeding progress. “It is not a ‘how to manual’ or a ‘policy statement’, but provides insights based on evidence on new ways to build on and improve the AIDS response,” says the statement.





New York



The UN Inter-Agency Working Group on AIDS (IAWG) is supporting the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of WAD at the historic Riverside Church in New York, 490 Riverside Drive - between 120th and 122nd streets.



The event at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, 30 November will be an evening that underscores the need to lead, empower and deliver more resolutely on AIDS.



The Secretary-General’s message to mark the Day will be delivered by video. Other speakers at the event will be United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Goodwill Ambassador, Mpule Kwelagobe, chairperson of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts, III, and the speaker of the New York City Council Christine Quinn.



The Lavender Light Gospel Choir will perform during the programme and there will be a reception and entertainment by The Karla Harby Outcats Jazz Trio. HIV and hepatitis testing will be available at an information fair following the reception.



The support of the IAWG to this event aims among other things to bring the UN and New York communities together and, in the process, cultivate a stronger relationship between UN entities, member states and civil society organizations.

It is also to sustain the momentum generated by the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS and the 2008 High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS as well as motivate various interest groups to be personally involved in the response to AIDS.
]]> Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:25:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/543207 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/534963
Under the agreement, UN-HABITAT will provide the NGO with USD 167,537 to construct water storage facilities in the prisons and connect them to the municipal water system. The money will also be used to rehabilitate existing sanitation facilities and construct new improved facilities to ensure better hygiene in the prisons. These activities are scheduled to be completed within 9 months.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the head of the Water and Sanitation Programme of UN-HABITAT, Mr. Bert Diphoorn, noted that the project would uplift the living conditions in the prisons by providing clean drinking water, an extremely rare commodity in many Kenyan prisons. “ Caravans of prisoners trooping to nearby springs and other dirty water sources will be a thing of the past”, he said.

Reiterating her NGO’s commitment to implementing the project according to the agreed schedule, the Executive Director of the Prisoners Care Programme, Ms. Jemima Gichungu, thanked UN-HABITAT for supporting the prisons water project, noting that Kenyan prisons are currently characterized by severe overcrowding, with inadequate and rudimentary facilities. “Lack of clean drinking water and inadequate sanitation facilities often result in deaths of inmates due to water-borne diseases”, she said.

The Prisons Water Project is a component of the ongoing Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative, a joint project by UN-HABITAT and the Governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It promotes improved access to water and sanitation, encourages efficiency in water use through demand management, and supports capacity building activities to help towns around the Lake to attain the water and sanitation targets of the Millennium Development Goals. The first phase of the programme has as already provided improved water services to over 114,000 persons and improved sanitation to about 20,000 persons.
]]> Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:51:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/534963 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526901 Nairobi



Although worldwide urban growth is expected to slow, a new report by UN-HABITAT is projecting the reverse in Africa with the continent’s urban population being projected to more than double by 2030.

According to the State of African Cities Report of 2008, by last year, Africa’s urban population stood at 373.4 million. However, the figure is expected to rise, the report says. “Projections show that by 2030 there will be 759.4 million African urban dwellers, more than today’s total number of city dwellers in entire Western hemisphere,” it says.

The report which was launched at the just concluded Fourth Session of the World urban Forum held in Nanjing, China adds that the world’s shortest urban population doubling time, less than nine years, is found in the East Africa region, from 50.6 million in 2007 to a projected 106.7 million by 2017.

Among the report’s highlights is that Africa is in a historic period of demographic change. Around 2030, Africa will enter its urban age with 759.4 million people - half of its total population - living in cities. It is projected that by 2050 there will be more than 1.2 billion African city dwellers. That means that by 2050 there will be more people living in African cities than the combined urban and rural populations of the Western hemisphere.

In 2007, Africa was still the least urbanized region in the world with only 38.7 percent of the continent-wide population residing in settlements classified as cities. The African population is geographically very unevenly distributed and there are significant intra-regional urbanization differences within Africa. The East Africa region is the least urbanized of the world, but urbanizing rapidly. The North Africa and Southern Africa regions have the continent’s highest urbanizations figures and their average annual rates of urbanization, as expected, are now declining. They nevertheless continue to be rapidly urbanizing regions.

The urban population growth in Africa is, contrary to common wisdom, not absorbed by its largest cities. In the foreseeable future, the intermediate cities (towns with less than 500,000 inhabitants) will be the localities where two-thirds of all African urban growth is occurring. The implications of this swift urban growth should be clear: African governments should start strengthening the governance capacities of their intermediate and smaller cities so that these fast-growing towns will be prepared for rapid increase in new and additional demand for urban spatial planning, urban housing, urban services and urban livelihoods.

The larger African cities, however, will also continue to grow, albeit that their annual growth rates are now declining. But since these lower growth rates apply to ever-larger urban populations, these cities will, in absolute terms, still see more and more people added. The larger African cities will absorb the remaining one-third of the continent-wide urban growth and, consequently, both the number and average size of African cities larger than 500,000 inhabitants is on the rise. In 1950, Alexandria and Cairo were the only African cities exceeding one million inhabitants. In 2005, there were 43, with an average size of 2.5 million and a combined population of more than 110 million. In 2015, there will be 53, with an average size of 3.1 million and a combined total exceeding 168 million inhabitants.

Africa’s three giant urban agglomerations, Cairo, Kinshasa and Lagos, continue to rise rapidly in their ranking among the world’s largest metropolitan regions. In 2007, the urban agglomeration of Cairo had 11.9 million inhabitants; Lagos had 9.6 million and Kinshasa 7.8 million. In 2015, Cairo will have 13.4 million; Lagos 12.4 million; and Kinshasa 11.3 million inhabitants - 11th, 17th and 19th respectively among the world’s largest metropolitan regions. Projections show that Kinshasa, with 16.7 million inhabitants, will be Africa’s largest urban agglomeration in 2025, Lagos 15.8 million and Cairo 15.5 million, ranking 11th, 12th and 13th among the world’s largest megacities.

]]> Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:21:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526901 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526881 Nanjing

UN-HABITAT on Tuesday unveiled a groundbreaking US$2 million fund to finance inspiring youth-led development projects around the world.


The Opportunities Fund for Urban Youth-Led Development, announced at the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China, was created to engage the partnership and leadership of young women and men in achieving sustainable urbanization. The Fund is initially being financed through a US$2,000,000 grant over two years, provided by the Government of Norway. Other governments and donors are being invited to contribute to the fund.

“Youth are the future of our cities, but often are rendered voiceless due to unemployment, lack of education and other issues,” said Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. “Through this new fund, we are recognizing the urgent need to bolster youth-led initiatives, and are at the forefront of a growing movement to place youth at the center of sustainable development strategies.”

The exciting event, featuring a series of illuminating speeches from international leaders in the field of youth-led development and performances from prolific young artists from across the globe, drew in a crowd which demonstrated the recognition which youth have achieved at this year’s World Urban Forum. Extra seating was required for scores of youth leaders, civil society representatives, government officials and private sector participants intent on being involved in this unique project. David Woollcombe, director of Peace Child International, underlined the uniqueness of this fund within the UN system, urging other agencies and governments to follow Norway’s example in supporting youth, as he says, “the world’s last remaining ‘superpower’”. Luis Zamorano, Director of Urban Infrastructure, Ministry of Social and Urban Affairs, Mexico agreed, offering to host the second global conference on Safety and Cities. As the Mayor of Dar es Salaam, Mr. Adam Omar Kabisa, stated, “Youth are leaders of yesterday, leaders of today and leaders of tomorrow.” Today marked a turning point in the history of international development: Youth integration must be considered crucial to the success of any future programme.

Young people are poised to play a crucial role in achieving sustainable urbanization in the world’s rapidly expanding cities and towns. According to the United Nations World Youth Report 2007, children and youth under the age of 24 make up nearly 40 percent of the global population. Nearly 18 percent are between the ages of 15 and 24, with 85 percent of these youth living in developing countries. The average age in the 10 least-developed African countries is 16 years or younger. This expanding demographic not only represents an unprecedented opportunity, but also significant challenges. Youth comprise 25 percent of the world’s working-age population, but account for nearly 44 percent of the unemployed. In the Africa region, 27 percent of youth are not in school or working.

“Youth-led development is about young people making a living and future for themselves and their communities,” said Mrs. Tibaijuka. “Any effective response to improve the living conditions of the urban poor and those living in the world’s slums must deal, prima facie, with the challenges facing youth.”

]]> Tue, 11 Nov 2008 08:13:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526881 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526895 Nanjing



As delegates from around the world exchanged views in the newly built giant Nanjing convention and exhibition centre on Tuesday, the buzzwords on everyone's lips at the fourth session of the World Urban Forum were "harmonious urbanization".

Barely a speaker at the UN-HABITAT biennial gathering missed a chance to give their views of what a harmonious city is all about.

Setting the tone in the first opening statement, Mr. Jiang Hongkun, the Mayor of Nanjing, said: "Building harmonious cities is our vision. This session of the Forum convened to discuss the theme, harmonious urbanization, will promote new ways of building cities at home and abroad. Nanjing will use the precious opportunity of the Forum to borrow new ideas and experiences from Chinese and international cities for its betterment in the most harmonious way possible."

The city was adorned with flyers and posters welcoming Forum visitors and laser light shows lit up the night skies from high buildings in the newly modernized city.

For the poor represented by some civil society groups, for young people represented by youth groups, or women's organizations, the concept carried a message of hope easy to understand in a world urbanizing so quickly that, according to UN-HABITAT figures, two-thirds of humanity will be living in towns and cities in another generation.

Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warned that in a new urban age with most people living in cities, urban crime was likely to increase.

" The rise in crime is bound to continue and accelerate as urbanization – especially in Africa and the Carribbean – continues to grow at a rapid pace. This carries important implications for global – and not simply local – security," he said.

He cited reports on regions where crime had had an impact on development – for example in Africa, the Balkans, the Caribbean and Central America. His office had demonstrated the link: under-development increases vulnerability to crime, and crime hurts development."

Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director UN-HABITAT, told the plenary meeting on Tuesday that urban planning was crucial at the policy level. "For cities without slums, planning has to be firmly in the mainstream," she said. To avoid reactive measures such as slum upgrading, she said proper planning to prevent the formation of slums was the best way to proceed.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga of Kenya, who shared the speaker's table with the senior UN executives, said Governments had a duty to ensure that people had access to decent housing, hospitals, schools and utilities. Governments owed their citizens decent housing, he said.

Another senior UN official, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, said it was important to build harmony and equity in cities from the perspective of good urban governance so that barriers are broken down, and so that access to jobs, affordable housing and education can be promoted.

Click here for a summary of statements at the plenary sessions.

Mr. Abdoulie Janneh, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa

The Under-Secretary-General said that strong urban agglomerations contribute to wealth because they are home to vital sectors for economic growth such as industry, commerce and finance. But urbanization also brought problems of poverty especially evident in the growth of slums. He said it was therefore important to build harmony and equity in cities from the perspective of good urban governance so that barriers are broken down, and access to jobs, affordable housing and education can be promoted. Good government at the local level was central to the effective management, development and administration of urban services. To ensure equity, local governments had to be based on the principles of popular participation, transparent and accountable structures, and viable institutional frameworks. Local leaders, he said, had to have the skills and the capacity to manage cities in partnership with community-based organizations, the private sector and other non-governmental bodies.

More and more cities in developed countries were building inclusive communities through committed efforts to incase citizen participation and engagement while promoting equal opportunity and fairness, he said.

Yet the institutional framework for the governance of cities, and especially in the example of Africa where his organization was mandated to promote economic and social development, was still an unsettled question. Findings of the Economic Commission for Africa showed that further consideration was required on the balace of responsibilities between central and local governments. There had to be more decentralization, or subsidiarity in the management of local public affairs.

He cited some examples of programmes to fight social exclusion and induce economic achievement. They included the Single Regeneration Budget and the New Deal for Communities programmes in the UK; the Policy for Cities programmes in France; in Cape Town, community participation in the city's Rebuilding and Development Programme; water delivery in Yaoundé, and Local Agenda 21 Programmes in Uganda, and others.

In conclusion, he said that to promote equity and harmonious cities it was important to create awareness and focus attention on the importance and value of inclusive communities.

Statement by Hon. Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya

The Prime Minister opened his remarks saying that slum upgrading and housing were matters of prime concern to his government. Decent, affordable housing was the responsibility of any government. Yet in Kenya it constituted what he called a monumental challenge. His own constituency, for example, he said covered both Karen, one of the wealthiest and most affluent suburbs of the capital Nairobi, and Kibera, an overcrowded slum, home to nearly three-quarters of a million people.

He quoted UN estimates showing urbanization to be growing more rapidly in Africa than any other continent. In the majority of cases rural migrants ended up in slums and conditions worse than those they had left behind. Thus anger, hunger and frustration built up. He explained how the government was working with UN-Habitat in a project set up in 2003 called the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme. The programme being implemented in Nairobi, and the other major cities of Mombasa and Kisumu, he said, was aimed at helping the country attain the Millennium Development Goals, especially Target 11 on improving the lives of slum dwellers around the world. He described the slums as places of disease and misery, dusty during the dry season, muddy during the rains and always stinking of human waste, and always a threat to health. This was why housing was not merely a matter of putting up homes, but ensuring that hospitals, schools and other facilities are also available along with water, sanitation, and electricity services.

He was at pains to explain how people were resigned to their plight and skeptical of government promises of better living conditions. He quoted the case of a Kibera resident who said they had been born in slum, would always live there, die in the slum and even go to a slum in heaven. With this sort of mindset, he added, only an accountable and trusted government could ensure improvements. He said that there was resistance to slum upgrading because past upgrading projects had not benefited the urban poor, and had a tendency to benefit non-slum residents.

His message to the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum, the Prime Minister said was: Governments had a duty to ensure that people don't have the believe that if they had been born in a slum, they would remain there forever, and even in death. Governments owed their citizens decent housing.

Statement by Raquel Rolnik, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing

The Special Rapporteur, in a brief statement, asked how harmony could possibly be achieved in cities and whether the world was capable of being harmonious. The measuring stick, the critical basis, she said was inclusiveness. The world needed harmony in housing and planning policies for all, she said. She stated that social inclusiveness and political participation with the provision of adequate housing were therefore the cornerstones for achieving harmonious cities.

Urban development and urban change was more oriented towards producing for profit and hence serving those with higher purchasing power. As a result low income earners and the poorest tend to be excluded from spaces and access to services. Consequently, whenever an economic crisis hits, as happened at the time of the Forum, numerous urban facilities including housing are left vacant.

She underscored the point that harmonious urban development could not be achieved in the context of inequities and exclusion, the implication being that inclusiveness was a central axis for fostering harmonious urban development.

Statement by Mr. Greg Peng, Head of Global Commercial Real Estate in China, Merrill Lynch

Mr. Peng addressed the role of capital markets, increasing urbanization in Asia and a low-cost housing project supported by the company in Central America. Describing the global financial crisis as unprecedented, he said the credit crunch prevailing at the time of the Fourth Session of the World Urban Forum had been brought on by the bursting of a housing bubble financed by securitized sub-prime loans. Adjustments in the property market, especially in the United States would take time to work through before confidence was restored. Nevertheless, the capital markets could still play an important role in facilitating the provision of low-cost housing. The key was that there had to be responsible lenders, responsible counterparts, responsible investors and responsible end-users. There was a case for governments in the less developed economies to put financial instruments to good use in providing low-cost housing for people who need it.

In Asia each year more than 30 million rural workers enter cities. In China, this was part of what he termed a vast migration. He said urbanization in China stood at around 38 percent, still below the world average of 46 percent. Merrill Lynch estimated, however, that by 2010, some 45 to 50 million workers in China would have moved out of agriculture into urban areas in a trend likely to continue.

He concluded with a description of the Global Housing Foundation , a partner of UN-Habitat, providing sustainable housing for the working poor in countries like Panama, Costa Rica and El Salvador. He said Merrill Lynch was working with them in the programme by buying a majority stake in the pools performing mortgages so that banks could offer loans at affordable rates. He said the project was being extended to South Africa and hopefully in Asia at a later stage. He said the company's business philosophy was to contribute to the communities in which it operates.
]]> Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:17:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526895 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526889 NANJING

The mayor of the Chinese city of Nanjing, Hon. Jiang Hongkun, China's Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Hon. Jiang Weixin, and H.H. Dejiang Zhang, the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, welcomed delegates to the fourth session of the World Urban Forum, which was officially opened today. The Chinese officials told delegates that the theme of the Forum -- Harmonious Urbanization -- was critically important to the Chinese government, which attached great importance to integrated development. They noted that China was focusing on coordinated development between its cities and regions, and was placing special emphasis on energy saving and climate change mitigation.

UN-HABITAT Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, thanked the Government of the People's Republic of China and the City of Nanjing for hosting the event and making the Forum a reality. She also thanked the Governments of Norway for providing financial support towards civil society participation at the Forum and the Kingdom of Bahrain for sponsoring the Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Award, which will from now onwards become a standing feature of the biennial event.

Mrs.Tibaijuka noted that the current global financial crisis threatened to reverse the gains made so far on internationally agreed goals to reduce poverty and that governments needed to ensure that the momentum generated by the Millennium Development Goals was not lost. "While collective efforts are underway to restore the much eroded trust in financial markets and to avoid the collapse of the marketplace, the United Nations system will do whatever it can to ensure that the poor, the vulnerable, and particularly the one billion people living in urban slums around the world, do not become casualties of the crisis."

The opening ceremony was also graced by the presence of dignitaries such as Hon. Raila Odinga, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, who told delegates that rural-to-urban migration in Africa was putting an unbearable strain on African cities but that African governments had no choice but to deal with this reality as "the world is coming to the city". Vice President Noli de Castro of the Philippines urged governments to create the necessary governance structures to promote harmonious urbanization and to enhance the capacity of local governments to deal with climate change. H.H. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, told delegates that Bahrain had decided to launch an award to encourage innovative ideas with respect to urban development by honouring the best urban development practices around the world.

The fourth session of the World Urban Forum brings together a wide range of stakeholders who will focus on various aspects of harmonious urbanization, including territorial balance in urban development, social equity, urban environment and preserving the cultural heritage of cities.





]]> Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:16:00 -0500 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526889 http://copudo.tigblog.org/post/526885 Nanjing



The hugely successful World Urban Youth Forum drew to a close in Nanjing with calls for more inclusion of young people in decision making.

Speaking at the forum's closing ceremony; the Vice chairman of Jiangsu Youth Federation, Mr. Zhang Guoliang emphasized the importance of promoting dissemination of information and communication amongst young people in effective ways. He also welcomed suggestions from the young delegates on how the federation can be more involved in addressing the challenge of urbanization and incorporation of the views of the young people.

The two-day conference, hosted by the Nanjing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Youth League, is third biennial session of its kind, and takes place traditionally on the eve of the World Urban Forum. This year, youth delegates discussed theme, "Harmonious Urbanization: The Challenge of Balanced Territorial Development."

The opening ceremony of the forum on Saturday affirmed the commitment of global leaders on urbanization to fostering youth led development. The Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, noted that now is the "dawn of a new urban era," with half of the world's population already living in towns and cities, and a projected increase to two-thirds, by the year 2030. She emphasized that the only way to meet the challenge of urbanization was through genuine "dialogues among young people." She recognized, as is evident in the area of information communications technology, that creativity and innovation are the hallmarks of youth, and that this is key to overcoming the challenges of poverty and urbanization.

Jean-Jacques Nyenimagabo, Minister of Youth, Sports and culture in Burundi acknowledged the setting up of the One Stop models and affirmed his support in ensuring more centre are opened up in other regions for wider inclusion of youth in development initiatives. Prior to the closing ceremony, nominations were made for representations to the youth advisory board to be made at the Youth roundtable during the World Urban Forum on Tuesday 4th November 2008. Previous sessions of the World Urban Youth Forum have been remarkable and this year's session was no exception
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