Cities Alliance Consultative Group Meeting

• 1. Key Issues for Discussion

• 2. Cities Without Slums Action Plan

• 3. City Development Strategies

• 4. Proposed 2002 Work Programme

• 5. Cities Alliance Finances

• 6. Pledging for 2002

• 7. Feedback from the Public Policy Forum

• 8. Policy Advisory Board

• 9. Monitoring the Millennium Declaration Target

• 10. Independent Evaluation of the Cities Alliance

• 11. Governance Matters

• 12. Next Meeting of the Consultative Group

The Consultative Group meeting was chaired by Daniel Biau of UN-Habitat and John Flora of the World Bank. In their opening remarks the co-chairs stressed the strategic importance of the Alliance and its achievements to-date, while highlighting some of the key challenges which it faces, both in terms of funding and in developing the coherence of effort needed to achieve its ambitious goals. The social and political dimensions of this challenge were brought home by the poignant story of the recent tragic events in Nairobi's Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa. The observations and recommendations of Consultative Group members on these issues are incorporated in the relevant sections of the summary of the discussion below, along with feedback from the Alliance's Public Policy Forum (9-12 December) and the Policy Advisory Board. The meeting's agenda and the list of participants are attached.


1. Key Issues for Discussion

Mark Hildebrand introduced an overview of issues for discussion and suggested that the Consultative Group consider actions which might make the Alliance more effective in three key areas:

(i) Building political commitment - The contribution of urban development to national and rural poverty reduction is still not broadly understood and as a result, the importance of working with cities remains marginal within many development agencies. Two specific suggestions were put forward in this connection:
1) The Consultative Group might want to consider how to use the Alliance's Policy Advisory Board to help convey this message with maximum impact; and
2) Since the goal of the Alliance's Cities Without Slums action plan – 'improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020' - has now been established by the United Nations as a new international development target, in the same way that UN-Habitat has adopted this goal, all Alliance partners should consider using this goal to help measure the impact of their programmes on poverty reduction.

(ii) Strengthening coherence of effort – A key objective of the Alliance is to create a new coherence of effort in urban development cooperation, so as to scale-up impacts on poverty reduction citywide and nationwide. To this end Cities Alliance members and others are already collaborating in support of partnerships between cities and community based organizations in several countries, including, for example, in India, Vietnam and Brazil. Fostering and broadening these local alliances will be critical to sustaining and scaling-up the impacts of activities, particularly in large countries such as China, Indonesia and Nigeria. The engagement of a broader range of Alliance members in countries where they are active would strengthen these efforts, as would broadening the Alliance to include the regional development banks and the European Commission. In this connection discussions are ongoing with the Asian Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Commission.

(iii) Linking with investments - This is central to achieving the Alliance's ambitious goals. There are already strong linkages with a number of World Bank investments, and there is real scope to further engage the regional and bilateral banks in this process. The Alliance is also serving as an incubator with a number of partners in developing new financial mechanisms and facilities which will help leverage private sector investments and extend credit both to the urban poor, as well as to cities. An early product of these partnerships is the Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF), and other initiatives to support financial services for slum upgrading are expected to emerge from the Alliance's ongoing work with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP) and a consortium of private and public sector partners.

Back to top

2. Cities Without Slums Action Plan

A presentation analysing the Alliance's slum upgrading portfolio by William Cobbett, highlighted the challenge of achieving the goal of the Alliance's Cities Without Slums action plan which has now been adopted as a Millennium Declaration target - "improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020". A number of trends were identified from the proposals that the Alliance Secretariat has received, leading to the emergence of three categories of action: (i) creating the conditions for scaling-up slum upgrading; (ii) directly supporting scale delivery and (iii) innovative mechanisms designed to sustain delivery at scale.

Cities Alliance activities are increasingly focusing on issues of scale, investment, and local leadership within long-term timeframes. The perspective of investment needs to be broadened, with a clear emphasis on local investment as the first priority— with the investment and commitment of the slum dwellers themselves, the city and the local private sector leading the way. The interface between slum dwellers and city managers is becoming increasingly significant in achieving the Cities without Slums target, and can be supported by innovative interventions designed to facilitate scale delivery, such as CLIFF.

The issues and challenges identified for 2002, include: increasing activities in Africa, which is not strongly represented in the Alliance's existing work programme; consolidating Alliance activities into coherent citywide and nationwide programmes; and encouraging local partners to use the global target set in the Millennium Declaration to negotiate and monitor city and state targets for slum upgrading. A number of issues were raised in the discussion that followed:

• Building on the work of existing microcredit organizations in developing new facilities and mechanisms to expand financial services for the poor to improve their housing.
• Strengthening the capacity of local partners as the primary investors, particularly slum dwellers themselves, the local private sector and the local authority's capacity to mobilise local finance. While attention should be paid to scaling up nationwide, the Alliance should focus on working directly with cities and avoid parastatal or government programmes which by-pass cities.
• The Alliance is demonstrating a clearer focus on the types of operational activities it supports, and should not shy away from turning down proposals that do not clearly fall within its strategic objectives. It is important to say 'no' to proposals which do not qualitatively add to the Alliance's portfolio. In addition to being selective, the Alliance should remain particularly supportive of local initiatives which involve the urban poor as key actors, not simply as beneficiaries.
• The Alliance has been incredibly helpful in setting targets focused on improving the lives of slum dwellers.
• The size of the Alliance's core fund is not the key indicator for success, but it is the impact of these funds. The role of the Cities Alliance should be catalytic in leading to investments, and the local investment that the Alliance can leverage should be a key indicator of success.

Back to top

3. City Development Strategies

A presentation by Peter Palesch analysing the Alliance's portfolio of City Development Strategies (CDS), drew attention to a number of emerging features, including, regional differences, strategies which are moving beyond single city-regions, linking of CDS and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) exercises, and the need for improved, participatory preparation of proposals. The presentation also emphasized ongoing efforts to sharpen the focus of Alliance supported CDS on impacts and investment follow-up. The rising demand for new CDS, above all in East Asia, underlines the necessity to clearly focus on the Alliance's "value added" to individual CDS exercises. Among the challenges identified for the forthcoming year were:

• ensuring ownership of the CDS by the municipal government, community-based organizations and local business leaders;
• sustaining CDS processes, above all in keeping up the newly formed local partnerships and participatory processes, but with a focus on results and poverty reduction impacts;
• enabling the client to create, access and apply CDS knowledge;
• improving Alliance knowledge, guidelines and tools related to CDS building blocks;
• supporting synergies with Alliance slum upgrading efforts, and;
• strengthening follow-up investment, including private and local investment resources.

These challenges were also reflected a summary presented by Dinesh Metha of lessons from seven CDS exercises which the Urban Management Programme (UMP) has carried out. This presentation strongly emphasized the need to integrate a clear pro-poor perspective into CDS design.

The link between CDSs and scaling-up slum upgrading, as well as the link with PRSPs was the subject of considerable discussion. This discussion reaffirmed that the strength of the CDS should lie in its heterogeneous and demand-driven character which provides a framework for local stakeholders to set local priorities in three interdependent areas of action: urban governance, local economic growth and poverty reduction. Endorsing the idea that CDS supported by the Alliance should have a focus on poverty reduction, it was stressed that sustaining poverty reduction impacts requires a broader focus on municipal budgets, finance and local economic development. Preliminary feedback from ongoing CDS has also revealed that local ownership of both the CDS process and product are critical. In this connection, the impact of a CDS on the local investments generated was suggested as an important measure of success.

In discussing the links between the objectives of CDS and citywide slum upgrading, it was recognized that, while these linkages are of necessity city-specific, the CDS and the Cities Without Slums action plan are both complementary and interdependent. The Cities Without Slums action plan makes explicit reference to supporting the provision of basic services for the urban poor within the framework of CDS. To facilitate continuing the CDS-related discussion with and between CG members, the Secretariat distributed its draft discussion paper on CDS which had originally been circulated in May 2001, and noted that a working group involving the Alliance's local authority association members and the International City Managers Association (ICMA) was being established to strengthen ongoing efforts to improve knowledge, guidelines and tools related to CDS.

Back to top

4. Proposed 2002 Work Programme

The Secretariat's presentation of activities proposed for funding and the pipeline in FY02, as well as those that had already been approved this fiscal year, drew attention again to the need for more activities in Africa. It was clear that India is emerging as a key partner in scaling-up slum upgrading, and potentially also in connection with the City Challenge Fund which it has under preparation. Progress in developing other new financing facilities, including the CLIFF being considered for approval, was shared with the CG. The Steering Committee, which had met on 10 December, recommended to the CG that the CLIFF proposal be approved.

Feedback from CG members on the proposed 2002 work programme produced a number of suggestions, including:

• A return to designating activities by type - CDS or upgrading - and including budget breakdowns for each category was requested for work programme presentations.
• The importance of having proposals submitted by the concerned local, or national authority was also stressed. The sponsoring Alliance member(s) should continue to support this process, but their sponsorship role should not blur the importance of local ownership of the proposal and its formal submission by the concerned local and national authorities.
• In this connection it was decided that the pipeline proposal in India for Scaling-up the Provision of Universal Minimum Sanitation to Slums in Cities should not be considered for approval until it has been formally submitted by the government agencies concerned. WACLAC indicated its interest in collaborating within the framework of the proposal for Mozambique, given ongoing local authority collaboration with Maputo.

Decisions: Taking the above into account, the 2002 Work Programme was approved. The Consultative Group also adopted the Steering Committee's recommendation of a US$500,000 ceiling per grant provided from Core Funds and for at least 50% co-financing for large proposals, that is those over US$250,000 in Core Funds. It was agreed these funding parameters would be reviewed annually.

Back to top

5. Cities Alliance Finances

(i) Current Financial Status
The Secretariat noted that fundraising progress was on target for the initial US$40 million budget of the Alliance, but that targets will need to ramp up sharply in the next few years to reach the grant funding goal in the Cities Without Slums action plan. In reviewing the Alliance's current financial status, Consultative Group members were advised that the current over-programming with respect to cash receipts has been endorsed and is regularly reviewed by the Steering Committee and falls within acceptable margins. Members were advised that while neither France nor the Netherlands were able to attend the meeting, both members had confirmed their financial pledges to the Alliance. It was requested that, for greater clarity, member contributions should be broken down by year.

(ii) Renewal of Cities Alliance Trust Fund
The Cities Alliance Multi-Donor Trust Fund is administered by the World Bank. The trust fund agreements which the Bank has with the 10 bilateral donors contributing to the Cities Alliance contains a termination date of 31 December 2003. These agreements will need to be amended in a uniform manner to extend the life of the trust fund. Based upon consultations with the World Bank trust fund and legal staff on precedents and practice in this regard, the Secretariat recommended that in renewing these trust fund agreements that the closing date should be deleted thereby making the trust fund open-ended. As is spelled out in the paper distributed to the meeting, open-ended trust funds can be terminated by either of two existing methods: (i) ceasing payments into the fund which, once remaining funds were fully disbursed, could be closed out; or (ii) exercising the three-month notice clause for termination

Decision: There was no objection to this recommendation and it was decided that each member with a Trust Fund agreement would confirm to the Secretariat in writing by 31 January 2002 whether or not it agrees with this proposal, so that the trust fund agreements can be amended accordingly.

(iii) Steering Committee's report on Secretariat budget for FY02 and financing of Secretariat in FY03
Having reviewed the US$3.76 million budget for the Secretariat for FY00-02, the Steering Committee recommended its approval. The Steering Committee also confirmed its support for the proposal which was agreed during the Consultative Group's meeting in Rome last year, that as of July 1, 2002, the Secretariat's cash budget be drawn from Core funds rather than from the World Bank DGF funds. Any in-kind contributions from bilateral institutions would, it was noted, come on top of the requisite individual minimum annual cash contributions of US$250,000 to the Core funds.

With respect to the Alliance's FY00-FY03 Working Budget, endorsed at the Berlin and Montreal Consultative Group meetings, it was suggested that beyond FY03 more resources be devoted to building a shared programme vision and goals amongst Alliance partners. Suggestions were also made to improve the format of the Secretariat's budget.

Decisions:

• It was confirmed that the Secretariat would be funded as of FY03 (July 1, 2002) from Core funds.
• It was agreed that in-kind contributions would be clearly identified for the Secretariat.
• It was agreed that a three-year rolling budget, based on expected expenditure allocations, would be provided in the Alliance's budget documentation.
• The Consultative Group unanimously endorsed the Steering Committee's recommendation for a three-year extension of the contract of Mark Hildebrand as Manager.
• The position of Regional Advisor for South Asia, held by Alison Barrett, was also unanimously extended for a further two years, to be funded by DFID. It was decided that the Steering Committee would review the job description for this position prior to its renewal.

Back to top

6. Pledging for 2002

Approximately US$14 million in new pledges by Alliance members were announced during the meeting:

Canada reiterated its strong support for the Alliance while noting that its pledge for 2002 will be made in its next fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2002.

France was not able to attend the meetings, but Mark Hildebrand informed the Consultative Group of France's announced intent to pledge US$250,000 in Core funds for 2002.

Germany will contribute US$250,000 in Core funds for 2002 under its previously-announced 4-year commitment of US$1 million. Germany is also financing a 2-year secondment of a CDS Advisor to the World Bank, earmarked for the Alliance.

Italy announced a Core contribution of at least US$250,000 for 2002, with the final amount to be determined early in the budget year which begins January 1, 2002. Italy also informed the Consultative Group that plans were proceeding for a possible US$12 million Non-Core contribution for India, to support activities in Andra Pradesh and Mumbai.

Japan announced its intention to contribute US$1 million equivalent for 2002, with US$250,000 allocated for Core funds and US$750,000 in Non-Core funding to support CDS activities in Asia. Noting that it wants to continue to play an active role in the Asia region, Japan said the Non-Core funding will support the City Networking and Investment Marketplace activity it began financing in 2001, and be used to promote synergies with Japan's bilateral technical assistance efforts in the region.

Netherlands had previously pledged a total of US$1 million in Core funding for each of 2001 and 2002.

Norway announced its intention to pledge US$250,000 in Core funds for 2002, but noted that this could not formally be done until its new budget year beginning January 1, 2002.

Sweden announced a pledge of US$250,000 in Core funds for each of 2002 and 2003, and noted that it intends to contribute Non-Core funds for the Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF).

United Kingdom announced a ₤7 million (US$10 million equivalent) Non-Core commitment to the Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF), of which approximately US$3 million will be made available in 2002. The U.K. also announced that it will continue to finance, for at least an additional two years, the post of Cities Alliance advisor for the South Asia region. The U.K. had previously announced a US$400,000 Non-Core pledge to co-finance the Alliance's grant made for City-Regional Development Strategies in China, and is providing approximately US$65,000 in Non-Core financing for the Alliance's Public Policy Forum held in conjunction with the Kolkata Consultative Group meetings. The U.K. had previously committed US$1 million per year in Core Funds for 2000-2002.

United States noted that it is planning to pledge US$250,000 for 2002, but does not yet have the budget authority to finalize its commitment. The U.S. also indicated that it is considering a local currency guarantee pledge to the Community-Led Infrastructure Finance Facility (CLIFF).

World Bank announced a pledge of US$1.7 million in Core funding for its next fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2002.

UNCHS (Habitat) confirmed that it would continue to contribute a total (in cash and in kind) of approximately US$270,000 per year towards the Secretariat costs.

In their concluding remarks the Co-Chairs called on members to increase their commitments to the Cities Alliance Core fund, and to work to bring into the partnership new contributing members, including the European Commission, the regional development banks and other bilateral programmes not currently involved.

Back to top

7. Feedback from the Public Policy Forum

Sheela Patel and Somsook Boonyabancha, who helped organize the Public Policy Forum in Kolkata, reported back on the results of the Forum. They expressed their appreciation to the Consultative Group members who made time to participate in the site visits around Kolkata on the first day and during its inaugural session the following day, which brought together participants from over 30 cities, including Government officials, national and international experts, NGOs, slum-dwellers and members of civil society. They noted that the PPF had created the space for an interactive dialogue with slum dwellers to support the process of learning with Kolkata.

The Forum's housing exhibition provided an opportunity for dialogue and exchange which included pavement dwellers, who are Kolkata's poorest residents. The informal evening meeting on evictions also allowed for a frank discussion and productive exchange of views and experiences about this sensitive topic. Suggestions which emerged ranged from using the rights approach, through both legal instruments and the media, to the practical developmental approach of improving housing and environmental conditions in-situ, promoting communities' own processes of networking, sharing information, learning how to negotiate and finding alternatives, surveying and planning. The PPF participants were convinced that the Cities Alliance should seriously consider the issue of eviction as a major criteria in evaluating proposals for funding as well as be more proactive with funding agencies in the promotion of "no eviction without appropriate consensual rehabilitation", particularly given the Cities Without Slums action plan.

Regional case studies on successful experiences and innovative partnerships for city development and poverty reduction were well received and recommended as a particularly valuable contribution to future Forums. The session on objectives, processes and performance of CDSs elicited views from a broad range of stakeholders. Government officials spoke of their need to be sensitised to working in partnerships with civic groups and communities.

NGOs emphasised the need to prioritise demands on people's energy and local resources. They also proposed a peoples' CDS, where civic groups and communities are the initiators of the CDS process. A number of suggestions for the Cities Alliance were raised, including the need to:

• better articulate both the processes and benefits of CDSs to a wider audience.
• reconsider how cities are selected for CDSs, so that a history of good governance and strong example of participation and partnership would be key criteria.
• ensure that emphasis remains on the CDS being an 'opening-up process'.
• focus more on the economic development needs and issues in a city.
• encourage greater learning and sharing amongst CDS processes and with urban programmes.

In the discussion which followed, the Consultative Group provided feedback on several points, including:

• With reference to the concept of a "people's CDS", it was observed that there is a gap between expectation and reality, and that whichever local stakeholder initiates the process, there should be just one CDS, prepared with the active participation of all stakeholders.
• Regarding the discussion of evictions, it was suggested that it would be useful to pursue these discussions within the framework of the forthcoming Urban Forum (29 April – 3 May 2002, Nairobi.
• The Alliance needs a communications strategy which should include being clear to a wider audience at the city level and with NGOs and CBOs.

The Policy Advisory Board's contribution in organizing the Kolkata Forum was very much appreciated, and their continued guidance in organizing future policy forums was welcomed.

In discussing the next PPF several suggestions were put forward:

• One objective should be to engage Consultative Group members in a dense one-day learning event designed to focus on innovative practices and developments, so as to better inform decision making with clear options and choices.
• Consideration should be given to holding two separate Consultative Group meetings – one a business meeting and the other on substance.
• Regarding the theme of the next PPF, the Secretariat asked for feedback on the proposal to focus on financing for slum upgrading, drawing on the results of the work which the Alliance has underway with several partners, including the IFC and CGAP.

In concluding this session the Chair suggested forming a small working group to explore how the more substantive discussions CG members would like to have might be incorporated into future meetings. While there was general agreement on the proposed financing theme for the next PPF, members were asked to forward comments to the Secretariat. For its part, the Secretariat will prepare an outline of the proposed PPF theme.

Back to top

8. Policy Advisory Board

The Policy Advisory Board (PAB) met in Kolkata on 8 and 9 December and took part in both the PPF and the Consultative Group meeting. At the end of the session on issues related to citywide upgrading and CDS, Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi, Akin Mabogunje and Richard Webb shared their appreciation for the significant technical and operational challenges facing the Alliance, and commended the Alliance for "moving into operations on the frontier of development which are both experimental and innovative". In reporting back to the Consultative Group on the results of their deliberations the PAB stressed the need to pay more attention to the learning character of the Alliance and on its ability to be a catalyst for change. Drawing on the ideas which they discussed, the PAB developed a series of 'draft' proposals which they put forward to the Consultative Group for further consideration:

i) Re-launching an information and advocacy campaign on the Alliance's goals and objectives through existing networks of local government associations, NGOs, slum dwellers federations and UN-Habitat, with the aim of expanding the Alliance's constituency base. This should be directed towards decision makers in the donor community and focus both on the enormity of the urban challenge and meeting the Millennium target for slum upgrading.
ii) Reinforce learning from best practices - through comparative lessons drawn from Cities Alliance activities and/or other best practices in sustaining partnerships and inclusiveness in city management.
iii) Examine mechanisms to better utilise experts and professionals in each region to support the evaluation of proposals from their given region.
iv) Design a support programme for regional exchanges, to organise regional workshops and facilitate the development of regional databases and networking with stakeholders engaged in CDS and scaling-up slum upgrading.
v) Shift towards more open and flexible mechanisms and facilities, to support the process of scaling-up of programmes in cities that are encouraging partnerships and pro-poor approaches and exemplify strong local ownership. These mechanisms should allow for the engagement of slum dwellers which might not otherwise be attained when sizeable amounts of funds are provided for a limited time.

The Secretariat was asked by the Chair to review and analyse these PAB draft proposals, and provide recommendations including cost implications and timing.

Back to top

9. Monitoring the Millennium Declaration Target

A presentation was made by UN-Habitat based upon a paper entitled Monitoring the Millennium Development Target of "Cities Without Slums". The presentation discussed the use of three global meta-indicators: (i) housing and land tenure; (ii) access to basic infrastructure and services, including water, sanitation and garbage collection, security services, health and education services, and public transport; and; (iii) structural quality of housing. It was noted that each global meta-indicator should be flexible enough to accommodate local variations. It was also mentioned that countries and cities should define and set their own targets and monitoring mechanisms.

Consultative Group members provided a number of specific comments and suggestions which revolved around the level of complexity of the composite index as well as the nature of the variables which constitute the index itself. A number of participants noted that the index was too complex while others argued that the index was not more complex than other common development indicators. Divergent views were reflected vis a vis the constituting variables of the proposed index. One participant suggested that the index should be limited to tenure, water and sanitation, while another CG member thought that the index should also cover income levels. It was recognized that this formal monitoring process by national authorities would be complemented by ongoing Cities Alliance efforts to encourage cities to work with organizations of slum dwellers in setting and monitoring local targets, and to support self-enumeration of slum conditions by slum dwellers themselves.

Habitat was congratulated for its initiative in identifying mechanisms for monitoring the Millennium Target of the Cities Without Slums action plan. It was also suggested that the Urban Forum could provide a good opportunity to discuss the issues further. In closing, Habitat agreed to look into improving the presentation of the index and simplifying the approach to monitoring this Millennium target.

Back to top

10. Independent Evaluation of the Cities Alliance

The draft Terms of Reference for the 2002 independent evaluation of the Alliance and the list of consultants who have expressed their interest to undertake this evaluation were discussed in some detail. Specific comments were made on the draft with regard to the scope of the evaluation and the Secretariat was asked to finalize the Terms of Reference reflecting these comments (see attached revised Terms of Reference). The Secretariat was also asked to propose criteria for evaluating the proposals and to rank the long list of consultants, on the basis of which the Co-Chairs of the Steering Committee would agree on the short list so that the call for proposals could be issued in January 2002. It was also agreed that in the coming year, as more activities in the field are completed, a separate exercise will be needed to evaluate the impact of these activities from the field and the efficiency of the tools used.

Back to top

11. Governance Matters

(i) Nominees for Policy Advisory Board
The Charter states that membership of the PAB will be drawn from "preeminent urban experts in each region." As was agreed during the Consultative Group's meeting in Rome, the PAB was constituted in 2001 with six members - from Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. It was also agreed in Rome that two additional members would be added - from the Middle East and North Africa and the Eastern Europe Central Asia regions. The Secretariat informed the Consultative Group of nominations which have been proposed to-date which include several mayors, regional governors and academics. The Consultative Group confirmed the need to maintain the PAB's gender balance and encouraged members to suggest more nominees from these two regions, including from the media. It was agreed that the Steering Committee would consider these additional nominees and report back to the CG.

(ii) Extending Associate Membership (Article 23 of the Charter)
The question was put to the CG whether Associate Membership should be extended for prospective donors and whether this should be extended and reviewed on an annual or individual basis.

Decision: It was agreed that the period of Associate Membership would be extended by two years.

(iii) Expanding membership of the Consultative Group
In view of the strong possibility that the Asian Development Bank (AsDB) and the European Union (EU) will join the Cities Alliance, the CG was asked to reconsider Article 34 of the Charter which states that "contributions to the Core Fund are not subject to any donor restrictions, including in relation to nationality of consultants." Both the AsDB and the EU's institutional rules restrict the countries in which their funds may be utilised. An amendment to Article 34, along the lines recently adopted by the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), was proposed, whereby the sentence on Core Funding would read:

In the case of regional development banks, such core contributions can be tied to their relevant operational regions where required by their statutes.

Decision: This amendment was adopted.

Back to top

12. Next Meeting of the Consultative Group

The Consultative Group discussed the possibility of holding their next meeting in Sao Paulo at the kind invitation of the Mayor, or in Brussels. They also further discussed the idea of holding two meetings annually - one focusing on business matters and the other on substantive issues. The co-chair informed the meeting that Habitat had invited WACLAC and Shack/Slum Dwellers International to jointly organize a session on Slum Upgrading during the Urban Forum to be held in Nairobi from 29 April to 3 May, which should provide a good opportunity to pursue these consultations.

Decision: The Consultative Group agreed to hold its next meeting in Brussels, 8-9 October 2002, and expressed the desire to hold its 2003 meeting in Sao Paulo.

Back to top