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Cities
Alliance Policy Advisory Board to Meet in Tunis, 24-26 April
2007
This year's spring meeting of
the Cities Alliance Policy Advisory Board will be a joint
event with the African Development Bank (AfDB). The meeting,
to be attended by AfDB President Donald Kaberuka, will
provide a significant opportunity for the Alliance's Board
members to exchange views with the AfDB on the issue of
Africa's urban future, particularly in light of the AfDB’s
review of its draft Urban Development Policy.
The Alliance's Policy Advisory Board is composed of eminent
urban experts from each region. It brings together civic
leaders and policy advisers with a formidable range of
public and private sector expertise that spans the
leadership of community-based organisations, NGOs and their
networks, local authority organisations, community banks,
community savings and credit schemes, commercial banks, and
public sector financial institutions. What they have in
common is practical knowledge and political experience in
working with poor cities and the urban poor worldwide. Board
members provide guidance to the Alliance's Consultative
Group on key strategic, policy, and regional issues and
support the implementation of Cities Alliance activities.
 WorldWatch
launches State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future
Worldwide in
Collaboration with Cities Alliance
The WorldWatch Institute
launched State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future in
January, 2007 in Washington, DC. This year’s publication
focuses on the ways urbanisation affects humans and the
global environment. Future publication launches will take
place in Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Japan and South
Africa. CA representatives will also participate in an event
to be held during UN-HABITAT’s 21st
Governing Council session in Nairobi, 16-20 April 2007. The
Cities Alliance is providing support to a number of State
of the World 2007 launches in an effort to more actively
promote environmental sustainability as part of CA’s city
development strategy and slum upgrading programmes. For more
information about the publication,
http://www.worldwatch.org/.
UCLG
Executive Bureau Meeting, Hosted by Mayor of Paris,
Discusses Preparations for Jeju, Korea
The United Cities and Local
Governments’ (UCLG) Executive Bureau met in Paris on March
15 and 16 at the invitation of Bertrand Delanoë, Mayor of
Paris and Co-President of UCLG. The meeting brought together
some 200 mayors and local and regional councillors to
discuss issues impacting cities. The plenary session focused
on the impact of climate change and highlighted the risks to
cities worldwide. Paco Moncayo Gallegos, Co-president of the
UCLG and Mayor of Quito, led the discussions and stated that
his city is threatened by water shortages as a result of
climate change and shifts in glacial runoff. He advocated
that cities work together to tackle the risks of climate
change. As a result, the Executive Bureau adopted the Paris
Declaration on Climate Change that stresses the urgent need
to launch concerted, local government efforts to combat
climate change to safeguard populations and their future.
The Executive Bureau also
discussed upcoming initiatives and events, including the
proposed UN ‘International Guidelines on Decentralisation.’
The guidelines support the empowerment of local authorities
and will be presented at UN-HABITAT’s Governing Council
meetings in April in Nairobi. Delegates also finalised
details of the second UCLG World Congress, ‘Changing Cities
are Driving our World,’ to be held in Jeju, Korea from 28 –
31 October 2007. Conference themes will include the future
of humanity and climate change, local governments as
peacemakers, and a fairer world through a new model of
governance by 2015.
At the invitation of UCLG
Secretary General Elisabeth Gateau, Programme Manager
William Cobbett attended the Paris meetings on behalf of the
Cities Alliance.
http://www.cities-localgovernments.org/uclg/index.asp?pag=newsD.asp&L=EN&ID=177.
Cities Alliance welcomes two new members to its Policy
Advisory Board
Ms. Lajana Manandhar and Mr.
Nicéphore Soglo will join the CA’s Policy Advisory Board (PAB)
to replace two original members, M. Jean Pierre Elong Mbassi
and Ms. Sheela Patel, who have just rotated off the board.
We look forward to welcoming Ms. Manandhar and Mr. Soglo at
the PAB’s spring meetings in Tunis in late April, 2007. For
more information on the impressive credentials of the new
members and future activities of retiring members, please
see:
http://www.citiesalliance.org/publications/homepage-features/march-07/pab-07.html.
 PAB
Member Elected Chair of Urban Reform Caucus of Brazilian
House of Representatives
Paulo Teixeira, CA Policy
Advisory Board Member, has been elected Chair of the Urban
Reform Caucus in the Brazilian House of Representatives (Frente
Parlamentar da Reforma Urbana). The Urban Reform Caucus
organises debates and seminars with social housing movements
and other stakeholders to discuss urban reform policies and
related law reforms. The Caucus was created in 2005 to
promote debate and press for approval of laws to advance
urban reform, particularly land tenure. Mr. Teixeira was Săo
Paulo’s Housing Secretary from 2001 to 2004. The Cities
Alliance congratulates Mr. Teixeira on this prestigious
appointment. |
