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WE WELCOME
YOUR ARTICLES
We invite Cities Alliance members and partners
to submit articles on their activities, with a
strong focus on impacts and lessons learned
there from. For further details on providing such
submissions send an e-mail to:
info@citiesalliance.org
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International City to City Seminar on Connecting our
Urban Core to the Global Agenda, 3-4 March 2008,
Yokohama, Japan
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Africa Regional Seminar on Participatory Budgeting,
10-13 March 2008, Durban, South Africa
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World Cities Summit 2008: Liveable and Vibrant Cities,
23-25 June 2008, Singapore
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2nd
UCLG-ASPAC Regional Congress: Sustainable Cities and
Local Governments for a Sustainable World, 15-18 July
2008, Pattaya, Thailand
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World Urban Forum 4, 13-17 October 2008, Nanjing, China
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9th World Congress of Metropolis, 22-25 October 2008,
Sydney, Australia
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GRANT AND COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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Grants Available to Help Mobilise Local Capital for
Infrastructure Improvements
The
Public-Private Partnership Infrastructure Advisory Facility
(PPIAF) recently launched a programme to help build the
creditworthiness of sub-national government entities and
publicly-owned utilities to enable them to borrow without
sovereign guarantees.
Mayors looking for help to implement slum upgrading or city
development strategies should see PPIAF’s Web site for more
information:
www.ppiaf.org. Local governments responsible for
delivering infrastructure services along with utilities,
authorities, special districts, and state-owned enterprises
are eligible to receive the grants.
 International Youth Essay Competition 2008: What can you do
to shape the city of your dreams?
The Cities
Alliance, World Bank, and Government of Norway are
sponsoring a youth essay competition on ways youth can shape
the city of their dreams. Essays of up to 4,000 words will
be accepted in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic
and Portuguese. The deadline for submissions is 23 March
2008. Finalists will be announced by April 30, 2008, with
prizes awarded to them during the World Bank’s Annual Bank
Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) that will take
place 11 June 2008, in Cape Town South Africa.
More information can be found at:
http://www.essaycompetition.org
Second Edition of the Rome Millennium Cities Prize
The Chair of the
United Cities and Local Governments Millennium Development
Goals Committee, the city of Rome, announced the launch of
the second Millennium Cities Prize. The prize is awarded to
cities that have distinguished themselves in pursuing the
Millennium Development Goals and Targets, thus improving the
conditions of their poorest citizens. Two winners will be
selected – a city/local government from the North and one
from the South.
Nominations for the prize should be submitted prior to 29
February 2008. In September 2008 an awards ceremony will be
held in Rome to present the prizes, which includes €50,000
to the distinguished city of the South.
Complete information can be found at:
http://w3.uniroma1.it/romemillenniumcitiesprize/
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PUBLICATION ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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Liveable Cities: The Benefits of Urban Environmental
Planning, ICLEI-UNEP-Cities Alliance, November 2007
See story on:
"Mayors Assume Leading Role in
Combating Climate Change."
UCLG Policy Paper on Local Finance, October 2007
A major outcome
of the 28-31 October 2007 United Cities and Local
Governments 2nd World Congress in Jeju, Korea was the
adoption and formal approval of the
“UCLG Policy Paper on Local Finance.” The paper contains
25 recommendations for increasing local government access to
infrastructure financing, particularly in developing country
cities where infrastructure planning and construction have
not kept pace with rapid urbanisation. The UCLG Committee on
Local Finance and Development, a network of mayors and
representatives of national associations of local
governments active in local finance, drafted the policy
paper.
The recommendations call on local governments, central
governments, donors, and international financial
institutions to address urban expansion and the accompanying
infrastructure requirements by redirecting development aid,
and establishing national strategies to boost local public
investment.
The “UCLG Policy Paper on Local Finance” is available in
English,
French, and
Spanish.
Villes en Développement, Isted, September 2007
 ISTED has
published issue No. 77 of Villes en Développement,
which focuses on decentralisation and urban development in
an era of rapid urban growth. The French Development Agency
(AFD) contributed articles for this issue. Jean-Michel
Severino, Managing Director of AFD, writes in the foreword
that, “Local authorities are expected to become major
development actors in developing countries as they have
already in the developed world.” The issue’s four articles
address: municipal financing needs; the use of municipal
contracts in Tunisia; creating a city structure in Cotonou,
Benin; and devolution and decentralisation in Cambodia.
Read Issue in:
English
French
Development of the Cities of Mali – Challenges and
Priorities, Africa Region Working Paper Series No. 104/a,
The World Bank, September 2007
This report explores the most promising entry points for
future urban and municipal development in Mali. The lack of
access to basic services and infrastructure lies at the
heart of Mali’s urban development problems. This situation
is caused by a shortage of funds for urban development,
which are far from commensurate with the rapid pace of
urbanisation. Efforts to improve urban management will have
to be stepped up as part of the decentralisation process and
strong government commitment to the urban sector is
strategically important with respect to economic development
and fighting poverty.
On the basis of the review of the urban sector, this report
recommends continuing efforts on two levels: (i) at the
level of a limited number of individual cities through
targeted activities carried out under municipal contracts,
and (ii) at the national level through cross-cutting
measures to increase resources available for urban
development, promote local economic development, improve
land markets and increase the production of plots, ensure
financing and functioning of basic services, reinforce
cooperation between municipalities, and equip cities with
urban planning tools.
Read report:
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/wps/wp104a.htm |
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CITIES ALLIANCE SECRETARIAT UPDATE |
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Welcome - The
Cities Alliance would like to welcome 4 new team
members:
Stefan Agersborg is supporting the Programme
Operations Team with document collection and data
input. Stefan is a recent graduate of the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology. He spent the
past two years in China researching social welfare
and civil society in urban areas.
Madhavan Balachandran (Balu) joined the Cities
Alliance as Financial Management Specialist to
provide fiduciary assurance in conjunction with
disbursement and procurement for Cities Alliance
grants. Balu will ensure quality at entry on
financial management and risk assessments and
preparedness of the implementing agency with respect
to Cities Alliance accounting requirements and
internal controls. He will also advise on the design
and use of financial performance covenants. Balu
came to the Cities Alliance from the World Bank
where he served in the South Asia region's Rural
Development and Financial Management units for the
past eight years.
Loubna Ennadir is providing support to the
administration team. Previously, Loubna worked in
the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World
Bank assisting the Technical Cooperation Program for
Gulf countries.
Viorica Revutchi, Programme Assistant, will
support the Alliance’s grant administration process.
Previously, Viorica was with the Treasury Department
of the International Finance Corporation, and the
World Bank’s Moldova country office. |
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