4th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum in Hanoi
(12-14 October 2005)

Symposium: Innovative Practices

New approaches are needed to achieve the MDGs. Some interesting and innovative approaches to improve living conditions in cities were presented at eight different symposia. Participants learned about innovative practices and discussed them with the practitioners and other colleagues in an open forum. Presentations and discussions for each of these groups can be downloaded here.

A: Localizing the MDGs

Symposium A explored the question of how local actors could integrate the global mandate of the MDGs into their day-to-day activities. Mr Sushil Gyewali of the Municipal Association of Nepal and Mr Democrito Plaza II, Mayor of Butuan City in the Philippines, presented the case studies on the municipalities of Butwal and Butuan respectively illustrating how these cities had localized the MDGs. [See more..]

B: Urban Environment

Participants of Symposium B discussed how partnerships between the public and the private sector could contribute to the achievement of the Goals related to improving the urban environment. Mr Purusottam Man Shrestha from UNDP Nepal introduced the UNDP Public-Private Partnership for Urban Environment-Programme (PPPUE) in Nepal. [See more..]

C: Health

Symposium C explored modalities of effective public-private partnership in health delivery. Mr Henry Reyes from the City Administration of Muntinlupa shared a case study of such a public-private partnership in the Philippines. [See more..]

D: Education

In Symposium D participants discussed the challenges for non-formal education and how it could integrate with the formal system. Mr Samir Nath from BRAC, a Bangladeshi NGO, narrated how BRAC had become the largest provider of education in the country next to the government. [See more..]

E: Gender Equality

Symposium E looked at good practices in promoting gender equality. The deliberations addressed a variety of other gender issues and their implications for different MDGs. Presentations were made by Ms Felomina H. Duka, Secretary General of the Huairou Commission, on the Local-to-Local Dialogue Initiative of the Huairou Commission and by the President of Hanoi Women’s Union, Ms To Yen Khanh, on Hanoi’s policies and strategies for promoting gender equality. [See more..]

F: e-Governance

Symposium F provided the opportunity to share good practices in e-governance. It also debated the potential of e-governance for increasing efficiency, good governance and citizen participation and the implications of progress in these areas for achieving the MDGs. [See more..]

G: HIV/AIDS

Symposium G focused on strategies and activities that could improve HIV prevention, treatment and care. Dr Chawin Sirinak from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration introduced Bangkok’s 3rd Plan for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Alleviation and Mr Bruce Ravesloot presented UNESCAP’s “Partners for Health” project in Thailand showing how associations of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) could effectively assist in extending anti-retroviral treatment in hospitals.
[See more..]

H: Children

Symposium H looked at the current state of progress towards the fulfillment of child-related MDGs and discussed ways how cities could better meet children’s needs and rights in relation to these Goals. Ms Angela Desiree Aguirre from the Institute of Philippine Culture introduced the results of a recent study on children and youth in informal settlements of five major Philippine cities and the extent to which these youngsters were being served by the efforts of the government and UNICEF. [See more..]