..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 12 October 2005
Press Release No: G/23/2005

German support for UNESCAP in poverty reduction, disaster risk management

Bangkok (United Nations Information Services) -- Projects with a total budget of over half a million US dollars were launched today between the Federal Republic of Germany and UNESCAP.

The German Ambassador H.E. Dr. Christoph Brümmer, and Mr. Kim Hak-Su, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of UNESCAP, exchanged letters agreeing to implement two projects: Water and Wastewater Management in Small Towns, and South-South Cooperation for Tsunami and Other Disaster Risk Management.

The first project aims to develop strategies for reducing poverty through integrated water and wastewater management in small towns in Indonesia and the Philippines. The project will involve local governments, non-governmental organizations, and user-group representatives, and will be implemented in coordination with regional partner organizations, CityNet (Regional Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlements) and LOGOTRI (Network of Local Government Training and Research Institutes in Asia and the Pacific).

“The second marks the beginning of a new phase in UNESCAP’s South-South cooperation (SSC) activities, by focusing on one priority, ‘high-impact’ area, namely tsunami and other disaster risk management,” said Mr. Kim Hak-Su.

The project will allow governments in the region to share expertise, experiences, and models for tsunami and disaster risk management, and will develop an institutional framework for SSC which could then be replicated for other priority areas. The project will be implemented in collaboration with other UN agencies, in particular with the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, United Nations Development Programme.

For further information please contact:
Ms. Margaret Cruz
Programme Management Division
United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP)
Tel: (+66 2) 288 1918, Fax: (+66 2) 288 1032
Email: cruzm@un.org

For media inquiries please contact:
Mr. David Lazarus
Chief, UN Information Services
UNESCAP
Tel: +(66-2) 288-1861-66
Fax: +(66-2) 288-1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org

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