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

Date 12 October 2005
Press Release No: G/24/2005

UNESCAP URGES URBANIZATION OF POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE MDGs

‘Making MDGs Work for Cities’ theme of 4th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum, CITYNET Congress

HANOI (United Nations Information Services) – UNESCAP today urged the region’s mayors and local officials to tailor poverty-reduction strategies to the region’s cities and towns in order to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals or MDGs.

In a statement to the opening session of the 4th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum, UNESCAP Deputy Executive Secretary Shigeru Mochida said that strategies for reducing poverty and achieving the MDGs need to be localized, and in the case of cities and towns, to be urbanized.

He noted that by the year 2025 a majority of the region’s population will live in urban areas.

“National and local governments, civil society organizations, academic institutions, and the private sector need to build partnerships, develop innovative approaches, and mobilize resources so that this rapid demographic changes does not result in the urbanization of poverty,” Mr. Mochida told the gathering.

The theme of the 4th Asia-Pacific Urban Forum is ‘Making Millennium Development Goals Work for Cities.’ The meeting is being held in Hanoi from 12-14 October in conjunction with the CITYNET Congress.

Some 300 participants from 25 countries including mayors, local officials, urban specialists, NGOs, policy makers from national and local governments, and representatives from research and training institutes and the private sector, as well as members of CITYNET, are attending the meeting.

Participants of note include Pham Gia Khiem, Viet Nam’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Trieu, Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, Mr. Hiroshi Nakada, President of CITYNET and Mayor of Yokohama, and Ms. Erna Witoelar, UN Special Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific.

The meeting aims to provide a forum for key stakeholders to discuss emerging and critical urban issues, exchange experiences and information on innovative approaches, and guide the UN and its partners in determining priorities and modalities for assisting countries in tackling these problems.

Notable features include a ‘Bazaar of Ideas,’ where innovative practices and approaches will be presented and discussed, and a ‘Supplier’s Forum,’ where on-going and planned regional and country-level initiatives of international and bilateral agencies will be presented.

The outcome of the Forum will be synthesized into a policy paper and discussed at the 62nd Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to be held in Jakarta in 2006. Once approved, it will serve as a guideline for UNESCAP and its partners in developing technical cooperation programmes to assist stakeholders in localizing the MDGs in urban areas.

The Millennium Development Goals were established by world leaders five years ago as qualitative and qualitative targets to eradicate extreme poverty in the world by 2015. The eight goals focus on income and hunger, education, gender equality, health, environmental sustainability, and global partnerships. More information on the MDGs may be found at: www.un.org.

The Bangkok-based United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the regional arm of the United Nations Secretariat in Asia and the Pacific, works to combat poverty and make globalization work for all. More information on UNESCAP and the Forum may be found at: www.unescap.org.

CITYNET, a regional network of local authorities for the management of human settlements, is based in Yokohama, Japan. Established by UNESCAP, it became independent and self-financing in 1994. The CITYNET Congress, which is held once every four years, aims to provide a platform for the cities to showcase good practices, benchmark themselves with counterparts in Asia and beyond, and assist cities in forming fruitful partnerships with international agencies and the private sector. More information on CITYNET and the Congress may be found at: www.citynet-ap.org.

For further information please contact:
Mr. Miguel Perez Ludena
Poverty Reduction Section, UNESCAP
In Hanoi:
Tel: +(84-90) 413-6734
Fax: +(84-4) 831-5010
E-mail: perezludena@un.org

For media inquiries please contact:
Ms. Margaret Hanley, Information Officer
UN Information Services Bangkok
In Hanoi:
Tel: +(84-90) 453-5162
Fax: +(84-4) 831-5010
E-mail: hanley@un.org

* *** *