RECENT EVENTS Click here for: FUTURE EVENTS Tibaijuka decries death of Vieira de Mello The bombing in August 2003 of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad which resulted in the death of UN Special Representative to Iraq Sergio Vieira de Mello, and nearly a score of other UN staff was condemned as a "senseless" act by Anna Tibaijuka, UN-HABITAT's Executive Director. Sergio Vieira de Mello. Photo © UN-DPI "This senseless act of violence must be condemned not only for the death and destruction it has brought about but also because of the damage it does to the hopes and aspirations of the Iraqi people themselves," said Mrs. Tibaijuka. Recalling that her colleague had served in some of the most dangerous places in Africa, Kosovo, and East Timor helping bring peace against all the odds, she added: " In losing Mr. Vieira de Mello, the Iraqi people have lost a friend and the world has lost a champion of justice and freedom. The only way we can pay tribute to the man, is to continue the UN mission to establish peace and prosperity in Iraq." With a large team of international staff, every day since 1997, UN-HABITAT has helped provide over 20,000 new homes, more than 600 schools, over 100 health centres, more than 500 kilometres of water and sewage systems, nearly 3,000 kilometres of new roads. Managing a US$600 million budget, UN-HABITAT has conducted the reconstruction projects under the former Oil-for-Food programme. Today, with its well established operational network, the organization is providing an immediate operational response to the post-war emergency situation and building foundations for the longer term needs of the people. UN-HABITAT's offices in Baghdad are situated about 10 kilometres away from the main UN headquarters where Mr. Vieira de Mello was killed. Major initiative to improve the slums of Kenya Kenya's Minister for Roads, Public Works and Housing, Mr. Raila Odinga, last month announced the Kenya Slum Upgrading Project, a major initiative aimed at improving the conditions of the slum dwellers in Nairobi, who make up over 60 per cent of the city's population. He said the goal of the programme is to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands slum dwellers in Nairobi and other urban areas in Kenya. Mr. Raila Odinga with Mrs. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka. Photo © Nathan Kihara/UN-HABITAT Mr. Odinga the priorities of the programme, which aims to improve the living and working conditions in slums, these include ensuring security of tenure, improving physical infrastructure such as access roads, water supply, sanitation facilities, and providing basic health facilities, schools and other social infrastructural services. The programme will cover the urban areas of Kenya, starting with selected slums in Nairobi, the capital city, and Kisumu City, located in western Kenya. Mr. Odinga stressed that, in common with other best practices from around the world, tenants and landlords would be consulted and fully involved in the planning and execution phases of the slum upgrading project to ensure that their needs and concerns are addressed. In fact, consultative meetings with slum dwellers have already started. In response to questions on whether slum residents would be forced to move from their lodgings while improvements were underway, Mr. Odinga insisted that there would be no forced evictions. He confirmed that land at sites near the slum areas had been identified where some residents could be moved to create space for improvements. However, the displacement of people would be minimized and take place only after consulting and reaching agreement at the community level. Nairobi gets new youth centre Nairobi City Council and UN-HABITAT have opened a new youth centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to help young people hone the skills and extra training needed to find jobs. The One Stop Youth Information Resource Centre in a building newly refurbished with funding from the government of The Netherlands was launched on 12 August 2003 as part of the International Youth Day celebrations. Its training workshops and computerised facilities also has the backing of a wide cross-section of private businesses and NGOs. In fact, consultative meetings with slum dwellers have already started. In response to questions on whether slum residents would be forced to move from their lodgings while improvements were underway, Mr. Odinga insisted that there would be no forced evictions. He confirmed that land at sites near the slum areas had been identified where some residents could be moved to create space for improvements. However, the displacement of people would be minimized and take place only after consulting and reaching agreement at the community level.   FUTURE EVENTS   Sustainable Cities Programme, Local Agenda 21Global Meeting 2003 Alexandria, Egypt. 29 September - 2 October 2003 Theme: Environmentally sustainable urbanization through planning and management capacities aimed at poverty reduction in Alexandria. World Habitat Day 2003 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6 October 2003 Theme: Water and Sanitation for Cities Poster © Amrik Kalsi/UN-HABITAT Governments, community organizations and individuals around the world will celebrate World Habitat Day this year on Monday, 6 October in a wide range of events at national and community levels focusing on this year's theme of Water and Sanitation for Cities. The theme was chosen because the world's urban water and sanitation crisis is far worse than official statistics suggest. The global observance will be held in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. According to a new report by UN-HABITAT, Water and Sanitation in the World's Cities, in Africa alone, for example, there are as many as 150 million urban residents - up to 50 per cent of the continent's urban population - who lack adequate water supplies. Even more people, an estimated 180 million, lack adequate sanitation. The idea behind the annual World Habitat Day is to remind governments, municipalities and the public at large about the urgency of striving to improve human settlements and especially those of the urban poor who live without clean water, proper sanitation and basic services. Among the highlights of the global observances of World Habitat Day in Rio de Janeiro will be the Habitat Scroll of Honor, an international award for outstanding contributions towards urban governance by individuals, organizations and projects. The Building and Social Housing Foundation, a non-governmental organization based in the United Kingdom, will also present the World Habitat Awards in recognition of innovative, sustainable and replicable human settlements projects throughout the world. International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP), 47th World Congress Vienna, Austria 5-8 October 2003 Theme: Cities and Markets, Shifts in Urban Development International Conference on Sustainable Urbanization Strategies Weihai City, Shandong Province, China 3 - 5 November 2003 As an important event in preparation for the Second World Urban Forum, this conference will address major urbanization issues including planning and regional economic development, slum upgrading, poverty reduction, water and sanitation. Best practices, good policies and lessons will be shared and new partnerships developed for further cooperation between local and national governments and their international and civil society partners. Africities Summit Yaounde, Cameroon 2-6 December 2003 Bringing together up to 2,000 experts from Africa and other regions of the world, the Africities Summit is scheduled to gather ministers of local government and finance, mayors, central and local government officials, elected representatives, academics and researchers who will discuss how local governments in Africa can ensure access to basic services. UN-HABITAT Executive Director Anna Tibjaijuka has been invited to deliver a keynote address. World Summit of Cities and Local Authorities on the Information Society Lyon, France 4-5 December 2003 The meeting will focus on the role of local authorities in exploiting information and communication technologies for the future of our societies, especially in education, culture, democratic participation, and economic development. It is linked to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) which takes place five days later in Geneva. Commission on Sustainable Development, 12th Session New York, U.S.A. 16-30 April 2004 At the beginning of its first two-year cycle (2004-2005), the Commission on Sustainable Development ( CSD) will focus on water, sanitation and human settlements. As with every cycle in the new programme of work, CSD-12 will tackle this agenda using a number of cross-cutting issues. For Further information see: www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/csd12.htm