UN-HABITAT: Press Release

UN-HABITAT gets US$15 million ESRI grant

Nairobi, 5 February 2003: UN-HABITAT, this week, received a grant of US$ 15,000,000 from the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) the leading developer of Geographic Information Systems software (GIS).

This ambitious international grants initiative has been given by ESRI to UN-HABITAT's Global Urban Observatory, an international capacity building network established to help meet the goals of the Habitat Agenda, which was endorsed at Habitat II in 1996. More recently, the General Assembly mandated UN-HABITAT to monitor the implementation of the Millennium Development Goal, target 11, which is committed to improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

"Most local authorities in the developing world have outdated information about the state of their cities. Few of them have the technologies to collect and analyze data about basic infrastructure and the current status of housing," said Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT at the launch of the initiative. "If we are going to improve the living conditions of the urban poor, city authorities must be provided with the necessary tools, technology and training. We are grateful to the software developer ESRI for this generous grant. It will enable cities in Africa and Asia to produce accurate and accessible information. This is the basic right of every citizen and is also essential for good urban governance."

The goal of the grant program is to provide GIS technology and training for up to 1,000 cities in developing countries so that they can participate in the collection of urban indicator information. Urban indicators include information about poverty, environmental degradation, lack of urban services, degeneration of existing infrastructure, and the lack of access to land and adequate shelter. Cities can use GIS for the collection and analysis of urban indicator data to facilitate better urban management and the formulation of participatory development policies.

The GUO grant program will be implemented in a phased approach. Initially, in 2003, grants will be awarded to provide GIS technology and training to 350 cities that currently do not have access to the technology. The grants to the cities will consist of a package of GIS software, technical support and upgrades, and training. They are valued at approximately $15,000 each, making the entire program worth about $15 million dollars.

“I believe that GIS technology can truly make a positive contribution in improving the general quality of life for the impoverished people of the world,” comments ESRI President Jack Dangermond. “We at ESRI are honored to offer this support to the UN-HABITAT Global Urban Observatory program.”