INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON URBAN POVERTY OPENS IN RECIFE, BRAZIL
Press Release
HAB/115
INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON URBAN POVERTY OPENS IN RECIFE, BRAZIL
19960319 NAIROBI, 19 March (Habitat) -- An international meeting on urban poverty is taking place in Recife, Brazil, from 17 to 21 March 1996 -- an important part of the preparatory process towards the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and towards the current International Year for the Eradication of Poverty.The urbanization of poverty is an increasingly significant phenomenon of urban growth as the world approaches the twenty-first century. The growing number of urban poor who lack adequate shelter, access to basic services and employment is challenging the sustainable management and development of cities and represents a real threat to their present and future social stability.
The Recife meeting is aimed at bringing the objective of poverty reduction and, ultimately, poverty eradication to the centre of the discussion on the future of cities. Supported by the government of Pernambuco (Brazil), the Government of the Netherlands, and the Fondation pour le Progrès de l'Homme (France), the meeting has been organized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) through the joint United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)/Habitat/World Bank Urban Management Programme and the Habitat Settlement Upgrading Programme.
Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco, is one of the oldest cities in Brazil and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. The Habitat is collaborating with the government of the state of Pernambuco in the development of its anti-poverty programme. During the week before the meeting, a local consultation on policies for poverty reduction was also held in Recife.
The international meeting on urban poverty will gather more than 100 participants from different regions of the world, including representatives of non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, experts from United Nations agencies, researchers and policy-makers.
Based on an international exchange of experience, the five-day meeting aims at reaching consensus among all partners on the main aspects of poverty reduction strategies involving the central or state government, the city and the local community. This consensus will be expressed in a series of recommendations on strategies for urban poverty reduction, to be presented as a contribution to Habitat II and to the implementation of Habitat II's Global
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Plan of Action -- the major output of the conference, which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, this June.
Although urban poverty is a broad concept, three major sub-issues can be identified: lack of adequate employment, lack of appropriate urban services and shelter, and insufficient social integration.
Possible interventions to improve the situation in these sub-issues will be discussed in the first part of the meeting. The second part will look at appropriate forms of intervention at the national, city and community levels, with a special focus on the forms of partnership among different actors and the different levels of intervention. Community involvement and the empowerment of the poor will underlie the discussion throughout the meeting.
Case studies from different continents will be presented on each topic to facilitate the discussion and give na overview of the most interesting poverty-reduction activities taking place in urban areas around the world.
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