CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL URBAN POVERTY TO BE HELD IN FLORENCE 9-13 NOVEMBER
Press Release
HAB/146
CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL URBAN POVERTY TO BE HELD IN FLORENCE 9-13 NOVEMBER
19971105 Nairobi, 4 November (Habitat) -- An international conference on global urban poverty will be held in Florence, Italy, from 9 to 13 November 1997 to discuss the causes and consequences of urban poverty and policies needed to address them.The Conference, entitled "Governance and Participation: Practical Approaches to Urban Poverty Reduction", will bring together more than 200 participants representing governments, local authorities, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, international aid agencies and research institutions from around the world.
Jointly organized by the Nairobi-based United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and the Municipality of Florence, the Conference is funded by the Government of Italy, the Swiss Development Cooperation, the Florence Centre of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Istituto degli Innocenti (Florence) and several other local institutions.
The Conference, which is a follow-up to an international meeting on urban poverty held in Recife, Brazil, in March 1996, will be a platform for dialogue and debate on crucial aspects of urban poverty, its causes and consequences and the policies needed to address it.
Focusing on local government as the key actor in the struggle against urban poverty, the Conference will examine the political role of cities and local authorities, particularly their role as mediators between the urban poor and central governments. The Conference will also enable participants to work towards a visible framework for urban poverty reduction, based on the Recife Declaration on Urban Poverty.
The Conference is organized in four parts:
-- The International Forum, in which international networking organizations will share their experiences with participants;
-- The thematic overview, in which participants will discuss the role of local governments in the context of growing concern in the international community about the need for decentralization and greater accountability and
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transparency among decision makers and policy makers, while a panel discussion with local authorities will address the issue of governance and examine the relationship between political representation and popular participation.
-- The analysis of sectoral topics, during which parallel workshops will focus on the following themes: From Urban Violence and Exclusion to Safer Cities; Access to Transport for the Urban Poor; and Shelter, Employment and the Informal City; and
-- Practical approaches to urban poverty reduction, in which participants will look at strategies and practices that can be applied to reduce urban poverty, while working groups will identify mechanisms and tools and make recommendations that will assist community groups, non-governmental organizations, local authorities, policy makers and the private sector.
One of the expected outcomes of the Conference is the launching of an international forum on urban poverty -- a partnership among municipalities, bilateral and multilateral support agencies, private foundations, non- governmental organizations and community-based organizations that are active in the struggle against poverty at the local level. This Forum will provide a permanent mechanism for the discussion of crucial aspects of urban poverty and of the policies needed to reduce it.
A report on the conclusions of the Conference will be presented to the plenary on the final day of the Conference. Participants will also enter into a "social contract" which will commit them to reducing and/or eradicating poverty.
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