HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CENTRE WINS 1997 ESCAP AWARD FOR WORK IN BANGKOK SLUMS
Press Release
REC/18*
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT CENTRE WINS 1997 ESCAP AWARD FOR WORK IN BANGKOK SLUMS
19980210 BANGKOK, 9 February (United Nations Information Service) -- The Human Development Centre, a community-based organization working in the Klong Toey slums of Bangkok, has been selected as the winner of 1997 ESCAP Human Resources Development (HRD) Award.The Award will be presented to the Centre during the fifty-fourth session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on 20 April 1998 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok.
The ESCAP HRD Award was established by ESCAP to encourage exemplary achievement in human resources development. The special topic for the 1997 Award was: "Empowering the Urban Poor".
An independent international jury selected the Human Development Centre as the winner of the Award because of its innovative programmes dealing with the diverse and immediate issues confronting urban communities. The Centre had also been successful in working effectively with local authorities in dealing with urban issues. The approach of the Centre could be a model for replication in other cities in Asia and the Pacific.
The Centre carries out various programmes in basic education, health care, and community development. Over the past 25 years, it has developed a kaleidoscope of community-based service activities comprising kindergarten schools, vocational training centres, community health-care centres, women's groups, savings and loans schemes, and shelters for street children and people living with HIV/AIDS. United through common goals, people of various religions work together in an environment respectful of each other's traditions and beliefs. A Catholic priest, Father Joseph Maier, is Director of the Centre.
The 1997 Award, which is being sponsored by the Government of the Republic of Korea, carries with it a cash prize of $20,000.
_----------_ * REC/15 of 8 December 1997, should have been REC/16.
- 2 - Press Release REC/18* 10 February 1998
The Underprivileged Children's Education Programme of Bangladesh was selected as first runner-up for its work, which deals with issues affecting underprivileged children. The jury made special honorary mention of three additional organizations. The Coalition of Services of the Elderly, Inc., of the Philippines; the Federation of Non-governmental Organizations for Mental Health and Well-being, of Sri Lanka; and Socio-Legal Information Centre, of India.
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