AFRICA-ASIA ECO-PARTNERSHIP STUDY PROGRAMME HELD IN BANGKOK (19-20 JULY), TOKYO (22-23 JULY)

Press Release
DEV/2216

AFRICA-ASIA ECO-PARTNERSHIP STUDY PROGRAMME HELD IN BANGKOK (19-20 JULY), TOKYO (22-23 JULY)

TOKYO, 23 July (DESA) -- An Africa-Asia Eco-partnership Study Programme -- jointly organized by the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to explore ways and means of improving water resource management, waste management and urban transportation management in the participating metropolitan cities -- was held in Bangkok (19-20 July) and Tokyo (22-23 July).

The event was attended by Mayors from Accra, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Dar es Salaam, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Marikina, Phnom Penh, and Tokyo, as well as several academics and representatives of major private sector firms and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Ambassadors of participating cities, staff of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, as well as the Tokyo Metropolitan Government responsible for environmental management, also attended.

In addition to the exchange of experiences among cities, extensive study tours to various sites related to waste management, water resources management and urban transportation management were organized in Bangkok and Tokyo.

In Bangkok, Governor Bhichit Rattakul offered to provide technical support to participating cities in the areas discussed during the study programme. In Tokyo, Governor Shintaro Ishihara affirmed his commitment to build a model urban environmental policy which might be useful to the participating cities, as well.

At the end of the programme, the participating Governors and Mayors issued a joint statement affirming their desire to cultivate an eco-society that will minimize the burden on the environment and enable sustainable human development in their respective cities. They expressed their desire to strengthen the participation of the private sector and community organizations in combating environmental degradation, and to sensitize the public on the importance of "clean city" through campaigns for "clean water", "clean street" or "clean air".

As a follow-up of this programme, the participants agreed to establish task forces or advisory groups on eco-partnership in their respective cities. They further agreed to identify priority areas of concern among the three issues identified during the meeting -- clean water, clean street or clean air; establish strategies to implement the chosen priority areas; and organize city-wide campaigns, in collaboration with the media.

The participants further agreed to cooperate with each other in the implementation process of their priority areas, and agreed to meet again in November in Kuala Lumpur to report back on the progress made by their respective cities and to discuss their future plan of actions.

For more information, contact Itoko Suzuki, Chief, Governance and Public Administration, Division of Public Economics and Public Administration, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; or Atnafu Almaz (tel. 1-212-963-8378, fax 1-212-963-2916, or e-mail"almaz@un.org").

Joint Statement

The full text of the joint statement by African and Asian Mayors at the United Nations Eco-Partnership Study Programme reads as follows:

"As a follow-up activity to the Eco-partnership Tokyo Conference and the second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II), we, the Governors and Mayors or their representatives, gathered in Bangkok and Tokyo, from 19 to 23 July, accept the concept of Eco-partnership to promote appropriate policy for cultivating an Eco-society that will minimize the burden on the environment and enable sustainable human development in each of our respective cities. We will collaborate in formulating and promoting strategies to build an Eco-society through partnership among all the stakeholders in addressing the problems of waste management (clean street), water resources management (clean water) and urban transportation management (clean air).

"In promoting an Eco-society in our cities, we plan, to the extent possible, to choose one or more of the above three important issues, taking into consideration the particular environmental and economic situations of our respective cities and their unique problems. In order to achieve this, we will broaden the participation of the private sector and community organizations, and sensitize the public on the importance of "clean city" through campaigns for "clean water", "clean street" or "clean air".

"As a follow-up of this programme, we will make every effort to establish task forces or advisory groups on Eco-partnership in our respective cities. Members of such groups will include officials responsible for waste management, water resources management, or urban transportation management as well as representatives of relevant private enterprises and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). As soon as practicable, the groups will:

"-- Establish priority areas among the three issues identified above, i.e. clean water, clean street or clean air. "-- Strategize and plan on how to implement the chosen priority area(s).

"-- Sensitize communities including school children on the importance of environmental issues [for example, organize a contest among students to choose the best posters that will be used for the campaign(s)].

"-- Organize a city-wide campaign(s), in collaboration with the media, dedicated to "clean water", "clean streets" or "clean air".

"We will cooperate with the cities gathered here in the implementation process of the selected priority area(s) through the exchange of information on our experiences, and agree to meet again in November 1999 in Kuala Lumpur to report back on the progress made by our respective cities and to discuss our future plan of actions. Finally, we would like to express our appreciation to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for hosting this very important United Nations programme funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"Agreed by participating cities: Accra, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Dar es Salaam, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Marikina, Phnom Penh and Tokyo."

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