Background and objectives:

UN-HABITAT is mandated to co-ordinate the efforts of the international community to attain Goal 7/Target 11 of the Millennium Declaration. UN-HABITAT performs that mission worldwide by supporting technical co-operation activities based on stated national needs in respect to human settlements, urban environment and capacity building. Building on a similar activity in Eastern and Southern Africa, UN-HABITAT implemented a sub-regional project in conjunction with the Municipal Development Partnership in Cotonou for the implementation of the Cities Without Slums Action Plan in countries and cities of Western and Central Francophone Africa. The aim was to promote capacity building and help the communities and alliance members to prepare local proposals to be submitted to the Cities Alliance.

Activities:
The main activities included:

• Supporting countries and municipalities in preparing slum upgrading and city development strategies.
• Providing information and guidelines to countries and municipalities for local urban development, environmental management and slum upgrading projects.
• Mobilizing development partners, civil society and NGOs in identifying needs and formulating projects proposals.
• Contributing to the development of partnerships with local and regional bodies for knowledge and information sharing.

Results:
Four proposals were approved by the Cities Alliance for a total budget of US$2,400,000. Several countries benefited from these proposals:

• City development strategies in Cotonou, Dakar and Ouagadougou, Abomey, Pays Gun, and Lome.
• Countrywide Cities Without Slums Programmes for Senegal and Mali.
• Several countries/municipalities have received support, including Benin, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cape Verde, Burundi and Rwanda.