Special Session on Haiti: Building Back Better

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Sanitation, Wastewater and Solid Waste Management: Linking the issues for a liveable city

Organisers: UNHABITAT, Ministry of Cities, Government of Brazil, Gtz, Sustainable Sanitation Alliance, Waste

The session discusses key issues in urban management related to solid and liquid waste and how they impact on cities and towns. The first session comprises a high-level Panel to set the political stage, where leading political figures give their responses to waste management and how it can be moved higher up the political agenda. Other topics could include the relevance to climate change and the fragile nature of waste management in small island states. During the second session three publications will be launched: Solid Waste Management in the State of the Worlds Cities (UNHABITAT), Wastewater Management (UNEP & UNHABITAT), Sanitation in Cities (SuSanA/Gtz). During the final session, will be a discussion on key priorities for the sector.

Confirmed speakers: Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, Under-Secretary General United Nations, Executive Director, UNHABITAT; Hon. Ms. Uschi Eid, Vice Chair UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water, Government of the Federal Republic of Germany; Hon. Mansoor Yusuf Himid, Minister for Water, Construction, Lands and Energy, Revolutionery Government of Zanzibar; Dr. Pachauri, Chair IPCC (TBC); Representitive of Ministry of Cities, Government of Brazil; CEO of Ove Arup & Partners; Prof. David Wilson; Arne Panesar Gtz

The Latin American Consultation: Actualizing the Right to the City

The preparation of the consultation has been coordinated by COHRE, FNRU, HIC and IAI as part of a global strategy for the recognition of the social movements and organizations involved in actualizing the right to the city all over the world. Although focused on Latin America, the consultation is open to other regions, with simultaneous translation available. It will present experiences on how, after 20 years of struggles from social movements and organizations, the right to the city has been introduced in legislation and implemented through public policies in different Latin American countries. It will prompt a debate on the political challenges for further strategies to take the right to the city forward. The consultation will be chaired by Nelson Saule, Polis - FNRU, and co-chaired by a representative of ALOP, with an introduction by Guenter Karl, UN-Habitat, and a report will be prepared by Gotzon Onandia-Zarrabe, COHRE.

Confirmed speakers:
Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Head of Government of Mexico City, Mexico, Alberto Calla, Vice-Minister of Housing, Bolivia, Elizabeth Santos, Comités de Tierra Urbana, Venezuela, Pedro Franco, IAI Latin America, Dominican Republic, Marcos Landa, Movimento Nacional de Luta pela Moradia, Brazil, Ada Colau, Observatory DESC, Espai Social Magdalenes, Spain, Enrique Ortiz Flores, HIC-AL, Mexico, David Harvey, CUNY, USA

South-South Cooperation Special Session. The Right to the City - Bridging the Urban Divide

The Special Session will provide a platform for knowledge and experience exchange in an effort to promote a better and more sustainable urban future for cities in the South. Amongst others, issues related to income gaps and inequality in cities, urban poverty, participatory democracy and sustainable urban development as well as equal access to shelter, water and sanitation and infrastructure services will be discussed. The special session promotes South-South and triangular cooperation among countries in the South to achieve sustainable urbanization and shelter for all. The session also strives to highlight new trends in urban development and south-south cooperation.

South-South Cooperation Special Session. The Right to the City - Bridging the Urban Divide

Session spéciale - Coopération Sud-Sud Cinquième session du Forum urbain mondial Thème: le droit à la ville-Réduire la fracture urbaine

Sesión Especial de Asentamientos Humanos sobre Cooperación Sur-SurQuinta Sesión del Foro Urbano Mundial Tema: El Derecho a la Ciudad - Reduciendo la Brecha Urbana

Integrated Slum Upgrading in Brazil

The special session “Integrated Slum Upgrading in Brazil” aims to present and discuss the Brazilian experience in slum upgrading policies implemented by the National Housing Secretariat of the Ministry of Cities of Brazil, in partnership with State and Local Governments and Caixa Econômica Federal. Representatives of the Governments of Rio de Janeiro, Thailand, Peru, Mexico and Argentina, and from international institutions, such as World Bank, the Interamerican Development Bank and Cities Alliance, will be part of the discussion as panelists and debaters to present their point of view about this successful experience.

Local Government Special Session:
Operationalizing the International Guidelines on Decentralisation and Access to Basic Services for All

The 5th edition of the World Urban Forum (WUF5) will focus on the overall theme of the: “right to the city – bridging the urban divide”. More than a simple appeal to opening up the urban infrastructure and markets to allow for a better access of the poor to employment and basic services, the right to the “right to the city” most importantly must imply that every one of the city inhabitants deserves to be given a chance to have an constructive impact on the future of the city in which he, or she, is living and beyond.
UN-HABITAT’s remarkable work on decentralization and access to basic services for all provides an adequate answer to the search for solutions towards bridging the urban divide. While adopting the Guidelines on Decentralization and strengthening of local authorities in 2007, and the Guidelines on Access to basic services for all in 2009, the members of the Governing council of UN-HABITAT committed themselves to the promotion of local democracy through decentralization and the improved access to basic services for all. The Guidelines have been designed to assist policy reforms and legislative action at the country level in two complementary areas of UN-HABITAT’s mandate.
However, what does it take to facilitate the process of ownership the international Guidelines on decentralization, and access to basic services at the country and city levels? How to establish a joint monitoring of the progress made in the operationalisation of this unique framework? How to finance the operationalisation of the Guidelines on decentralization, and access to basic services? What are innovative mechanisms to achieve this goal, and ensure the success of the endeavor?

A special session on “operationalising the international Guidelines on decentralization, and access to basic services for all” will be organized on 25 March 2010, in Rio de Janeiro, in conjunction with the WUF 5. It will serve as a forum to exchange ideas on the above crucial questions and formulate recommendations to facilitate the operationalsation of the Guidelines in line with the resolutions of the Governing council of UN-HABITAT.

Local Government Special Session: Operationalizing the International Guidelines on Decentralisation and Access to Basic Services for All

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