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Start Date : 4 Oct 05 |
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End Date : 4 Oct 05 |
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Location: Casablanca, Morocco |
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UN-HABITAT’s Global Campaign for Secure Tenure and the Global Campaign on Urban Governance were launched in Morocco to mark World Habitat Day. The launch on Monday 4 October drew more than 700 delegates representing the government, civil society, local authorities, the private sector, UN-HABITAT and UNDP, and was held in the district of Ben M’Sik in Casablanca, home to the country’s largest slum. The World Habitat Day launch provided an opportunity to announce the implementation of the Cities Without Slums programme which will enable Morocco, the first country in the Arab region to launch the two campaigns, to be a slum-free nation by 2010. Representatives of different stakeholders, including a woman living in a slum of Ben M’Sik, signed the Casablanca Declaration that translates the commitment of all parties to the principles of the two campaigns. The Campaign Action Plan provides a supporting framework for the Cities Without Slums programme. It foresees a review and reform of the legal and regulating bills, setting the urban governance legal framework for urban and housing management. It also includes measures to strengthen the capacity of local governments to make agreements with other spheres of government to address slum upgrading. The Action Plan also includes measures to empower communities and grassroots organizations to enhance their contribution to a slum-free nation. 
Building partnerships with the urban poor: Global campaigns launched in Burkina Faso
Several thousand residents of an informal community on the outskirts of Ouagadougou on 12 October gathered to witness the signature of a plan of action to launch UN-HABITAT’s global campaigns on urban governance and secure tenure in Burkina Faso. The plan provides for spending amounting to US$600 million over the next seven years. This ambitious plan, which stretches through 2010, is a key vehicle to achieve MDG Target 11 in Burkina Faso “This plan will serve as a guide for all action in the field of housing and urban development, and the Government will take the measures necessary to make it work,” Mr. Hippolyte Lingani, Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Housing, told the crowd gathered in a field adjoining their community, known as Secteur 27. He joined the Mayor of Ouagadougou, the Chairman of the Association of Mayors of Burkina Faso, representatives of the private sector, UN-HABITAT, civil society groups, and citizens who will benefit from the action plan, to sign the Declaration of Joint Commitment of Ouagadougou on a wall-sized sheet of paper.
The action plan includes proposals to provide security of tenure in Burkina Faso, particularly for the urban poor, and to strengthen the capacity of local governments to deal with issues of planning and urban upgrading. On the eve of the launch, it was debated by mayors and other stakeholders, and there appeared to be a good understanding of the challenges, as well as a demonstrated commitment to move ahead.The Burkina Faso launch was also attended by Housing and Planning Ministers from Senegal, where the campaigns were launched earlier this year, as well as Chad and Niger, which announced plans to launch the campaigns. Communities marching for good governance and secure tenure: Campaign Launch in Ouagadogou, Burkina Faso |
