UNDER THE AUSPICES OF UNESCO AND UN-HABITAT
MR. PIERRE SANE
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR THE SOCIAL AND HUMAN SCIENCES SECTOR, UNESCO
AND DR. ANNA TIBAIJUKA
UNDER SECRETARY-GENERAL AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UN-HABITAT
CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO A PUBLIC DEBATE ON
URBAN POLICIES AND
THE RIGHT TO THE CITYCHAIRED BY DR. ALI KAZANCIGIL, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE COUNCIL (I.S.S.C.)FRIDAY, 18 MARCH 2005
2.00 7.00 p.m.
UNESCO HEADQUARTERS FONTENOY BUILDING
ROOM IV
7, PLACE DE FONTENOY
75007 PARIS
M SEGUR (LIGNE 10)
CAMBRONNE (LIGNE 6)
PREFACE
On the occasion of the second joint working session between UN-HABITAT and UNESCO, in view of their common interest in urban governance, a public debate will be held on the concept created in 1968 by French philosopher Henri Lefebvre The Right to The City. Details are included in the working document prepared for this meeting.
Since its first formulation, the concept has been studied at length by various experts all over the world.
More recently, on 28 January 2005, international NGOs jointly proposed a World Charter on the Right to the City during the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. This text is not endorsed by UN-HABITAT or by UNESCO. To be endorsed by a governmental organization, such as UNESCO, a document must comply with certain rules and undergo a long process of international consultation followed by an Executive Board decision to allow the submission of the document to the General Conference for adoption by Member States of UNESCO.
However, some elements proposed in this text present an interest for UN-HABITAT and UNESCO with regards to urban governance, and as such both UN Agencies would appreciate receiving comments from actors concerned by urban issues, such as municipalities, ministries, universities and NGOs: the purpose of this debate is to identify elements and partners for a joint research project between UN-HABITAT and UNESCO.
URBAN POLICIES AND THE RIGHT TO THE CITY
1:30 2:00 Registration
2:00 2:15 Welcome Address by Pierre Sane, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Social and Human Sciences Sector
2:15 4:15 Presentations of public policies inclusive of social cohesion and integration by representatives of
official bodies, with an introduction by Mr. Ousman Blondin Diop, Vice-Minister and Deputy
Permanent Delegate of Senegal to UNESCOJose A. Sanchez Bugallo, Mayor of Santiago de Compostela: Urban Revitalization of the Historic City of Santiago de Compostela (Spain)
Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Representative of the OECD: How to Include Social Cohesion within Economic Development
Jules Patenaude, Representative of the City of Montreal: Assessments of the Montreal Forum of June 2002: Montreal, a Democratic, Equitable and Transparent City (Canada)
Mohamed Ameur, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Land, Water and Environmental Development of Morocco: The Moroccan Urban Forum
Lee Jasper, Director of Equalities and Policing for the Mayor of Greater London, presenting UNESCOs European Coalition of Cities Against Racism, launched in December 2004 during the 4th European Conference of Cities for Human Rights in Nuremberg (United Kingdom)
Boubacar Ganda Seydou, Mayor of Niamey and President of Niger Municipalities
Avi Rabinovitch, Director-General of the Union of Local Authorities in Israel: Good Neighbourhood
Josep Maria Llop, Deputy Mayor of Lerida (Spain): Urban Democracy in a Medium-sized City
Pilar Figueras, Secretary-General of the International Association of Educating Cities (AIVE): The Educative City: the Main Challenges4:15 4:45 Presentations by representatives of international NGOs, research centers and UNESCO, introduced by Mr. Ousman Blondin Diop
Presentation of the proposed World Charter on the Right to the City by Leticia Osorio, Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) (Brazil)
Presentation on The City Statute in Brazil by Edesio Fernandes, Brazilian jurist and city planner, coordinator of International Research Group on Law and Urban Space (IRGLUS)
Perspectives on cooperation: German Solinis, Management of Social Transformation Programme (MOST), UNESCO introduces Marcelo Nowersztern, International Association of Technicians, Experts and Researchers (AITEC) who will present the Franco-Brazilian observatory on the right to the city.4:45 5:00 Coffee break
5:00 5:15 Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT
5:15 6:15 Presentations of research on urban policies, introduced by Mr. Ousman Blondin Diop
Professor Michael Safier, Program Director for Culture, Conflict and Cosmopolitan Development, Development Planning Unit, University College London: Civic Cosmopolitanism
Dr. Ashraf Kamal, Executive Director of the Urban Training Institute of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities: An Assessment of the Egyptian Experience and the Way Ahead (Egypt)
Professor Michel Carmona, Director of the City and Regional Planning Institute of the University of Paris IV La Sorbonne (France)
Professor Roland Schweitzer, Vice-President of UIA/UNESCO Committee for the Charter to Architectural Education and responsible for a section of the Eastern Paris Revitalization Project (France)
Robert-Max Antoni, Architect, Inspector General of the construction of the General Assembly of Ponts et Chaussees, President of the Robert Auzelle Seminar: Ethics of Living and training of young professionals (France)
Professor Ubaydullaeva Rano Ahatovna, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan.6:15 7:00 Public debate moderated by Dr. Ali Kazancigil, Secretary General of ISSC
A cocktail will be offered at the end of the session
CITIES AND URBAN ISSUESBy 2005, the world urban population will have reached 65% of the total global population, and a considerable portion of this population will be unable to attain even the most basic necessities because of economic, social, cultural, ethnic characteristics or because of gender or age.
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT DECLARATION GOALShttp://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
Universal goals and aspirations for peace and social stability, economic prosperity, health and education are only attainable with due consideration to the various forms of social exclusion. Urban sustainability calls for a new approach to urban development, involving social, economic, environmental, political and institutional dimensions of development.
At the UN level, a rights-based approach is included in Targets 10 and 11 of the Millennium Development Declaration Goals, with the aim of promoting sustainable urbanization and a commitment to poverty reduction, effective participation of marginalized groups in urban environmental policy, planning and management.
At the national level, Brazil has already embedded the notion of The Right to the City in its Constitution with the enactment of Federal Law No. 10.257 of 10 July 2001, entitled City Statute.
At the international NGO level, a proposed World Charter on the Right to the City was presented at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre in January 2005.
CITIES AND URBAN ISSUES IN UN-HABITATUN-HABITAT was established in 1978 as the lead agency in the UN system for coordinating activities in the field of human settlements. It is the focal point for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, the global plan of action adopted by the international community at the Habitat II Conference in Istanbul in June 1996. UN-HABITAT implements this Agenda in particular through its Global Campaigns on Urban Governance and Secure Tenure, the bi-annual World Urban Forum, and a range of programmes and initiatives on urban poverty and the urban environment, Best Practices, gender policy, housing policy, housing rights, safer cities, sustainable cities and the Localizing Agenda 21. UN-HABITATs Global Urban Observatory develops policy-oriented urban indicators and monitors progress toward the Habitat Agenda, which is reported in the State of the Worlds Cities Report.
CITIES AND URBAN ISSUES IN UNESCOUNESCO addresses cities and urban issues in its five programme sectors mainly through research, advocacy and capacity building. Sectors across UNESCO, National Commissions, universities, cities and specialized urban NGOs collaborate within networks on urban research, urban management and civil society participation, in the following main areas: natural disaster impact reduction, urban water management, urban ecology, urban revitalization, migration, fight against racism and social integration, management of social transformations and city professionals education with a specific focus on World Heritage Cities and education for sustainable urban development.
CONTACT INFORMATIONDivision of Social Sciences, Research and Policy, UNESCO: b.colin@unesco.org
UN-HABITAT: Raf.Tuts@unhabitat.org or www.unhabitat.org
UNESCO Social and Human Sciences sector: www.unesco.org/shs
