AUICK News

CONTENTS

1. Associate City (AAC) News
2. International News

1. Associate City (AAC) News

Chittagong – A forum on “Sanitation for All Within 2008″, held in Chittagong on 2 November by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council of Bangladesh, highlighted that inadequate sanitation is the biggest threat to children under five. Participants stressed the need for good governance and transparency; allocation of public money for the poor (20% at the ward level); planned development of slum areas; ensuring the supply of pure drinking water for all, and the intensification of sanitation campaigns. (The Daily Independent/ hip.watsan.net) (Mr. A.K.M. Rezaul Karim, AUICK Liaison Officer for Chittagong) 

Around 450 people in the city participated in a human chain to show solidarity with the poor in ‘standing up against poverty’ on October 17, 2008. The event was hosted by the Participatory Research and Action Network (PRAN). (standagainstpoverty.org) 

Weihai - From October 2008, Weihai Environmental Protection Agency is arranging a team of volunteers to increase public awareness and participation in improving citizens’ living environment. (Mr. Chenggong Sun, AUICK Liaison Officer for Weihai) 

Weihai was also ranked 11th of 500 global cities in economic growth rate competititiveness, according to the Global Urban Competitiveness Report (2007-2008), released at the Fifth International Forum on Urban Competitiveness on July 27th, 2008. (weihai.gov.cn) 

Chennai - A program to make Chennai slum free by 2013 has been drawn up by The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board. Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the program aims to re-house all families living in slums of three cities, by constructing over 60,000 urban houses over three years. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) 

Also in Chennai, Green Power-2008, an international conference and exhibition on renewable energy technologies, was held from June 11, 2008, focusing on renewable energy policies to attract more corporate investments, financing mechanisms and new green power generation technologies. (greenbusinesscentre.org) 

Surabaya - In some Islamic schools in Surabaya, Seventh and eighth graders are learning about all aspects of reproductive health and HIV/AIDS. Using peer education methods, students study ‘Life Skills Education’ through songs and games, to facilitate enjoyable and productive discussions. According to Rachmat Hargono, HIV/AIDS project officer for the UN Children's Fund in Surabaya, low or high risk depends on access to information on HIV/AIDS prevention. 

Speaking at a seminar on sustainable environmental sanitation, Mas Agus Mardiyant, dean of Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology's school of environmental engineering, outlined how a serious sanitation problem could occur in Surabaya, posing health and environmental risks. Annual flooding, worsened by poor drainage and direct landfill garbage disposal means the need for integrated water resource management, regulations and waste managment process rehabilitation by water companies. The devolving of water management to local communities was also recommended. (thejakartapost.com) 

Kuantan – The International Conference on Human Capital Development will be hosted by Kuantan, 25-27 May 2009, as a platform for experts to present and exchange ideas on holistic human capital development and its enhancement. (conferencealerts.com) 

More than RM92mil has been approved under the 9th Malaysia Plan for flood mitigation projects in Kuantan’s state of Pahang, an area at constant risk of flooding. (thestar.com.my)

Faisalabad - In order to improve wheat farming output, the district government of Faisalabad has installed 38 seed graders to clean eight million kilograms of seeds, and is distributing equipment and information on modern sowing techniques to the district’s farmers. 

The Faisalabad Electricity Supply Company (Fesco) has decided to persuade millions of its consumers to save energy, through a campaign of distributing free stickers. It is hoped that the move will be replicated to save maximum electricity throughout the whole country. School students will be invited to join the campaign. (dawn.com) 

Olongapo - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed Olongapo City Mayor James Gordon, Jr. as Head of Rescue Training in Central Luzon, in recognition of the Olongapo City Disaster Coordinating Council’s (CDCC) excellence in disaster management. 

Also in Olongapo, the Emergency Response Plan prepared by the City CDCC has been endorsed to serve as the City’s administrative guide in times of emergencies, disasters and calamities. A Contingency Planning & Formulation Workshop produced 6 plans for the occurrence of flash flood, earthquake, landslide, oil spill, aircraft crash, and fire caused by terrorist attack, to protect the city from natural and man-made hazards and calamities. (Mr. Fernando Moselina Magrata, AUICK Liaison Officer for Olongapo). 

Khon Kaen - Khon Kaen Municipality is expediting its waste to energy project over the next two years, aiming to reprocess 800,000 tons of plastic waste to oil amounting to 4,500 liters/day. The municipality has received financial aid worth Bt 30.1 million (30% of the total project cost) from the Energy Conservation Promotion Fund (ENCON), and will cover the remaining 70%. (Ms. Jarusluck Boonyakiat, Assistant to AUICK Liaison Officer for Khon Kaen) (thainews.prd.go.th) 

The Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Co-operatives (BAAC) in Thailand has signed an agreement with the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation to develop an insurance program for farmers to guard against natural disasters. A pilot project will involve 24,000 ha of farmland in Khon Kaen and 111,000 farmers to receive compensation if natural disasters or bad weather affect crop production. (bangkokpost.com) 

Danang - In Danang, an Asian Development Bank funded university, estimated to cost 120 million USD, will be built on an area of 50 ha within the University Village. The planned launch in January 2009 will be in cooperation with Da Nang University. (uni-bros.com) 

On 12 November, the Danang Foreign Affairs, Health and Labour, and War Invalids and Social Affairs Departments signed aid agreement minutes with the Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped Organization (VNAH), for a project for comprehensive rehabilitation and socio-economic assistance to improve the lives of the disabled in Danang. The total funding of more than US$382,000 for the project will be provided by USAID through VNAH, to provide community-based rehabilitation services and equipment until November 2009. (danang.gov.vn)

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2. AUICK International News

UNFPA State of World Population Report - UNFPA has released the State of World Population Report 2008. The report focuses on how culture, as a fundamental part of people’s lives, must be integrated into development policy and programming, and shows how this process works in practice. This is in accordance with the priniciples of the International Conference on Populaiton and Development (ICPD) Programme of Action. (unfpa.org) 

Call for Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - Close to 100 nations gathering in the Malaysian city of Putrajaya from 10-12 November 2008, concluded a review of how science can better guide policy by establishing an Intergovernmental Panel or Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). This would provide policy-makers with a validated, coherent and actionable guide to turning around biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, and early warning of biologically-related developments, years in advance of their public emergence. (unep.org) 

Better Air Quality 2008 Workshop - The Better Air Quality 2008 (BAQ) workshop, was held in Bangkok from 12-14 November 2008, and organized by the Clean Air Initiative Asia Center, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and the Pollution Control Department of Thailand, in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and ESCAP. Around 1,000 participants from over 35 countries attended the workshop. Shaoyi Li, a senior environment official of ESCAP, called for Policy-makers in Asia and the Pacific to look at population, environmental, social and economic issues as one, to ensure economically and environmentally sustainable urban growth management. Currently, policies designed to tackle single issues result in coordination failures and increased costs. Mr. Li pointed out that Asian cities and towns are at a crossroads in their development, with the 1.6 billion people or 40 percent of Asians currently living in urban areas set to increase to around 2.7 billion people by 2030. This is the equivalent of adding a new town of 137,000 people every day for the next 22 years. Choices made today will determine the competitiveness, quality of life and sustainability of cities in the region for decades to come. (baq2008.org) (unescap.org) 

Call for Investment in Sustainable Infrastructure - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has called on the world to help Asian urban areas cope with this unprecedented population growth. Speaking at the Conference on Liveable Cities in Singapore, 23-25 June 2008, ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda called for increased investments in sustainable infrastructure through more appropriate and relevant financing options. Rapid growth rates mean a $30 billion shortfall every year in the maintenance of urban infrastructure, in the region where more than half a billion people live in slums. (citymayors.com) (thejakartapost.com) 

Stopping Violence against Women - The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) launched its Say NO to Violence against Women awareness-raising campaign in 2007, calling on governments to make ending violence against women a top priority. The initiative has amassed more than 5 million names on its website petition, urging decisive action to stop the relentless cycle of violence against women. The signatures, which UNIFEM Executive Director Inés Alberdi said were ‘a large new constituency that we will continue to evolve and mobilize in the years to come’, were presented to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 25 November 2008, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. (un.org/apps/news) 

Global Handwashing Day - The practice of hand washing with soap, the single most cost-effective way to reduce diarrhea, was demonstrated in schools throughout the world at the same time on the first-ever 

Global Handwashing Day on October 15, 2008. Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash their hands with soap at the critical times (before eating, cooking, and after defecation). School children in more than 60 countries on five continents were expected to participate in the event. (globalhandwashingday.org) 

Global Food Price Rise - At present, 37 countries throughout every region of the world are experiencing localized food insecurity, lack of access to food, or shortfalls in food production or supplies. In the past year, global food prices have increased by an average of 43 percent, according to the International Monetary Fund. On April 14 2008, the World Bank estimated that the doubling of food prices during the past three years could potentially push 100 million people throughout the world into extreme poverty. Approximately 1 billion people—or nearly one-sixth of the world’s population—subsist on less than $1 per day. Of this population, 162 million survive on less than $0.50 per day. At the household level, increasing food prices have the greatest effect on poor and food-insecure populations, who spend 50 to 60 percent or more of their income on food, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute. Overall, increased food prices particularly affect the poorest people within developing countries. (usaid.gov) 

Join the Billion Tree Campaign - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign aims to plant 7 billion trees worldwide by the end of 2009. Individuals and organizations are urged to join the campaign online, and then plant indigenous trees, appropriate for their local environment. As of December 2008, 2,588,229,477 trees had been planted. (unep.org/billiontreecampaign/)