AUICK News

CONTENTS

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

1. Associate City (AAC) News

Chittagong – A Management Information System (MIS) is to be set up between the city’s Premier University and Chittagong City Corporation. This will provide population related data for policies and programs to improve the welfare of citizens. The project was formulated as an Action Plan at the Second 2009 AUICK Workshop, and follows the establishment of MIS in Khon Kaen, Danang, Surabaya and Olongapo. (M. Imtiaz Hossain Chowdhury, CEO, Chittagong City Corporation)

Weihai - Weihai was declared National Forest City at the sixth China Urban Forest Forum, in May 2009. The award was given in recognition of the city’s urban forest construction, and greening of surrounding towns and villages. (weihai.gov.cn)

Chennai - Chennai City Corporation has initiated a health card scheme for 500,000 lower income and slum-dwelling families, which records the health care history of each person, and is to be expanded city wide. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

Surabaya - The Seminar Sharing Lessons Learnt Enhancing the Quality of Life in Mega Cities was held by Surabaya City Government with the DAMANDIRI Foundation from 15-17 November 2009. With the participation of AUICK Associate Cities (AACs), the Seminar spread lessons on improving the quality of life in the urban area through community empowerment.

Kuantan – Around 200 people in Kuantan took part in the Clean up the World campaign from 18-20 September 2009, an annual event to encourage local communities to keep their environment clean, supported by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). (thestar.com.my) (cleanuptheworld.org),

Faisalabad - Faisalabad City District Government is working on a project to generate electricity from solid waste, to overcome its power deficit. Currently, 1,200 tons of solid waste is produced by the city every day. (dawn.com)

Olongapo - To promote the city’s Compost, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (CR³) project, Mayor James ‘Bong’ Gordon, Jr. has re-launched the Search for the Most Clean and Green Barangay of Olongapo. Seventeen barangays (villages) will be graded on their waste management and greening activities over three stages, until June 2010. (subicbaynews.com)

Khon Kaen -The 3rd Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development International Conference will be held by the Faculty of Engineering of Khon Kaen University, 4-6 March, 2010, for the exchange and dissemination of knowledge and research experiences. (sustsci.aaas.org)

Danang - A medical waste treatment incinerator and two sterilizers have been built in the Cam Le District of Danang, with the support of non-refundable ODA from the Japanese government. The incinerator can treat up to 250kg of medical waste per day. (danang.gov.vn)

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2. AUICK International News

UNFPA State of World Population - The UNFPA State of World Population 2009 Report, titled Facing a Changing World: Women, Population and Climate, was released on 18 November. It highlights that unless climate policies take people into account, they will fail to mitigate climate change or shield vulnerable populations from the potentially disastrous impacts. (unfpa.org)

United Nations Climate Change Conference - More than 15,000 participants, including delegates from more than 180 countries, have taken part in the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (7-18 December), to give their response to the issue of climate change, and pledge emission reductions, and related funding, technology and capacity-building. (unep.org)

UNEP Billion Tree Campaign - The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign has reached its goal of planting 7 billion trees by the end of 2009. As of 13 December, 7,427,082,386 trees had been planted. The campaign encourages communities, business and industry, organizations and governments to pledge online to plant indigenous trees, appropriate to their local environment. (unep.org/billiontreecampaign)

Millennium Development Goal Progress - With only six years until the 2015 deadline to achieve the eight Millennium Development Goals, a report by the UN MDG Gap Task Force, Strengthening the Global Partnership for Development in a Time of Crisis, identifies the areas of non-achievement, and recommends on how to address those gaps. It is commended by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to policymakers, development officials and concerned individuals. (un.org/millenniumgoals)
(http://www.un.org/esa/policy/mdggap/mdg8report_engw.pdf)

World Health Day - The World Health Organization (WHO) campaign, 1000 cities, 1000 lives, encourages the organizing of events worldwide from 7 to 11 April, 2010, opening up public areas such as parks and town halls for health related activities and clean-up campaigns. (who.int/world-health-day)