United Nations Centre for Human Settlements

Habitat

Press Release

Local Authorities and NGOs identify local Agenda 21 as effective instrument linking Rio and Istanbul

12 June - The value of the local Agenda 21 framework has been underscored at several occasions during the Habitat II Conference. Local Agenda 21 is recognised in the Global Plan of Action as one of the instruments for achieving environmentally sustainable human settlements. Furthermore, in the partners forums contributing to Committee II, both Local Authorities and NGOs identified the local Agenda 21 process as an effective instrument linking Rio and Istanbul. They recommend its widespread use.

In order to identify factors hindering or promoting local Agenda 21 and to exchange capacity building tools, UNCHS (Habitat) organised at the occasion of Habitat II on 5 June 1996 a Roundtable Discussion and a Public Forum. After reviewing the status of the programme ‘Localising Agenda 21: Action Planning for Sustainable Urban Development’ in Nakuru, Kenya and Essaouira, Morocco, the following highlights came up in the discussions:

Local Agenda 21s should be conceived and implemented as continuous capacity-building efforts which are integrated within the existing institutional, legal and resources framework
The process of localising Agenda 21 can enrich representative democracy towards more participatory democracy, a process which requires specific skills and attitudes from local leaders and key partners
There is need for appropriate tools to support the implementation of intersectoral action plans within a long term strategic perspective, and for impact assessment of local Agenda 21 processes
Comparing local Agenda 21 experiences in different regions and contexts reveals remarkable similarities in terms of problems, possible solutions and partnerships, which calls for dissemination of experiences beyond the respective city, county and regional borders

The ‘Localising Agenda 21’ programme is funded by the Belgian Government and implemented by UNCHS (Habitat), supported by a consortium of Belgian universities, consultancy firms, municipalities and NGOs. The programme offers a multi-year support system to selected priority towns. It envisages concentrated capacity-building and environmental planning and management- support interventions in Kenya, Morocco and Vietnam. The state of the art of the process in Nakuru and Essaouira has been documented in an Exhibit and two Videos.

For further information, please contact:

Raf Tuts

Programme Manager, Localising Agenda 21

Training and Capacity-Building Section, RDD

UNCHS (Habitat)

P.O. Box 30030 Nairobi, Kenya

Tel: 251 3855 - Fax: 252 5929

E-mail: raf.tuts@unep.no