| Statement by Sir John Kaputin at the World Urban Forum III, Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, Canada, 23 June 2006 Chairperson, It is a great honour for me to take the floor at the closing session of this very important international gathering with the focus on sustainable urban development. Allow me to express my congratulations to the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Dr. Anna TIBAIJUKA and her staff, for their perseverance over many years to raise awareness of human settlements and to provide information on urban conditions and trends around the world with the objective to manage the growing urbanization phenomenon and promoting sustainable urban development. Your visionary leadership has created opportunities for development, and brought the plight of poor living conditions of millions of people in ACP States and other countries, to the forefront of the developmental agenda. The ACP Group of States, representing approximately 700 million people, was established by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. The Group comprises of 79 States - 48 African, 16 Caribbean, and 15 Pacific States, and is the largest organized entity representing the developing world. The main objective of the Group, as also reflected in its Cotonou Partnership Agreement with the European Union, is to reduce and eventually eradicate poverty while contributing to sustainable development. On behalf of the ACP Group, I would like to re-affirm the importance of sustainable urban development. In your activities, you have underlined the importance of exchanging experiences and best practices among cities, authorities and development partners that will contribute towards the creation of organized and well-managed settlements. Chairperson, Today, more than 1 billion people, including citizens of ACP States, are living in urban slums. In the developing world, our greatest asset is our people. Our people are the future, and we must do our utmost to create situations that will contribute to their well-being, and indeed development. This World Urban Forum is taking place at a time when the international community has integrated sustainable urbanization within the globalization context. I can assure you that the ACP Group of States is committed to fight against inadequate living conditions in slums and their adverse impact on several of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular those related to health, education and employment. Recently, the ACP Group agreed to contribute substantive funding to a Slum Upgrading Project in ACP States, which will be implemented by UN-Habitat. Slums are the result of policy failure, and the product of mismanaged urban growth and lack of appropriate policies and planning. We all share the view that the biggest challenge to addressing slums and slum proliferation is Government policy and strategic urban planning. The ACP funded Project on Slum Upgrading will address these challenges, and will be implemented with the active participation of beneficiaries. Physical, social, economic, and environmental improvements will be targeted in partnership with citizens, community groups, businesses, and local authorities. Based on this participatory approach, the Project will aim to propose solutions, implement upgrading projects and avoid the creation of new slums. The ACP Group of States is committed to continue to contribute towards global initiatives and programmes, and is ready to fully participate in the 4th World Urban Forum, which will be held in Nanjing, China during 2008. Chairperson, The ACP Group has commemorated its 31st year of existence on 6 June 2006. This anniversary coincides with the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the 1st United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, which led to the founding of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. After more than 30 years, we must acknowledge that the time has come to take hands and work together for the advancement of humanity, and in particular, the improvement of basic living conditions of our people. Together, we must increase our collective efforts to ensure that our urban planet, in the words of Secretary-General Kofi Annan ´is just, equitable and sustainable for all its inhabitants´. I thank you for your attention.
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