Dubai International Award: Fourth Cycle Award Ceremony and International Seminar on Learning from Best Practices, Dubai, 2-3 November 2002

About 100 participants attended the International Seminar held at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in Dubai. Participants included representatives from the award-winning organizations and countries, staff of Dubai Municipality, Best Practice partners, international experts and specially invited guests. The objective of the seminar was to have a direct exchange with the award winners, to learn from and compare best practices.

The seminar was inaugurated by Obeid Salem Al Shamsi, Dubai's Assistant Director-General for Administration and General Services Affairs. In his welcome address, he highlighted the Award's role in promoting awareness on practices that have had a real impact on the ground, in improving the living conditions of communities. The opening session was also addressed by Nicholas You, Coordinator of the Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme, UN-HABITAT. Mr. You reiterated the value of the Best Practices initiative in transferring knowledge and experience and stated that the seminar would provide valuable inputs into the shaping of future cycles of the award.

The seminar was organized in four sessions, chaired by persons from Best Practices partner organization. Each session consisted of presentations from a cluster of winning practices grouped around one theme, followed by questions and discussions..

Cluster One: Living Together - chaired by Marc Weiss of Prague Institute - included:
• Gender and Citizenship within the Integrated Programme for Social Inclusion in Santo Andre, Brazil.

• The Mothers Centres International Network.

• The Humanitarian News Agency, "Red Solidaria", Argentina

Cluster Two: Making Cities Work - chaired Sangeetha Purushothaman of the Best Practices Foundation, India, included:
• Action Programme for Sustainable Guangzhou, China

• Liveable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP) for the Greater Vancouver Regional District, Canada

• Protection and Rehabilitation of the Historical World Heritage, Santiago de Compoistela Spain

• Area Based Assessment Of Property Tax in Patna, Bihar (India)

Cluster Three: Making Communities Work - chaired by Gertrude Ngenda from the Regional Information Centre on Local Government (Southern Africa) included:
• Relocation of Backyard Tenants, Namibia

• Program for the Protection of the Environment - Pr.A.P.E., Benin

• Women's Contribution in Sustainable Rural Development, Deir el Ahmar, Lebanon

Each twenty-minute presentation covered: a background and overview of the project, the process, the results and lessons learned. All presentations were very well received, and were followed by up to an hour's discussion that could easily have continued given more time. Many of the questions and comments revolved around the process, especially mobilization of local human and financial resources, essential elements that assured success, as well as issues of sustainability and scaling-up.

Nicholas You, summarized the notable lessons learned, from the presenters' own words:
• Communities are the experts on their problems and they need to be recognised as such rather than be considered simply as beneficiaries of other people's decisions or investments

• We need to go back to commonsense solutions which are often less resource intensive and of more relevance to people's needs and priorities

• Sustainability is about using the full potential of local human, financial and physical resources

• The lack of political will is not insurmountable, it can be overcome by raising awareness of people to work together within their respective communities to address common issues and problems. Awareness building is the first step towards mobilisation and community participation, which in turn can influence political leaders

• Effective participation is not just about getting people to work together on specific projects or time-bound initiatives, it is about empowering people and giving them a voice in decisions affecting their livelihoods and the livelihoods of the community at large.

The Award Ceremony

The award ceremony was held at Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum House, a historic building overlooking Dubai Creek. The trophies were presented by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality, with two representatives of each winning practice going up on the stage to accept the trophy. Congratulatory speeches by Qassim Sultan, Director-General, Dubai Municipality and Daniel Biau, Deputy Executive Director, UNHABITAT were read.

Earlier in the day, Sheikh Hamdan unveiled an eight-meter replica of the award trophy installed by Dubai Municipality on Al Seef Street, overlooking Dubai Creek. The monument will stand as a permanent tribute to the contribution of the Dubai Award in the global quest for sustainable urbanisation and the improvement of people's living conditions.

Further information:
Best Practices and Policies
Urban Secretariat
UN-HABITAT, P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-20) 624981, Fax: (254-20) 623080
E-mail: bestpractices@unhabitat.org