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Parten's Profile
UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Asia Pacific (ROAP), Fukuoka,
Japan
Established in 1997, the UN-HABITAT Fukuoka Office is the regional
office covering South and South East Asia and the Pacific (or ROAP).
As part of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT),
ROAP’s mission and resources are dedicated to the tackling
and finding solutions to urban poverty and for achieving the Millennium
Development Goals of making a significant improvement in the lives
of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020, and halving the proportion
of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015.
ROAP’s activities are focused on promoting environmentally
sustainable cities and towns, and seeking solutions to urban problems
ranging from inadequate water supply and sanitation, negative environmental
impacts and solid waste management, to urban crime and safety. During
2002 it was active in 28 countries, undertaking 71 projects with
a total project budget approaching $70 million. This work involves
ROAP actively promoting UN-HABITAT’s two global campaigns
on Secure Tenure and Good Urban Governance, and executing a range
of technical programmes (focused on urban management, sustainable
cities, safer cities and risk and disaster management) and projects
with partners throughout the region. As a strategic priority, ROAP
seeks to optimize the linkages between the policy-oriented UN-HABITAT
campaigns and its grassroots technical projects. Since 2002, Secure
Tenure Campaigns have been launched in the Philippines and Afghanistan,
and are in preparation in Bangladesh, Cambodia and Thailand. Working
with key regional partners, ROAP will be supporting on-going Good
Governance Campaign initiatives and help launch others in China,
Fiji, India, Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
There is a range of technical projects underway, recently completed
or currently in development, all of which tackle aspects of urban
poverty, and almost all of which share the characteristic of building
the capacity of municipalities in dealing with urban problems, exposing
effective urban management to an increasing number of municipalities,
and developing national policy that supports good urban governance
and management. For example, in Indonesia, initiatives designed
to pilot the viability of a low-income housing-finance mechanism
and to identify participatory urban management practices and replicate
these nationally, are currently underway. Similarly in Sri Lanka
and the Philippines, the application and adaptation of innovative
good urban governance approaches from earlier projects in environmental
management and planning and the preparation of City Development
Strategies, are being rolled out to an increasing number of municipalities.
Projects focused on building partnerships for poverty alleviation
and supporting the livelihoods of the urban poor are underway in
Bangladesh (with ROAP assisting in awarding over seventy community
contracts aimed at small scale infrastructure improvements and the
development of community capacity), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Hyderabad
(India) and Nepal.
ROAP has also employed major efforts in assisting the Islamic Transitional
State of Afghanistan, with support to physical reconstruction, social
rehabilitation and poverty alleviation in six major urban centers.
This programme is geared towards identifying a coherent approach
to urban management for Afghanistan and helping these cities in
carrying out immediate repairs to basic services, generating paid
employment for the urban poor and managing solid waste; work that
is estimated to directly benefit over two million people.
In pursuing its mission and objectives, ROAP’s current strategic
priorities are the expansion of its technical and advisory support
within the region to help government’s in the development
and implementation of programmes, strengthening its knowledge management
activities and networking with regional partners, and to further
promoting creative and mutually supportive relationships with national
and local partners within Japan.
Contact:
UN-HABITAT Fukuoka Office
ACROS Fukuoka Building
1-1-1 Tenjin, Chuo-ku
Fukuoka 810-0001
Japan
Tel: (81-92) 724 7121
Fax: (81-92) 724 7124
Email: habitat.fukuoka@unhabitat.org
Web: http://www.fukuoka.unhabitat.org |
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