Vancouver, June 22 2005 — The MDG-LP was invited to the World Urban Forum 3 in Vancouver to present UN-Habitat’s MDG localization experience in assisting 14 cities in the Philippines during the preparatory workshop on Activating Urban Indicators organized by the Regional Urban Observatory based in the University of Vancouver . The presentation focused on 3 cities: Naga City , Sorsogon City and Science City of Munoz. A copy of the workshop proceedings and presentations can now be found on the Regional Vancouver Urban Observatory website: www.rvu.ca under the section for ‘WUF Workshop’.
The MDG-LPC presented the project’s experience in the UNDP Global Campus learning event on “How to localise the MDGs and set up a Local Urban Observatory to support city planning and management”. The workshop used as cases 3 Philippine cities, Naga, Sorsogon and the Science City of Munoz with the Mayors of these cities attending as resource persons.
The workshop also launched the toolkit “Localising the Millennium Development Goals: A guide for local authorities and partners” which the project, through the MDG-LPC help put together during the first quarter of the year. Side meetings were also organized to follow-up on pending requests for assistance from UN Habitat HQ particularly on the setting-up of Local Urban Observatories, procurement of GIS software for IGACOS, setting up of State of the Cities Reporting, and technical assistance for the Meet the MDG toolkits.
The Philippine delegation to the forum consisted of eight (8) City Mayors from the participating MDG localization sites, one (1) MDG focal persons and CSO partners from the PUF network and officials and staff from the
League of Cities of the Philippines. Philippine Vice President and HUDCC Chairperson Noli de Castro delivered the country statement during the opening ceremonies and presented the Northrail Settlements Project in a special networking event. The MDG-LPC brought with him from WUF3 the UrbanInfo Software and the Guide to Establishing Local Urban Observatories and will be used as key drivers in instituting an MDG Indicators and Monitoring System for localizing the Habitat Millennium Agenda in the Philippines.
