NEPAD cities programme moves ahead

Phase 2 of the NEPAD Cities Programme was launched in Durban, South Africa on 27 September 2007. The initiative aims to address urbanisation and its consequences in order to make African cities more attractive for economic investment.

Seven cities were selected to kick-start the programme in July 2003 — Durban, Bamako, Lagos, Lusaka, Nairobi, Rabat and Douala.

The profiles of these cities were prepared by their municipalities with technical assistance from the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT).

Intensive discussions by all mayors of the cities took place at the first NEPAD city consultative forum held in Lagos in May 2004.

Phase 1 of the programme was aimed at intensifying efforts to continue building constituencies towards an effective ownership of the NEPAD objectives and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the regional and local levels.

Proposed Phase II activity is to raise awareness and sensitise local authorities and local communities to NEPAD objectives.

It will also enhance the capacity of local authorities to assist national governments in addressing the NEPAD objectives and managing the delivery of basic services to reduce poverty and promote socio-economic cohesion in Africa. Source : NEPAD

NEPAD TV schedule on Africa channel

The next programme schedule for the NEPAD TV slots on the SABC Africa channel is :

African Views 03 October 2007 at 8pm - 9pm (SA time) : Ambassador Stephen Willoughby, Deputy CEO, NEPAD Secretariat, The topic of discussion will centre on NEPAD’s international relations and partnerships. Ambassador Jessica Duarte, a Deputy Director-General in the South African Department of Foreign Affairs, and Brian Kagoro, Africa Policy and Advocacy Manager, Action Aid International/Africa, will be members of the supporting panel.

180 Degrees 04 October 2007 at 8:35am (SA time) : Belkacem Smaili, Coordinator of Development, NEPAD Secretariat, will be interviewed on ”coordinating development on the African continent”. African Views is a live phone-in programme featuring panel discussions on various topics around current NEPAD development initiatives. The 180 Degrees slot is a brief interview-based programme. Source : NEPAD