Mayors Combatting Poverty: A UNDP-sponsored Panel

Mayors from Accra, Kathmandu and other cities throughout the world will share experiences and discuss ways to tackle urban poverty at a roundtable on Tuesday, 6 February, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the ECOSOC Chamber of the United Nations. Urban poverty is one of the main issues to be addressed by the Habitat II Conference (June 1996, Istanbul, Turkey). The panel, chaired by UNDP's Denis Benn, will consist of mayors or senior representatives of cities from countries including Tanzania, Thailand, Jordan, Ecuador, Poland and Egypt.

Journalists are welcome to attend and cover the roundtable. They will have the opportunity to ask the mayors questions at the conclusion of the Roundtable, at 1:00 p.m. Individual interviews can also be arranged.

The roundtable is being organized in New York by UNDP on the occasion of the last Preparatory Meeting of the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II).

While the world is marking 1996 as the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, it is estimated that about 90% of the poor in Latin America, 45% in Asia and 40% in Africa now live in urban areas. The urban poor often have no access to education, health facilities, affordable and secure housing, public transportation, waste disposal, freshwater and sanitation facilities. Denis Benn is the Director of UNDP's Special Unit for Cooperation among Developing Countries.

DATE: Tuesday 6 February 1996 TIME: 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m (Roundtable) 1:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. (questions from journalists/individual interviews) VENUE: ECOSOC Chamber, UN Building

For further information, please contact François Coutu, Division of Public Affairs, UNDP, Tel.: (212) 906-5344, or Bernabé G. Garcia, Special Unit for Technical Co-Operation Among Developing Countries, UNDP, Tel.: (212) 906-5730