In the fourth phase and 18th year of its existence, the Urban Management Programme (UMP) is one of the largest global technical assistance programmes in the urban sector. The programme was designed to strengthen the capacity of urban local and national governments to enhance the contribution that cities and towns make toward poverty reduction, the improvement of environmental conditions and local governance, and the management of economic growth.
For more information, visit "Urban Management Programme".
Activities
UMP Partners Meeting at AITThe year 2003 was one of major change in UMP. As planned, the UMP Asia-Pacific Office in Bangkok was phased out and UMP regional staff completed their assignments. During the year, UMP management responsibilities were gradually handed over to the UN-HABIAT Fukuoka Office and the UMP anchoring partners - the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok and the All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG) in Mumbai.
The Fukuoka Office provided continual support to this transitional process by providing interim regional coordination and working closely with the anchoring partners to build their capacity and ensure they were able to take full responsibility for the management and implementation of the regional programme in 2004. Substantive support was also provided to the design of a new UMP regional programme for 2005/06 centred upon the production and dissemination of knowledge and good practice in urban management: Urban Resource Network for Asia-Pacific (URNAP). And to build upon and strengthen the partnership initiated by UMP, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by former HFO Director Toshi Noda and AIT President Jean-Louis Armand, aimed at extending cooperation between UN-HABITAT and AIT.
Fukuoka Office professionals participated in the UMP global decision-making body (Programme Review Committee) in Rabat, Morocco (11-14 June, 2003) where donors agreed to extend UMP until 2006, but provide it with a new image and thrust: the Urban Millennium Partnership (UMP): Localising the Millennium Development Goals. In addition, the Office fully supported Global UMP activities, including a mid-term evaluation, internal Audit and design of the new UMP programme and participated in meetings with AIT, AIILSG and country level partners in Mumbai and Bangkok (in February, April, September and December). At the country level, Human Settlements Officers from the Fukuoka Office made substantial technical inputs into the development and implementation of UMP activities across the region with project support covering Laos, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Pacific, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
