Arab Urban Development Institute

Municipality of Greater Amman

World Bank

BACKGROUND

OBJECTIVES

THEMES

ELEMENTS

ORGANIZERS

AUDIENCE

DATE & VENUE

Background Papers
	11–13 December 2002,  7–9 Shawal 1423H

LANGUAGES

REGISTRATION

HOTELS LIST

SPONSORS

PROGRAM

DEADLINES

CONTACT US

  

Amman Declaration

The ‘Children and The City’ conference will be held in Amman, Jordan from December 11-13, 2002.  The key objective of the conference is to highlight the increasingly complex issues faced by children and youth living in the urban areas of the Middle East and North Africa region.  The conference will explore ways in which local governments, civil society (including children) and the private sector can act together to address these issues through innovative policies and programs.  The conference will also provide a forum for the mayors and other related policy makers from the region to interact and discuss possible 'next steps'.

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Background

 

    Cities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have been witnessing remarkable and unprecedented demographic growth.  The rapid rise in population of MENA cities has a profound impact on the most vulnerable group of society: children. The population of the MENA region reached 300 million in 1998, of which about half were children and youth under the age of 18 years. Over 60% of these children now live in urban areas, where the poverty levels are significant.  By the year 2020 (with an estimated 70 % of people living in urban areas), cities and towns of MENA countries will be faced with unique challenges as well as opportunities to improve the living conditions of their children. Children are the future leaders of the countries and it is imperative that they grow into healthy and productive individuals.

 

         In the face of this rapid urbanization and burgeoning problems, it is critical to strategically identify effective ways in which mayors and their local governments, along with other agencies, NGOs, the private sector, and other partners can collaborate to improve the conditions in which children live.  The various actors in these societies need to develop effective urban strategies, improve governance, augment urban services and provide services to settlements on urban fringes.  The Children and the City conference will also promote a dialogue between the children and the mayors along with other relevant urban agencies and will seek to stress the multi-sectoral and participatory approach to address these issues.

 

 

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• To promote an awareness of the complex and multi-sectoral issues faced by vulnerable and highly disadvantaged children living in urban areas.

• To share cutting edge knowledge on innovative policies and programs and effective governance approaches (including best practices and successful experiences at the local, regional and international level), and facilitate linkages and networking among MENA mayors, national and local authorities, civil society organizations, and development agencies.

• To establish ‘next steps’ for MENA mayors, relevant officials, and other partners to consider in addressing urban children’s issues.

 

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    The Conference papers and presentations will focus on the following thematic areas

• Basic services for children and families in urban areas:  housing, water, sanitation, health, nutrition, education, childcare, safe neighborhoods, recreation, cultural and sports facilities.

• Specialized services for highly disadvantaged children:  homeless children, orphans, harmful child labor, disabled and displaced children, youth at risk, disadvantaged girls.

• Governance and resource mobilization: regulation and legislation issues, child and community participation, and role of private sector.

 

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• Presentations on innovative approaches and programs by NGOs, mayors, international organizations and private sector groups from around the world.

• Papers and case studies highlighting issues and lessons learned.

• Dialogue between mayors and children from the MENA region.

• Small group discussions and working sessions to develop next steps.

• Exhibitions from relevant organizations.

 

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ORGANIZERS

 

    The Conference is jointly organized by the Arab Urban Development Institute, the World Bank, and the Municipality of Greater Amman under the patronage of H.M. Queen Rania Al-Abdullah. Other partners include UNESCO, UNICEF and UNFPA.

 

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RELEVANT / TARGETED AUDIENCE

 

    The primary audience for the conference will be mayors and relevant policy makers from large and secondary cities in the MENA region, NGOs, private sector groups, and donors.  Participation in this conference is also open to experts on urban and children’s issues, academics, social workers, policy makers and analysts, educators, health care specialists and other interested parties.

 

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CONFERENCE PROGRAM

 

CONFERENCE PROGRAM          [PDF]

 

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DATE & VENUE

   

    The conference will be held between December 11-13, 2002 at the King Hussein Cultural Center, Amman, Jordan.

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LANGUAGES

        

    The conference will be conducted in Arabic, English, and French . Simultaneous translation will be available.

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Participants are kindly requested to complete the Registration Form and send it to the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI) together with the appropriate registration fees as follows:

• US$ 300 (or equivalent) for employees of municipalities that are  members of the Arab Towns Organization.

• US$ 400 (or equivalent) for all other participants.

Invited speakers are exempted from the registration fees.  The registration fees cover the costs for the conference proceedings, attendance in all sessions, receptions and tours.

 

GET REGISTRATION FORM

 

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TRAVEL & ACCOMMODATIONS

 

    Special rates have been negotiated with the hotels.  Please contact the desired hotel directly to arrange for accommodation. Participants are expected to cover the costs of their travel and accommodation expenses.  Conference organizers can arrange for airport pick-up for participants.

Please forward your confirmed itinerary to:

Communications and Public Relations Department

Municipality of Greater Amman

Phone:  + 962 6 463 4562

Fax :     +  962 6 463 4562

VISAS

    Jordanian Consulates will be notified by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to grant entry visas to conference participants, if needed.

 

 

HOTELS

    See the hotels List  for more  information

 

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DEADLINES

 

Submission of Abstracts	April 15, 2002
Notification of Abstract approval	April 30th, 2002
Deadline for Submission of Papers	September 1st, 2002
Deadline for papers from guest speakers and invited working papers	October 1st, 2002
Deadline for  final papers after inclusion of reviewers’ comments	October 15th, 2002

 

                                                

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REFEREED PAPERS
1	Children in Big Cities: Possible Lessons for Developing Countries From an International Perspective	Sheila B. Kamerman
2	Urban Children and the Physical Environment	Sheridan Bartlett
3	An Ethnographic Study of the Consequences of Social and Structural Forces on  Children : the Case of Two Suburbs in Beirut	Jihad Makhoul
4	Child Labour in Morocco: The Socio-economic Background of  the “Little Maids”  Phenomenon	Mehdi Lahlou
5	Refugee Children in Cairo: An Invisible ‘at Risk’ Group in the City	Barbara Harrell-Bond, Aya El-Hilaly, and Abigail Schaeffer
6	Urban Children and Poverty: Child Labor and Family Dynamic Case Studies in Old Cairo	Tonia Rifaey, Mahmoud M. Murtada and  Mohamed Abdel-Azeem
7	Children's 'Mental Maps' and Neighborhood Design of Abu-Nuseir, Jordan	Ahmad Y Al-Zoabi
8	Planning for the Children of the Future: The Case of Malaysia	Badaruddin Mohamed
9	Fresh Perspectives: Strategies for Helping Children Re-think their Communities	Prerna Sood
10	City Governance for and with Children	David Satterthwaite
11	From Planning for, to Planning with, MENA Children	Umar G. Benna
12	School Mayors of Iran: World’s Youngest Mayors Learning Social Participation	Parviz Piran

WORKING PAPERS
1	The Utilization of Theater-in-Education for Social Development Changes	Lina Attel
2	Childhood Versus Urbanism in the Arab World	Abdullah Alkadi, Mr. Ezzuddin Abulkhair Kazaaber

PRESENTATIONS
1	Child Friendly Cities	Eliana Riggio
2	Ensuring Childhood in Cities: The Ashoka Approach	Anil Chitrakar
3	An Approach to Confront Street Children Problem in Egypt Read Appendix	Abla El-Badry
4	Providing a Second Chance Through a Different School	Lionel Urdy
5	Improving the Lives of Poor Children Living In MENA Cities: Learning from Global Experience	Christine Allison
6	Gender, Population issues & Urban Development in Arab Countries (in Arabic)	Lamya Badri
7	Mother Child Education Program: Case study of a multipurpose intervention	Ayla Goksel
8	From Child Development to Human Development	Jacques van der Gaag
9	Growing up in cities : Saida Project	Joseph Kreidi
10	Early Childhood Development: Better Parenting Project	Maha Homsy
11	Promoting Health, Education and HIV/AIDS Prevention in Urban Schools: the FRESH Framework	Don Bundy
12	L’ENFANT A MARSEILLE	Michel Bourgat
13	Early Learning, Later Earnings	Mary Eming Young
14	Child friendly Cities in the Occupied Palestinian territory	Emad Shaath
15	Mentors Program, Jordan (in Arabic)	Curt Rhodes
16	Family Protection Project, Jordan (in Arabic)	Samar Doudin
17	Urban Population Growth and Poverty: Issues and Challenges	Samir Farid

 

Background Papers in Arabic

 

CORRESPONDENCE

 

 

All correspondence to be directed to the Conference Secretariat at:

Arab Urban Development Institute

P.O. Box 6892

Riyadh 11452

Tel: (+966 1) 4816 585 or  4821867

Fax: (+9661) 480 2666

Email: info@araburban.org

URL: www.araburban.org

 

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SPONSORS