The Hindu Business Line : Jamshedpur chosen for UN compact cities programme

JAMSHEDPUR, developed and managed by Tata Steel, is among the six cities in the world selected for the United Nations Global Compact Cities Pilot programme.

The other cities that are part of the programme are Melbourne (Australia), Porto Alegre (Brazil), Tianjin (China), Nairobi (Kenya) and San Francisco (USA).

Under the programme, each of these six cities will be required to join hands with a neutral agency and conduct a project that benefits their cities.

The objective of each project will be to develop innovative solutions to address some intractable social, economic and environmental issues in the urban context through working partnerships between the Government, business and civil society, according to a press release issued after the first South Asia Global Compact regional conclave held earlier this month in Jamshedpur.

The programme will run up to 2006 and will be coordinated by a "Committee for Jamshedpur". Mr A.N. Singh, Deputy Managing Director - Corporate Services, Tata Steel, will be the process owner, and Mr Sanjiv Paul, Managing Director of JUSCO, the newly formed Tata Steel subsidiary, will be the convenor.

Each city, according to the release, will determine the nature and scope of its own project and will have to communicate its results to the international secretariat coordinated by Mr David Teller in Melbourne.

The United Nations Global Compact Cities Pilot Programme Secretariat will coordinate and facilitate the programme and willmonitor the development of each city-based project, according to the release.

Once the pilot programme is completed, the UN Global Compact Office in New York will determine the viability of the programme as an effective means to engage and promote the global compact in an urban setting.

Delegates from various countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and the US participated in the regional programme.

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