2006 Dubai International Award for Best Practices: Twelve Winners Announced

An independent jury of international experts met from 23-24 November 2006 and selected 12 winners for the 2006 Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment. The jury met in Palermo, Italy during the meeting of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership of Local and Regional Authorities. The selection was made from a list of 48 initiatives, short-listed out of 715 submissions. The winners were all deemed to have made outstanding contributions to improving the quality of life in cities and communities.

An independent Technical Advisory Committee, had earlier reviewed 690 qualifying submissions, and drawn up a short list of 48 initiatives which were then forwarded to the jury to select the winners. The jury, chaired by Mr. Abdulkarim Bangura, a national of Sierra Leone, professor at American University in Washington DC, an author and development consultant, based their decisions on criteria of tangible impact, partnership, and sustainability. They also took into account considerations of leadership and community empowerment, gender equality and social inclusion, and innovations that can be replicated. Starting with the 2006 cycle, two additional practices were added to the traditional 10. This is in order to dedicate at least two awards to best practice transfers.

The winners are:

1. Village of Hope - Rwanda; [addressing HIV/AIDS, women’s right to shelter, culture of peace], RWA130_06
2. Job Creation Through Restoration of Historic Centres of Palestine; PLS243_06
3. Ahmedabad Slum Networking Programme – India; IND610_06
4. Urban Management and Participative Governance: Neiva’s Commune – Colombia; COL341_06
5. Talisay Rivers for Environmental and Economic Sustainability Project; PHL030_06
6. Sustainable Solid Waste Management Program in the city of Carhuaz and the School of Planning and Environmental Municipal Management – Peru; PER673_06
7. Parla’s Citizen’s Forum –Spain; ESP427_06
8. Mise en Place d’une équipe de 1200 femmes pour assurer le balayage manuel des voies urbaines à Ougadougou - Burkina Faso; ["Green Brigade" cleaning Ougadougou]; BFA721_06
9. Hatien, Habitats, Handbags – Vietnam; [saving a wetland] VTM385_06
10. Chaîne des foyers Saint Nicodeme – Cameroon; [addressing problem of street children] CMR048_06