MPU, Alm.del - 2010-11 (1. samling) - Bilag 728: Dokumenter fra konferencen 7’th Global Forum, Global Parliamentarians on Habitat, Zadar, Croatia, 18.

This is the seventh Global Forum of the GlobalParliamentarians on Habitat. 15 years ago the GPHheld their first Global Forum parallel to the WorldConference on Human Settlements HABITAT II inIstanbul.

In March 2010 we held our 6th World Forum in Riode Janeiro in Brazil. I would like to thank ourBrazilian friend, Eliomar Coelho of the CamaraMunicipal do Rio de Janeiro, for this. Eliomar,welcome!

In Rio de Janeiro, we had an intensive discussionon our options for action at national andinternational level in the field of sustainable urbandevelopment. We focused our discussions inparticular on how to include the losers of theurbanization process in developing countries, theslum dwellers, in city life and how to bridge theurban divide. We want urban development policy toinclude more renewable energy sources andgreater energy efficiency and we have adopted thisgoal in our “Declaration of Rio”.

A few days later, the 5th World Urban Forum of UN-HABITAT was held, also in Rio de Janeiro. There,we held a Round Table for Parliamentarians on"Cities and Climate Change". In the closingceremony I was given the honour of presenting theGPH within the framework of the World UrbanCampaign, recently founded by UN-HABITAT,before more than 10,000 conference participants.

The World Urban Campaign is an excellent networkand also a platform that allows us Parliamentariansto develop common positions on sustainable urbandevelopment issues under the auspices of UN-HABITAT and to make these widely known. Itallows us to bring our issues forward together withother partners of UN-HABITAT.

We have, therefore, accompanied the World UrbanCampaign from the beginning in a positive manner.I thank our colleagues Mariam Nalubega fromUganda and Jerko Rosin, who have stronglyrepresented our organization at various events ofthe World Urban Campaign in 2010 and 2011.

In September 2010 a change took place in theleadership of the GPH-America. On 30 September2010 Jose Ramon Lopez Martel, in accordance withthe By-Laws of the GPH-America, passed theposition of president to his deputy, Senator RicardoFidel Pacheco Rodriguez, also from Mexico. Icongratulate Senator Ricardo Fidel PachecoRodriguez on his new responsibility, and I am gladthat he has come to represent the GPH America atour 7th Global Forum. He will surely report in moredetail on this tomorrow. I look forward to ourcooperation. Welcome!

In September 2010, Constantin Traian Igas fromRomania, President of the GPH-Europe, receivedthe responsibility of the Romanian Ministry ofInterior and Administration. We congratulateMinister Igas and are pleased that someone who isso intensely involved with habitat issues has beenentrusted with such an important position.

In October 2010 I was allowed to present our workin the framework of the World Habitat Week held byUN-HABITAT at the Expo in Shanghai, China. InOctober 2010 in Beijing the Board of the Directorsof the GPH came together to discuss, amongstother things, initial preparations for this GlobalForum.

In April 2011, the 23rd Governing Council of UN-HABITAT took place in Nairobi, Kenya. I was invitedto represent our organization of parliamentarians ata highly ranked panel on housing. There, it becameapparent once again how important it is fordeveloped and less developed countries to worktogether more closely.

In Nairobi I had a personal meeting with the newly-elected Executive Director of UN-HABITAT JoanClos and I was able to suggest to him the extensionof the GPH-initiated study on changes in legislationafter the adoption of the Habitat Agenda 1996 inIstanbul.

In April 2011, a general meeting of the AfricanCouncil of the Global Parliamentarians on Habitatwas held, also in Nairobi. The African Board ofSeite 6 von 11

Directors was re-formed. I would like tocongratulate Hon. Margaret Zziwa-Nantongo on herre-election as President of the African Council and Ilook forward to continuing our good cooperation.

As I mentioned yesterday, our Romanian colleagueConstantin Traian Igas, President of the EuropeanCouncil, unfortunately saw himself unable to fulfillhis duties as President of the GPH-Europe in theway that he wanted, due to his new responsibilitiesas Minister. Yesterday at the European CouncilMeeting, his former Vice-President, Jerko Rosin,was elected new president. Congratulations JerkoRosin!

Also, the Asian Council of the GPH was reformedyesterday. Senator Rodolfo G. Biazon from thePhilippines, who for many years and with greatdedication has represented the interests of theAsian members of the GPH as President of theGPH Asia, has decided to make his position ofpresident available. Since 2010 Senator GregorioB. Honason II has been leading the Asian Council,with the aim of initiating elections. For this, I wouldlike to thank him very much. Our Asian colleagueselected their new president yesterday. Wecongratulate President Ronald Kiandee verycordially. Senator Honasan will continue supportingthe GPH-Asia as one of its Vice-Presidents.

The Board of Directors is now complete, as allpresidents of the continents are also Vice-Presidents ofthe Board of Directors, the governing body of ourorganization of parliamentarians.

Our African colleagues have decided to revise our By-Laws and to use them as a basis for the draft of a"Charter for Parliamentarians". I would like to thank ourAfrican colleagues for their commitment. The revisedproposals have been received by us only a few daysago. This Charter and our By-Laws are the mostimportant foundations for our work. We should thereforeconsult about this issue closely and with great care inour upcoming Board Meetings and Forums.

The coming year is an important year for anotherreason. The Global Parliamentarians on Habitat werefounded in 1987. Next year, we are celebrating our 25thanniversary. We are grateful for suggestions on howand where to celebrate this proud anniversary.

The founding place of our Organization is in Yokohama,Japan. I am pleased to again be able to welcome aJapanese member of the GPH, Mr Naokazu Takemoto,here today in Zadar.

At this occasion, we should think of the people ofJapan, who face immense challenges after the greatdamage that they have suffered from the disasters. Thiscatastrophe makes us realize once again how importantour work is and also that we must never forget thatnature sets limits which we must heed.

We parliamentarians have a special responsibility inaddressing these complex challenges. We havereceived this mission from the voters in our countries.

For the implementation of this two-day conference, wewill require a Chairman. I propose that the newlyelected European president of the GPH, our Croatianfriend Jerko Rosin, takes over the daily management ofour Forum for today and tomorrow and that he is to beassisted by the Vice Presidents as needed. Do youagree?

Introduction and Report