Regional and local networks

In order to reach as many stakeholders as possible, the Poverty Reduction Section carries out much of its work through regional and local networks such as CityNet (Regional Network of Local Authorities for the Management of Human Settlements) and LOGOTRI (Regional Network of Local Government Training and Research Institutes in Asia and the Pacific) and OFGF.Net (Asia-Pacific Organic Food and Green Food Information Network.

CityNet

UNESCAP established CityNet in 1987 to disseminate good practices to and build the capacity of local governments. CityNet is today a wide network of 130 Asian urban partnership organizations, including more than 70 cities in 20 countries, promoting local urban improvement initiatives in the region. CityNet's vision is to act as a focal point and facilitator in the Asian-Pacific region. It puts this vision into practice by promoting the exchange of expertise and experiences among various stakeholders, particularly local authorities and NGOs, and expanding bilateral relationships into a multilateral network. (Link to Citynet)

LOGOTRI

In 1999, UNESCAP established LOGOTRI to train trainers in good practices. LOGOTRI’s members are both governmental, autonomous and private sector institutions and organizations involved primarily in local government training and research. LOGOTRI's mission is to build the capacities of local government training and research institutes so that these institutes can provide sound technical and managerial training and undertake research. The network’s main objectives are to (i) to establish technical co-operation among local government training and research institutes in Asia and the Pacific; and (ii) to strengthen the institutional and technical capacities of local government training research institutes in Asia and the Pacific. (Link to LOGOTRI)

The OFGF.NET

The OFGF.NET was established in Kunming (China) in November 2000 during the Asia-Pacific Symposium to Establish a Network on Green Food and Sustainable Agriculture, jointly organized by the China Green Food Association (CGFA) and UNESCAP. The seven founding members countries of this non-profit international association accepted the offer made by the CGFA to host the Secretariat of the Network. The mission of the network is to strengthen the capacities of governmental, non-governmental and research institutes in Asia and the Pacific to promote and practice organic farming and green food, and sustainable agriculture. The envisaged activities include programmes of technical advisory services, training, study tours, research studies, documentation and information and staff exchange.

The Regional Consultative Meeting or Good Urban Governance

The Poverty Reduction Section of UNESCAP is the chair of the Regional Consultative Meeting on Good Urban Governance, which convenes annually to share experiences and identify common areas of work. This meeting has been operating since 1998.

The Regional Consultative Meeting is open to any organization working on urban governance issues in Asia and the Pacific. The purpose of the meeting is to update the partner agencies on current and future regional activities and to find mechanisms for complementing or reinforcing each other’s work for the promotion of good urban governance and eradication of urban poverty. (See more)

Cascading networks

At the regional level, the section also acts as a catalyst for the establishment of a series of resource facilities that cover a variety of sectors and produce documentation on interesting practices, as well as training material, documentation guidelines and lists of persons and institutes with related expertise. Regional, subregional or national networks of capacity-development institutions are the prime users of this information. This not only facilitates the identification and documentation of good and innovative practices but also their transfer in specific national and subnational contexts.

Collaboration is undertaken with several partners in the design of and format for the documentation of such practices and the development of the Internet platform where practitioners can discuss and review them. This gives credibility to the practices, models and techniques included in the databases. National institutes in turn make the documentation available in a form and language that suit the users of the country concerned. In this way, “cascading networks” of capacity-building institutes are created, that can identify and document good practices and feed resource facilities with information.

UNESCAP does not intend to remain the regional resource facility for all types and sectors of practices. Once it has developed a substantial database of practices in a particular area, the facilities will be transferred to a regional institution that can operate it on a sustainable basis.

Relevant links:

Report of the Asia-Pacific Symposium to Establish a Network on Green Food and Sustainable Agriculture (Nov. 2000)