Brazil World Forum:

Special focus on Lankan urban services

The Lanka Financial Services for Underserved Settlements (LFSUS) a pioneering fund supported by the UN-HABITAT to provide guarantees to slum dwellers for savings based loans for self-improvement has been established in Sri Lanka, Urban Development and Sacred Area Development Ministry Secretary Dr. R. Ramanujan said.

“Our people contribute to enrich the practices of Arunodaya, accepting the values of saving to improve their lives and living conditions underlying the virtues of practices of thrift as had been prevalent throughout our centuries of tradition.

We are committed to on behalf of the poor in Sri Lanka and the poor of the world to pursue steps to overcome this impediment to resolving the problems of the urban poor,” he said.

He was speaking at the fifth session of the World Urban Forum organized by the United Nations Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT) at City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil under the theme ‘The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide’ last month. More than 21,000 foreign delegates from 160 member countries including Sri Lanka participated.

Special attention was focused on community participation and community action plan for the Sri Lanka.

Colombo Municipal Council Chief City Administrator Omar Kamil made a special presentation on sewerage improvement of Gothamipura housing scheme implemented with the participation of the community.

It was appreciated by the foreign delegation who participated in this conference.

Brazil President Lula da Silva addressing the inaugural session said: “We understand the urban space as a collective arena which belongs to all its inhabitants, which is culturally rich and diverse, and whose social functions are directed at securing the universal distribution of wealth, service and opportunities.

It is in this spirit of social transformation, of the construction of a new urban reality, through the exchange of ideas that aim to make cities more democratic, sustainable and, ultimately, human, that Brazil is pleased to host the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum in Rio de Janeiro.”

The World Urban Forum Five endorsed that this right expands the traditional focus on improving the quality of life previously centered in the areas of shelter and the neighbourhood to embrace the quality of life of the entire city and its surrounding areas.

After the sessions, the Sri Lankan delegation visited Tisuka under served settlement in Rio de Janeiro with the other foreign participants.