Generic Terms of Reference for the Preparation of Sub-regional Seminars -Workshops in Latin America and the Caribbean

Ibero-American and Caribbean Forum on Best Practices.
Human Settlements for a More Sustainable Future

United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)

Duration

Background

During a meeting held in Madrid in May 1996, the Ministry of Development offered the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) the following:

• The services of the University of Madrid to work on the Spanish-language version of the data-base;
  

• To translate the Best Practices World Report, the first newsletter published by the BLP for the Istanbul Conference;
  

• To spearhead an open Forum in Latin America and the Caribbean in support of sustainable human and settlement development in the region.

Rationale

Sub-regional meeting were tentatively scheduled as follows:

July'97	Jamaica	Non-Spanish speaking Caribbean countries
August'97	Colombia	The Andino Group
September'97	Mexico	Mexico and Central America & Spanish speaking Caribbean countries
October'97	Brazil	Brazil
October'97	Argentina	Cono Sur

Guiding Principle

Objectives

•     identify already active regional/sub-regional institutions participating in best practices issues;
  
•     identify sub-regional priorities in sustainable human settlements development;
  
•     identify relevant ongoing experiences;
  
•     develop national, regional and/or sub-regional work plans consisting of:
  
  • documenting best practices using an unified Reporting Format;
    
  • engaging in in-depth analyses of ongoing best practices;
    
  • promoting transfers of lessons learned and methods extracted from documented best practices;
    
  • joint fund-raising and media strategies.

Outputs

1. Report of the Seminar and executive summary;
   

2. Elaboration of national or sub-regional work programmes or action plans for:
   
   1. Production of case-books;
      
   2. Elaboration of tools, methods and guidelines for the transfer of best practices;
      
   3. Strengthening the roles and responsibilities for participating organisations/institutions to apply and disseminate the above;
      
   4. Fundraising strategy;
      
   5. Media strategy, dissemination and awareness-building.

Activities

Identification of clients and their needs

1. Identification of participants to the seminar / workshop. Organisations should be invited to the seminar / workshop based on clear/proven capacity in one or more of the following areas:
   
   1. existing activities related to best practices;
      
   2. strong networking capacity;
      
   3. training / capacity-building;
      
   4. research / analysis;
      
   5. associations of key actors;
      
   6. leading NGOs in the field related to the seminar/workshop.
      

2. Preparing profiles of each participant to identify:
   
   1. areas of expertise;
      
   2. networking capacity;
      
   3. activities related to best practices.
      

3. Selecting one or two priorities which could form the basis for a case-book.
   

4. Identifying potential best practices to be discussed/presented at the meeting.
   

5. Identifying existing transfer activities and/or best practice
   potential demanders for expertise and experience.

Applying for co-financing

Submitting final report