The Americas Social Forum

International Alliance of Inhabitants has participated to the 1st Foro Social de las Americas (Quito, Ecuador 25-30 July, 2004). IAI has discussed on several topics: participatory democracy, cancellation of the debt (Zero Eviction campaign) in exchange for public town-planning and housing policies with international participation and control.

Today more than one billion people in the world do not have access to adequate housing due to the unequal distribution of resources, to armed conflicts and to the precariousness of land tenancy. Before 2030 this number will have doubled despite the commitment of all the governments of the planet to improve the living conditions of 100 million inadequately housed people before the year 2020. This objective which is part of the UN Millennium Development Goals (see MDG Goal 7, target 11), has been formulated without considering that the challenge is more than improving housing conditions of a part of the inadequately housed, it must also include socio-economic policies to diminish poverty and homelessness, which is now estimated to be 1700 million people in 2020 (source: UN-Habitat).
Facing this situation the International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI) inaugurated the “Zero evictions!” campaign during the World Social Forum in Mumbai (January 2004) inciting new initiatives in Nairobi, the Dominican Republic, Peru, France, and Italy among others.

A democratic space to dialogue and work on urban issues


The first Social Forum of Americas and the First Forum of Local Authorities from America for Social Inclusion were held simultaneously in Quito, Ecuador from 25th to 30th of July. Those meetings were the general framework for the founding of the International Centre for Urban Management, CIGU, an innovative proposal aimed to provide continuity to the strategic objectives promoted in recent years by the Urban Management Programme in Latin America and The Caribbean (UMP-LAC).
Nowadays, cities hold over half of the global population and accumulate the biggest and most complex social, economical and political problems. And yet this is where the changes and solutions required are proposed and developed.
The CIGU has two main objectives: To establish a space for dialogue among urban actors involving local governments, community based organizations, social movements, technical, professional and academic groups inviting them to discuss and jointly formulate democratic, sustainable and inclusive policies and agenda; and, to create an open work space for developing experimental and innovative activities, programs and projects aimed to solve some of the main urban management problems, i.e. lack of governance, environmental degradation, inequity, poverty and exclusion.