Conference objectives
We at UNDP are very proud to be able to invite delegates to the 7th biennial adjective conference of the World Alliance of Cities against Poverty (WACAP). The issues being addressed at the conference under the banner, "Confronting the Crisis Collectively" are at the centre of UNDP's agenda of pursuing poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, within the context of climate change, energy, food and water crises. In this context, WACAP, as a worldwide network of cities set up by UNDP to help municipalities face up to the challenge of poverty, is a critical and important forum that can contribute immensely to the solutions needed to bring humanity together into a new era of equitable and sustained development where people everywhere have the resources and can make the choices they need to lead productive and healthy lives.
The challenges before us are formidable. Although primary school enrolment has reached 90%, and is in striking distance of the 2015 goal of 100%, more than 25,000 children under the age of five die every 24 hours from easily avoidable causes such as hunger, malnutrition, malaria and water-borne diseases. Although the number of people living in extreme poverty has fallen - from 1.8 to 1.4 billion, a quarter of the children on the planet are malnourished - thereby jeopardizing the development of a country's single greatest natural resource - the brain. Despite these horrible statistics, our generation is the first in the history of humankind to possess the means and capacity to reverse the situation. If we make it our priority, poverty can be overcome in our lifetime. And it is through alliances like WACAP, and important meetings like this one in Rotterdam, that we can finally turn the situation around. I look forward to welcoming you to the 7th WACAP Forum in Rotterdam.
Cécile Molinier
Director UNDP Office in Geneva