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SEVENTH SESSION OF GENERAL COUNCIL
4 November 2013
Seoul, Republic of Korea
REPORT OF
THE SIXTH SESSION OF
THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF
THE REGIONAL NETWORK OF
LOCAL AUTHORITIES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS (CITYNET)
9 SEPTEMBER 2009
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
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REPORT OF
THE SIXTH GENERAL COUNCIL OF CITYNET
9 SEPTEMBER, 2009, YOKOHAMA, JAPAN
ATTENDANCE AND ORGANISATION OF THE MEETING
The Sixth Session of the General Council of CITYNET was held on 9 September, 2009, at Pacifico
Yokohama, in Yokohama, Japan, where the City of Yokohama hosted the 2009 CITYNET Congress.
Attendance
Representatives from 54 full members and 29 associate members and 1 other member attended the
Sixth Session of the General Council of CITYNET. The following is a list of attendees:
Full members:
Name of City
Balikpapan
Banda Aceh
Bandung
Bangkok
Busan
Butwal
Biratnagar
Colombo
Dehiwala Mt.Lavinia
Dhaka
Da Nang
Galle
Gorontalo
Hanoi
Hai Phong
Ho Chi Minh
Hue
Iloilo
Incheon
Indore
Islamabad
Jakarta
Kandy
Kathmandu
Khulna
Lalitpur
Landhi
Makati
Marikina
Mumbai
Muntinlupa
Naga
Negombo
Palembang
Penang
Municipality
Local Government of Balikpapan City
Banda Aceh Municipality
Municipal Government of Bandung
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
Busan Metropolitan City
Butwal Municipality Office
Biratnagar Sub-Metropolitan Corporation
Colombo Municipal Council
Dehiwala - Mt.Lavinia Municipal Council
Dhaka City Corporation
Da Nang People's Committee
Galle Municipal Council
Gorontalo City
Hanoi People's Committee
Hai Phong City
People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh
Hue City People’s Committee
Iloilo City Government
Incheon Metropolitan City
Indore Municipal Corporation
Capital Development Authority
Jakarta Capital City Government
Municipal Council of Kandy
Kathmandu Metropolitan City
Khulna City Corporation
Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan Office
Town Municipal Administration Landhi
Makati Municipality
Marikina City
Municipal Corporation of Great Mumbai
City of Muntinlupa
Naga City
Negombo Municipal Council
Municipal Government of Palembang
Municipal Council of Penang Island
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Phnom Penh
Pokhara
Rajshahi
San Fernando
Seoul
Siddharthanagar
Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte
Suginami
Sukabumi
Surabaya
Suwon
Suva
Sylhet
Taipei
Tansen
Tomohon
Yangon
Yokohama
Yongin
Municipality of Phnom Penh
Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City
Rajshahi City Corporation
City of San Fernando
Seoul Metropolitan Government
Siddharthanagar Municipality
Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte Municipal Council
Suginami City
Sukabumi Municipality
Surabaya City Government
The City of Suwon
Suva City Council
Sylhet City Corporation
City of Taipei
Tansen Municipality
City of Tomohon
Yangon City Development Committee
City of Yokohama
Yongin City
Associate Members:
Category
City
DA
DA
NLO
NLO
NLO
NLO
NLO
NLO
NLO
NLO
NLO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NLO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
NGO
Name of Organisation
Urban Community of Greater Lyon
Chittagong Development Authority (CDA)
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK)
All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG)
Association of Cities of Vietnam
The Association of Indonesia Municipalities (AIM)
Association of Municipalities and Development Authorities (AMDA)
Mongolian Association of Urban Centres (MAUC)
Municipality Association of Nepal (MuAN)
National Municipal League of Thailand (NMLT)
Philippine Councilors League (PCL)
Tirtanadi Water Supply and Drainage
Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)
Ahmedabad Study Action Group (ASAG)
Center for Advanced Philippine Studies, Inc. (CAPS)
The Centre for Urban Studies (CUS)
Freedom to Build. Inc. (FtoB)
Human & Environment Links Progressive Organization (HELP-O)
Management Resources for Good Governance (MaRGG)
Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN)
Mythuri Sarva Seva Samithi (MSSS)
Sri Lanka Institute of Local Governance (SLILG)
Society for Development Studies (SDS)
Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC)
Pakistan Institute for Environment Development Action Research (PIEDAR)
Thailand Environment Institute (TEI)
World Toilet Organization (WTO)
Yokohama Association for International Communications and Exchanges
(YOKE)
Other Members:
Corp.
Veolia Environnement (VE)
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UNESCAP and UN-HABITAT representatives attended the meeting as advisors.
ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS
1. Opening of the Session
Secretary-General of CITYNET, Mr. Dato’ Lakhbir Singh Chahl, welcomed the members, and invited
Ms. Fumiko Hayashi, President of CITYNET and Mayor of Yokohama, to declare the Congress open
and to chair the session. Ms. Hayashi assumed the Chair and formally declared the Sixth Session of
the General Council open in accordance with the Charter of CITYNET.
Mayor Hayashi welcomed CITYNET members on behalf of the City of Yokohama and indicated that it
is a memorable year as it is also the 150th anniversary of the opening of the port of Yokohama. She
reflected back on the 2005 Hanoi Congress where many action plans made at the time have been
realized. She also added that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed with
Eurocities, a major network of European cities. She pointed out the opening of the CITYNET Satellite
Office in Mumbai in 2008 as another achievement.
Mayor Hayashi reflected back on the recent cyclone damage in member cities and mentioned
donations as well as dispatching experts in the affected areas. She then asked for the reports on
National Chapters for the latter part of the session and mentioned that Yokohama would report on
CITYNET activities and the financial situation for the past four years. The mayor asked each
committee member to report on their progress and said that Yokohama would present their report on
the action plans for the next four years. Mayor Hayashi confirmed the date and venue of the next
General Council and expressed hope for fruitful and active discussions as well as a consolidated
effort through which CITYNET activities will contribute to the prosperity of cities in the Asia-Pacific
region and world peace.
Mayor Hayashi reiterated the provision of Article 5, Chapter 5 CITYNET Charter, requiring one third of
full members to be present for the General Council to reach quorum. Since 54 full members were
present, the Council met quorum. She then asked Dr. Raul from Mumbai to be the Vice-Chair of the
General Council and lead the floor.
2. Procedural Matters
Mayor Hayashi asked for the approval of the tentative agenda of the Sixth Session of the General
Council which was unanimously adopted by the General Council.
3. Submission of the Reports
3.1 Review of the Network’s Institutional and Programme Activities 2006-2009
Secretary General Lakhbir Singh Chahl read the conclusion of the Review of Institutional and
Programme Activities 2006 – 2009. CITYNET has had very successful years in terms of activities and
he commended the activities carried out by Kuala Lumpur Regional Training Center (KLRTC). The
Secretary General said CITYNET has decentralised with a more financially stable system. Although
membership has been increasing, CITYNET has only been able to collect 65 percent of the
membership dues and urged members to pay their dues in order to sustain the activities. Some
memberships have had to be suspended or terminated due to lack of proper communication.
Secretary General Chahl mentioned the publications the Secretariat has been creating for the past
four years. He highlighted some of the major activities that CITYNET had undertaken through city to
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city cooperation during the past four years which included Yokohama Waterworks Training, and the
Post-AWAREE Project.
The Secretary General indicated that activities were carried out under the leadership of Kathmandu
for the MDGs cluster. As for the e-Governance cluster, due to the lack of participation by Shanghai
the activities have seen no progress. Activities proposed in the Medium Term Plan 2006-2009 had
been successfully implemented.
3.2 Report on some major activities from representatives of following members
National Chapter Report – Tomohon
Mayor Jefferson S.M. Rumajar of Tomohon presented the National Chapters’ Report for all four
chapters (Dhaka, Kathmandu, Sukabumi and Colombo)
Satellite Office – Mumbai
On behalf of the Satellite Office (Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, MCGM), Secretary
General Chahl reported on the office. MCGM has offered the space and administrative support for the
CITYNET Satellite Office. The establishment of the CITYNET Satellite Office was accepted and
approved at the 19th Session of the Executive Committee in Lyon. The office manager of the Satellite
Office received training at the CITYNET Secretariat. The Satellite Office is located in the heritage
building in Mumbai and acts as an in between and organizer for activities in India as a part of the
decentralization of CITYNET.
Trust Fund – Makati
Ms. Violeta Seva, advisor to the Mayor of Makati reported on the Fund. The idea was brought up by
Makati in 1998 to generate revenue and was approved at the 19th Session of Executive Committee.
The Mayor of Makati expressed his willingness to set up the fund but encountered legal difficulties for
auditing. USD 20,000 was approved at the Executive Committee meeting. UNESCAP suggested
organizing a management team composed of the Foundation and the Secretariat.
Management Resources for Good Governance (MaRGG) indicated that they would oversee the the
Trust Fund, but asked for clarification on how its business plan differed from the Secretariat’s plan.
Makati responded that the objective was to raise money to use for CITYNET activities. The money
would go directly to support the programmes identified by members of CITYNET. The SecretaryGeneral said that the main revenue for CITYNET was from its membership fees and that the Trust
Fund is entrepreneurial. The Fund has a liberal objective, can undertake all kinds of activities,
flexibility, and can be invested in trustee type of investments.
This agenda item was approved.
4. Matters for Approval
4.1 Review of the Network’s Finances 2006-2009
Members were interested in knowing how the Secretariat managed the finances so well, however
raised a concern that the poverty cluster members closed even when the expenditure was rising.
The Secretary General assured that poverty activities have not been abolished, but instead had
reclassified under Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Poverty activities had not been scaled
down. He stated that he would take note of it.
Kirtee Shah (Ahmedabad Study Action Group, ASAG) stated that we needed to do more. CITYNET is
twenty years old and there is a great need to upgrade the organization, activate and find more
resources, examine the possibility of raising more resources and be eligible for funding from.
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Mr. Kalanidhi Devkota from Municipality Association of Nepal (MuAN) asked the amount allocated for
National Chapters (to develop the projects). The Secretary General responded that USD 5,000 has
been allocated for this year and that the National Chapters could make bids.
Mr. Shah commented that USD 5,000 is not enough and that the amount doesn’t indicate a
commitment from CITYNET.
The Secretary General responded that the contribution was not towards the activities. Some National
Chapters have received from donor agencies and there is a shortcoming on the National Chapter’s
part. Using reserve funds is being considered and will be used for operational activities including
National Chapters’.
Rajendra Prakash from Suva, Fiji pointed out that effort must be made to collect dues. CITYNET
should make sure that all the important seats be filled when starting an important meeting like this.
Vinay Lall (Society for Development Studies, SDS) endorsed the Secretary General’s explanation of
the process of funding the National Chapters. Mr. Lall noted that the National Chapters are a very
important component to disseminate information. Performance has not been strong enough. The
outcome of the capacity building exercises is not clear in the report and they should focus on how the
National Chapter is going to pursue important programme development activities. National Chapters
should not look towards CITYNET for funding. The Secretary General indicated that the National
Chapters have similar problems which include not having permanent staff and communication
problems. They should be more efficient.
Lilia Casanova asked whether an associate member can submit a project proposal and whether there
was a guideline. The Secretary General said that CITYNET can undertake a project to ensure
transparency and accountability. CITYNET cannot give outright contributions. Ms. Casanova asked
whether CITYNET had project guidelines or a level of funding. Reserve funds can be used, but no
specific budget has been fixed. It would be a general provision.
Taipei mentioned that it is important for CITYNET to develop protocol to consider priorities and they
would support the ideas presented by the Center for Advanced Philippine Studies, Inc. (CAPS). Mr.
Hosaka from Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) said that the situation is risky. CITYNET is a
network for exchanging information and not a funding agency.
The finances were approved.
4.2 Auditor’s Statement on the audit of the Network’s Account of the fiscal Years 2005-2008
Suwon has been the Auditor since 2005. Suwon indicated that CITYNET is performing relatively well,
but has difficulties. CITYNET demonstrated a high level of ability, but a number of problems are
widening and there is an imbalanced administration and programmes. There is a rise in unpaid
membership dues. Suwon made recommendations and CITYNET was receptive. Suwon indicated
their willingness to perform better for financial and other programme activities.
The Auditor’s Statement was approved.
5. Medium Term Plan 2010-2013
The Secretary General mentioned that the 25th Executive Committee has endorsed the plan. Bernadia
Irawati Tjandradewi was asked to present the MTP.
Ms. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi explained that 80 percent of CITYNET members are from cities with
less than five million people and most are from the least developed countries. CITYNET has six
municipal associations. For the period between 2006-2009, CITYNET memberships increased and
the programme budget went up by 45 percent. CITYNET has four National Chapters and one Satellite
Office. The Secretariat has enhanced its capacity building programmes through the Kuala Lumpur
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Regional Training Center and has followed-up on action plans presented during the trainings. Other
training includes the Yokohama Water Works Bureau Training held every year in coordination with
CITYNET. The Post-AWAREE project was highly successful. MDGs programmes focused on Goal 1
and Goal 7 of the MDGs were off-track in most Asia-Pacific countries.
For 2010-2013 Ms. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi mentioned that CITYNET needs to upgrade its
capacity building programmes. The plan was drafted based on a survey of CITYNET members. The
focus areas are environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation, management of infrastructure and
services, and urban governance. There are no separate gender related programmes, but they have
been integrated into other activities. Members have asked for climate change and mitigation efforts.
CITYNET likes to strengthen the cluster committees. To maximize resources, clusters have been
reduced to four and the Environmental Cluster had been renamed to Climate Change Cluster.
CITYNET is looking to build a strong and solid Secretariat in Yokohama, to enrich programme
sections, enhance decentralization efforts, support networks, and motivate staff. To make CITYNET
self-reliant, a proposal for a fundraising team has been brought up. The need to establish an urban
poor fund was raised by the representative from the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR).
CITYNET needs to reform and think big.
Mr. Hosaka confirmed ACHR commitment to CITYNET and will cover 300 cities within four years.
They are creating a community development fund.
Centre for Urban Studies (CUS) from Dhaka expressed concern that they have difficulty increasing
members. Clusters are not mutually exclusive and are overlapping. Most cities face human resources
and capacity building problems. Focus should be giving towards developing human resources and
improving governance. CUS indicated that details would help members to understand what CITYNET
is proposing.
In response to this, the Secretary General mentioned that a synopsis has been received from Mr.
Shah. The plan will be reviewed and structural and institutional reforms will be made.
CUS said it is encouraging to know that the Secretariat is moving towards reforms and are taking into
account suggestions made by the members. He noted that it is important to be self-critical if reforms
are to take place and that those criticisms should be shared among the members which will help them
get involved in making of the improvement plans. This will create a sense of ownership of the
organisation.
Some members said that CITYNET needs to create a dialogue and suggested sharing the information
with the full membership so that they could participate in finalizing the document. Mr. Shah
recommended giving copies to all members. He also added that the CityVoice magazine needs to
have much more weight, presence, upgrading in looks, contents and stressed the need to make noise
in terms of advocacy.
Gautam Kirtanee mentioned that information communication technology (ICT) could have been used
on various preparatory matters. He said that USD 40,000 is needed to host the Congress and the ICT
factor could have played some role in alleviating the expense. He also mentioned that a lot of the
costs were for travel instead of for the programmes themselves. Center for Advanced Philippine
Studies, Inc. (CAPS) also asked for clarification on what a “self-reliant institution” meant. To this, the
Secretary General answered that it meant to be autonomous. He indicated that ICT is used as a tool
and that there was a setback due to political issues with Shanghai.
The Medium Term Plan was approved.
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6. Date and Venue of the Seventh General Council in 2013
The Chairperson stated that during the Changwon Executive Meeting, Seoul invited the 7 th General
Council to be held in Seoul and this was approved by the committee. Seoul also recommended the
move of the Secretariat to Seoul and the Chairperson asked for inputs and suggestions on this. There
was no opinion for or against the move of the Secretariat. Therefore the Secretariat’s move to Seoul
in 2013 was approved.
7. Relocation of Seat of Office after the next CITYNET Congress 2013
In section 6 above, the Chairperson noted that the relocation to Seoul in 2013 was confirmed.
BREAK
8. Election of the President
The Chairperson asked the Election Committee to take over the session.
Representatives of Muntinlupa and Phnom Penh conducted the election. Chairman John Pabliano
from Muntinlupa introduced the Governor and Vice-Governor of Phnom Penh, and observers from
UNESCAP and UNHABITAT.
Independent members were asked to volunteer as observers.
The Chairperson of the Election Committee announced that Seoul had decided to withdraw their
nomination therefore there was only one nomination which was Yokohama. He then announced that
Yokohama was the unopposed nominee and would be the President from 2010 until 2013.
9. Election of two Vice-Presidents
The Chairperson of the Election Committee indicated that two nominations had been received; one
from the City Government of Makati and the other from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
There was a third application from Bangkok Metropolitan Authority, but since it was submitted after
the deadline the application will not be considered. Bangkok had shown interest in becoming a
member of the Executive Committee.
After some negotiations, it was agreed that the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai would be
the first Vice-President and Makati would be the second Vice-President.
10. Election of Executive Committee Members
The following submitted the Executive Committee Members applications on time, and therefore were
automatically elected for the seats:
 Colombo
 Dhaka
 Kathmandu
 Surabaya
The remaining (below) were nominated through the voting process:
 Jakarta – 11
 Bangkok – 42; Approved
 Seoul – 59; Approved
 Suwon – 13
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The following associate members submitted their applications on time, and therefore were
automatically elected for the seats:
 All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG)
 Society for Development Studies (SDS)
The remaining (below) were nominated through the voting process:
 Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR)– 23
 Lyon – 50; Approved
 The Association of Indonesia Municipalities (AIM)– 7
In total 75 votes were cast out of which five were invalid.
Kathmandu voiced their concern for considering late applications. They protested that those who
applied in time should automatically be given the seats. It was reiterated that in the Executive
Committee meeting a decision was made to allow all on-time applications as automatically elected.
The election process was strongly criticized for lack of understanding and mismanagement of the
process. Many members supported Kathmandu’s suggestion of not requiring an election for on-time
applications since they should be automatically eligible and elected.
Iloilo said the issue should be resolved before going into voting. Taipei said the problem is due to a
lack of nominees and that the floor should be opened to all equally. Mr. Kirtee Shah mentioned that
something did not work well in the process and people need to look at the spirit instead of going into
technicality. Six members applied on time so the committee should condone the three late applicants
and accept all nine nominations. Suva raised their voice and indicated that six who applied on time
should be considered automatically and the remaining three should be included since we need nine.
Pakistan Institute for Environment Development Action Research (PIEDAR) said that the committee
should give two options to the floor.
SDS said the members needed to respect the constitution of CITYNET.
After lengthy discussions, the Chair then decided to propose two options:
 Vote at large for all nominees (option 1)
 For the six to be deemed elected and only vote for the remaining seats (option 2)
Call for the options had the following results:
Option 1 = 34
Option 2 = 39
Surabaya then indicated that they would like to give their seat to Jakarta. The Centre for Urban
Studies indicated that the members should be given the option to withdraw.
11. Election of Secretary-General
Before the election for the Secretary-General started, some members wanted to know why Mr.
Lakhbir Singh Chahl was not running. The Secretary General said that he had done this for 20 years
and he felt that the network is fully established. It was time for a new leadership. Someone younger
and someone with new insight can take the place. There was a need for someone who could spend
more time with the organization.
The candidate Mary Jane C. Ortega explained her background upon request. She explained that the
experiences from her past including being a Mayor of San Fernando and her experience at the World
Bank made her qualified. She noted that CITYNET asked her to represent and promised good
governance and transparency.
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The Secretary-General was chosen by a show of hands. For Mary Jane C. Ortega 65 members
supported her nomination and her position was approved.
12. Election of Auditor
Suva nominated Suwon, however Suwon declined to be Auditor. Jakarta nominated Taipei and was
seconded by Suva. Banda Aceh nominated Naga and 54 seconded the motion, so it was approved.
13. Election of the Members of the Election Committee for the Election to be
conducted by the General Council in 2013
One application from the Municipal Association of Nepal (MuAN) had been received. A call for further
nominations was announced.
 Bangkok nominated Penang, seconded by Banda Aceh - 48
 Makati nominated Jakarta, seconded by Kathmandu - 46
 Iloilo nominated Muntinlupa, seconded by Marikina – 21
 Society for Development Studies nominated Association of Municipalities and
Development Authorities - 30
 Thailand Environment Institute nominated World Toilet Organization, seconded by
Society for Promotion of Area Resource Centers - 23
The Mayor of Yokohama then announced that Seoul will host the next Congress. A DVD promoting
Seoul was played followed by a brief remark from the Mayor of Seoul. He indicated that they had
many meaningful meetings and as a mayor he would do his best.
The Mayor of Yokohama also added that Seoul had contributed to CITYNET greatly and wished
further success to Seoul.
Dato’ Lakhbir Singh Chahl then made a closing remark thanking and congratulating the Mayor of
Yokohama, the city of Mumbai, Makati and expressed his good wished to the Mayor of Makati. He
congratulated the Secretary General and Auditor.
He said CITYNET reports are healthy and have made strides. He expressed his gratitude towards
Yokohama for their hospitality.
The Mayor of Yokohama expressed her appreciation to Dato’ Lakhbir Singh Chahl.
Kirtee Shah suggested the provision on article 5 that allowed Dato’ Lakhbir Singh Chahl to receive an
Honorary membership of CITYNET and requested for an advisory status to the network.
Upon confering with Dato’ Lakhbir Singh Chahl, the Mayor of Yokohama then announced that he had
agreed to assume the post and closed off the 6th General Council session.
*****