(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A project for empowering women in harsh climatic and socio-cultural environment from Kenya, two others which revolutionised toilet and sanitation facilities in China and Cambodia, and initiatives that protect marine environment in Lebanon and champion children's rights in Spain were among the best international practices that were honoured in Dubai on Wednesday.
Shaikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and Chairman of Dubai Municipality gave away the ninth cycle of the 'Dubai International Award for Best practices to Improve the Living Environment' to 12 recipients including the Dubai Metro's Red Line.
Shaikh Hamdan distributed the awards for 12 winning projects out of the 46 shortlisted contestants representing various regions of the world.
They include Burkina Faso-Affordable Housing project by Association La Voute Nubiene; Women Empowerment in harsh climatic and social-cultural environment from Kenya; Operation Big Blue Association from Lebanon; RevoLooTionizing Rural Market for Sanitation from Cambodia; Linfen City Public Toilet from China; The City of Children from Spain; Sports Inspires Me initiative from Portugal; Water Conservator â€" Extrema from Brazil; Programme of Organic Vegetable Gardens at Schools from Uruguay; Un Techo para mi Pais from Chile to raise awareness about slum conditions and Chapelview Apartments Bramton, a multi-residential affordable and sustainable housing project from Canada.
Director-General of Dubai Municipality, Hussain Nasser Lootah, in his inaugural speech, said: "It is a matter of great pride for me to announce, on the occasion of the ninth edition, that Dubai International Award for best practices has been successful in attracting more than 4,900 practices and projects ever since its inception in 1995, and notably these practices represent 155 countries across the world and are available for everyone who is interested to benefit from."
Chief of Best Practices Programme at Unhabitat Wandia Seaforth was also honoured for her individual contribution.
"Any city, no matter how advanced it is, can adopt some of these best practices, either fully or some part of these solutions, to address their varied issues. They are well-documented on www.bestpractices.org," she told Khaleej Times. Adnan Al Hammadi, CEO of Rail Agency in RTA, said the award was one of the greatest received by Dubai Metro.
"We are increasingly seeing a number of disabled people using the Metro. Twenty five per cent of passengers are families including women and children and there are a lot of students who use this convenient and sustainable mode of mass transport. These are signs of achieving our objectives."
The Dubai International Award for Best Practices was established during the United Nations International Conference organised by Dubai Municipality in cooperation with the United Nations (UN-Habitat) in 1995 to recognise the best practices with positive impact on improving the living environment.
There were nearly 395 nominations from about 65 countries in the ninth cycle, the Award Jury of which was headed by Amb Agnes Kadama Kalibbala, Director of Housing in the Ministry of Lands, Uganda.
By Sajeela Sseendran
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