in alliance with

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The Ibero - American and Caribbean Forum on Best Practices

The Ibero-American and Caribbean Forum on Best Practices was established in 1997 by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), with the sponsorship of the Government of Spain. The Forum is, at present, a network of 4 sub-regional institutions (Nodes) dedicated to the identification and exchange of lessons learned from Best Practices.

Since the Forum’s formation, the Government of Spain has directed funds to the BLP Core programme to assure that the sub regional Nodes could act as full partners representing the LAC region in accordance with the Terms of Reference of the Steering Committee that require that it be regionally representative. The activities of the individual Nodes are oriented by the Secretariat of the Forum and include such activities the identification, documentation and translation of Best Practices for the Dubai Award and the BLP Database, the holding of conferences and workshops, the analysis and publication of transfer tools, the streamlining of existing similar award processes and the establishing of new ones and the overall promotion of the use of Best Practices in the region.

Principal Objective

To contribute to the implementation of the Habitat Agenda by mobilizing and strengthening the participation of civil society in policy-making for sustainable human settlement development.

Forum Structure

The Forum is comprised of a network of institutions focused on the Latin American and Caribbean region. Currently, there are five Nodes managing activities in the following sub-regions: the Mexico , Central America and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean Region, the non-Spanish-speaking Caribbean Region (presently in construction), the Andino Group Region, the Southern Cone Region, and the Brazilian Region. The Forum is administrated by a secretariat, made up of UN-HABITAT's Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean , the Spanish Ministry of Housing, and the Colombian HABITAT Foundation. The Forum receives funding from the Spanish government.

The Institutional Network

Forum members work together, through joint projects, continuous information sharing, regular communication and annual meetings, in order to accomplish the objectives laid down in this strategy. However, Forum members work independently to promote and facilitate the use of Best Practices in their respective geographic and thematic areas through the sponsorship of activities that support Forum objectives, and through the identification of parallel funding.