Since that time many activities related to habitat and tenants rights are organized and the World Habitat Days and tenants days are celebrated in Togo.
October 1st, 2002: Cities-to cities cooperation
ANCE/Togo’s delegates discussed on national television the theme of this year’s WHD and its relevance to the country while two directors of the Ministry of Local government and Rural Development and Ministry of Environment and Science participated in a radio talk show in Lome. Listeners phoned in from around the country. The most widely circulated national newspaper, the Daily Graphic, carried a feature article and at least 150 people including members of parliament, ministers of State, Directors of Ministries, the private sector, academics, civil society organisations, members of professional bodies attended a news conference. This was carried on the two major television stations in the country.
October 4, 2002: ANCE/Togo has organized various public information activities to coincide with World Tenants Day, including a radio programme, posters and T-shirts, organized by its network members organizations. Those activities included a public meeting in "Fléau Jardin" in Lomé, Togo. Many civil society organizations, ministries officers, medias, etc., attended this meeting.
October 1st, 2003: Water and sanitation for cities
In October 1st, 2003, NGO ANCE/TOGO has involved his affiliated members in the five regions of Togo, in the Celebration of the WHD.
The NGO ANCE/Togo, in collaboration with an inter-ministerial planning committee with representatives from the ministries of Works and Housing, Environment and Science and Local Government and Rural Development is spearheading the celebrations, which include radio and television discussions on water issues in our cities, articles in the newspapers on this year’s theme, a television documentary on water supply, sanitation, drainage or waste management problems, and a clean-up exercise to demonstrate and encourage environmental cleanliness. Agencies dealing with water and sanitation are also taking part including the Water Resources Commission, Tololese Water Company Limited, the Community Water and Sanitation Agency, the Water Sector Restructuring Secretariat and the Environmental Protection Agency.
For NGO ANCE/Togo, it is a right for any tenant to obtain freshwater and sanitation.
The WHD 2003 in Atakpame, Togo
In Atakpame (south of Togo), the representatives of the Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing have commemorated World Habitat/tenants Day in the locality. The event include a wide range of participants including the Atakpame dwellers, non-governmental organisations, community based organisations, the Ministry of Roads, Public Works and Housing; the Ministry of Water; and the Ministry of Land and Settlements. This meeting was organized by NGO ANCE/Togo’s affiliated member in the region, "Nature et Progrès-Atakpamé".
The WHD 2003 in Sokode, Togo
A conference entitled, "Urbanisation and Housing challenges: Cities in the central region" was been hosted by the ANCE/Togo’s local branch in Sokode, Togo in partnership with its affiliated organizations members in Sokode. The participants exchanged ideas and has learned on the best housing practices and policies within cities in the Central Region of Togo and other togolese and African cities. The Togolese Ministry of Housing was represented by the General Director of Housing in central region of Togo. Many traditional chief of the region, attended too this meeting.
The WHD 2003 in Kara, Togo
In Sokode, in the North of Togo, the local branch of the National Consumers and Environmental Association of Togo (ANCE/TOGO), a non-governmental network organisation focusing on empowering sustainable development through education and training in human settlements, has assessed how water as a resource has impacted housing development in informal and formal settlements of Kara (North of Togo). The aim is to involve stakeholders from all walks of life to share experiences and information, including NGOs, community based organisations, government institutions, the media and human settlements activists.
October 1st, 2004: Rural-urban linkages
The WHD 2004 in Kara, Togo
Talking to the assistance at that occasion, the General Director of ANCE/Togo, who attended the meeting in the region, said that, the idea of Cities – engines of rural development as the theme this year was to remind policy-makers at every level not to think of "urban" and "rural" as separate entities, but rather as parts of an economic and social whole.
"In the next 25 years, virtually all population growth will take place in the world’s cities, most of it in the cities of developing countries," said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a message read on his behalf by Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT.
"The fastest growing cities will be secondary and market towns, which are especially close to rural areas. This growth can help to improve rural life and ease the problems associated with mega-cities. But to do so, it will need to be well-managed, with significant investments in communication, transport channels and other infrastructure, and with concerted efforts to ensure that all people have access to adequate services," Mr. Annan’s message said.
The Representant of the local authority, Mr Kissem Essonam, said "We needed to be dramatic in the wording of the theme this year, to remind policy makers around the world that sustainable development can only be achieved if rural and urban areas are considered part of an inter-dependent, mutually reinforcing economic and social order. For him only a proper balance between urban and rural areas would serve to improve living conditions in both areas: "In a developing country like Kenya, rural poverty is a cause of informal settlements and massive migration into urban centres and it has overwhelmed the capacity of the authorities to provide basic services for all."
October 4, The WTD 2004 in Lome, Togo
The World Habitat Day launch provided an opportunity to the NGO ANCE/Togo to invite the Togolese authorities to implement the "Cities without Slums" programme which will enable Togo, to be a slum-free nation by 2010. Representatives of different stakeholders, including a woman, living in a slum of Be-Kpota in Lome, signed the "Lome Declaration" that translates the commitment of all parties to the principles of the that campaign.
Many other activities were organized during the WHD 2004 with communities in Tsevie, in Davie, Blitta and Kpalime (South of Togo).
More documents in the French section of this website.
Guide of private housing in Togo
Habitat and Tenants Rights in Togo
