Dubai International Award for Best Practices

Deadline: 31 March 2012
Open to: Cities, local authorities or their associations; NGOs; Community-based organizations (CBOs),etc.
Prize: The total amount of the Award is US$ 360,000

Description

The DIABP was established under the directives of late Sheikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, during the United Nations International Conference that convened in Dubai between 19 – 22 November, 1995 with 914 participants from 95 countries, to recognize the best practices with positive impact on improving the living environment. H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the U.A.E. and the Ruler of Dubai and H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and Industry and Chairman of Dubai Municipality has continued to support this Award.

The Award reflects the policy and commitment of Dubai Government and the United Arab Emirates towards sustainable development of the human settlements and protection of the environment on the basis of mutual international cooperation.

Best Practices are outstanding contributions to improving the living environment. They are defined by the United Nations and the international community at large as successful initiatives which:

  • Have a demonstrable and tangible impact on improving people’s quality of life;
  • Are the result of effective partnerships between the public, private and civic sectors of society;
  • Are socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sustainable.

Best Practices are promoted and used by the United Nations and the international community as a means of:

  • Improving public policy based on what works;
  • Raising awareness of decision-makers at all levels and of the public of potential solutions to common social, economic and environmental problems;
  • Sharing and transferring knowledge, expertise and experience through networking and peer-to-peer learning.

The Dubai International Award consists of 11 Awards, 6 for Best Practices, 2 for Best Practice Transfers, 2 for the private sector and 1 for individuals who contribute positively to improving the living environment.
Dubai Municipality will present the Ninth Dubai International Award to a new group of 11 Best Practices Laureates in October 2012.

About the Contest

The major criteria for a Best Practice to be considered for the Award include:
1.1 Impact: A Best Practice should demonstrate a positive and tangible impact on improving the living environment of people particularly the poor and disadvantaged.
a. Sustainable Shelter and Community Development: (i). Extension of safe water supply and sanitation; (ii.) Affordable housing, services and community facilities; (iii.) Access to land, secure tenure and finance; (iv.) Community-based planning and participation in decision making and resource allocation; (v.) Inner-city core, neighbourhood and settlement revival and rehabilitation; (vi.) Safe and healthy building materials and technologies.
b. Sustainable Urban and Regional Development: (i.) Job creation and eradication of poverty; (ii.) Reduction of pollution and improvement of environmental health; (iii.) Improved access to public transport and communication; (iv.) Improved waste collection, recycling and reuse; (v.) Greening of the city and effective use of public space; (vi.) Improved production and consumption cycles, including replacement/reduction of non-renewable resources; (vii.) Protection and conservation of natural resources and of the environment; (viii.)More efficient energy use and production; (ix.) Preservation of historically/culturally important sites; (x.) Formulation and implementation of integrated and comprehensive urban development strategies.
c. Sustainable, Efficient, Accountable and Transparent Settlements Management: (i.) More effective and efficient administrative, management and information systems; (ii.) Gender equality and equity in decision-making, resource-allocation and programme design and implementation; (iii.) Crime reduction and prevention; (iv.) Improved disaster preparedness, mitigation and reconstruction; (v.) Social integration and reduction of exclusion; (vi.) Leadership in inspiring action and change, including change in public policy; (vii.) Promotion of accountability and transparency; (viii.) Promotion of social equality and equity; (ix.) Improvement of inter-agency co-ordination.
1.2 Partnership: Best Practices should be based on a partnership between at least two of the actors mentioned in item 4.
1.3 Sustainability: Best practices should result in lasting changes in at least one of the areas listed below: (i) Legislation, regulatory frameworks, by-laws or standards formally recognising the issues and problems that have been addressed; (ii) Social policies and/or sectoral strategies at the (sub) national level that have a potential for replication elsewhere; (iii) Institutional frameworks and decision-making processes that assign clear roles and responsibilities to various levels and groups of actors, such as central and local governmental organisations and community-based organisations; (iv) Efficient, transparent and accountable management systems that make more effective use of human, technical, financial and natural resources.
Additional Criteria and Considerations:
The following criteria will be used by the Technical Advisory Committee and Jury for differentiating between good, best and award winning practices.
1.4 Leadership & Community Empowerment: (i) Leadership in inspiring action and change, including change in public policy; (ii) Empowerment of people, neighbourhoods and communities and incorporation of their contributions; (iii) Acceptance of and responsiveness to social and cultural diversity; (iv) Potential for transferability, adaptability and replicability; (v) Appropriateness to local conditions and levels of developments.
1.5 Gender Equality and social inclusion:
Initiatives which: accept and respond to social and cultural diversity; promote social equality and equity, for example on the basis of income, gender, age and physical/ mental condition; and recognise and value different abilities.
1.6 Innovation within local context and transferability: (i) How others have learnt or benefited from the initiative. (ii) Means used for sharing or transferring knowledge, expertise and lessons learnt.
1.7 Transfers: (i) Tangible impact resulting from the transfer of one or more of the following: ideas, skills, processes, knowledge or expertise, and technology; (ii) Changes in policies or practices. (iii) Sustainability of the transfer as part of a continuous process of learning and change.

Prizes

Every two years, 12 award winners are selected from a large number of applicants (500+). Two of the 12 awards are reserved for best practice transfers. The total amount of the Award is US$ 360,000 (Three hundred and sixty thousand US Dollars). This amount will be divided as follows:

  • US$ 240,000 (Two hundred and forty thousand US Dollars) divided between six Best Practices and two Best Practices Transfers. Each of these winners will also receive a trophy and commemorative certificate designed for the award.
  • US$ 120,000 (One hundred and twenty thousand US Dollars) towards management expenses including travel and accommodation for a delegation of up to two people for each award winning practice.
  • Starting in 2012, two private sector entities and one individual will be awarded with a trophy and commemorative certificate especially designed for the award.

 Eligibility

The following are eligible for the award:

  • Government organizations or agencies; including bilateral aid agencies, e.g. DFID, SIDA, USAID etc.
  • National Habitat committees or Focal Points;
  • Multilateral Agencies (United Nations Agencies, World Bank, etc.)
  • Cities, local authorities or their associations;
  • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
  • Community-based organizations (CBOs);
  • Private Sector;
  • Research and academic institutions;
  • Media;
  • Public or Private foundations;
  • Individuals are eligible for the Dubai International Award provided that they are submitting a specific initiative or project that meets the Best Practice criteria.

How to apply?

1. Best Practices shall be submitted in accordance with the reporting format for the relevant biennium (please see Application section).
2. The reporting format is available on the Internet and can be found below (visit as well the following website), or upon request Email: bestpractices@unhabitat.org. Hard copy submissions will also be accepted, where electronic versions are not possible.
3. Submissions shall be made in English. Submissions in Arabic, French and Spanish should be accompanied by an English translation. Submitters are strongly advised not to use machine translation.
4. Submitters are encouraged to include the following supporting materials:
(i) Articles appearing in newspapers, professional journals, newsletters or other publications.
(ii) Digital standard format videos less than 10 minutes in length.
(iii) Photographs and/or other graphic material.
(iv) Brochures or other promotional material.   
5. Submissions shall be sent to either UN-HABITAT or Dubai Municipality, or any recognised Best Practice partner institutions. Submissions should be done on-line, via Email, or mail. Dubai Municipality or UN-HABITAT may forward any submission for review or validation to a partner institution. Those who forward their submissions directly to the partner institutions shall notify UN-HABITAT or Dubai Municipality of their submissions and ensure that the submissions are forwarded to UN-HABITAT. Submissions reaching UN-HABITAT by 31st January 2012 may benefit from substantive feedback
6. All submissions received will be acknowledged and assigned a catalogue number by UN-HABITAT for documentation (code, name of submitter, subject, etc) purposes and for eventual inclusion in the Best Practices Database. UN-HABITAT shall inform all submitters the status of their submission..
7. Partners may contact the submitters who shall provide effective assistance to them by reviewing the documents with the objective of ensuring their compliance with the criteria as well as the rules and regulations of the award and advise them of any further actions required. Partners shall forward the validated submissions meeting the award criteria to UN-HABITAT.

To download the complete submission guideline, please click here. The deadline for the application with feedback is 31 January 2012. The final deadline for all the submissions is 31 March 2012.

Contacts

UN-HABITAT Headquarters and Africa OfficeT
Best Practice and Local Leadership Programme, UN-HABITAT
P.O. Box : 30030
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel : (254 20) 7624981/7623342
Fax : (254 20) 7623080/ 7624266/ 7624267
Email : bestpractices@unhabitat.org
Web : http://www.unhabitat.org; http://www.bestpractices.org

The Official Website

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