Urban movement is an indispensable aspect of life in cities and it is neceassary for access to the various possibilities offered by the city : urban services, jobs and social exchanges, especially for the satisfaction of basic needs which are food, education and health.... This explains why more and more experts and policy makers now believe that urban transport must be integrated into poverty alleviation programmes. But it must be stated that all means of transport make up urban transportation and we cannot limit it to public transport alone even though it plays a crucial role. We must also consider all the social categories.

The challenges posed by poverty, environmental degradation, inequity, lack of social justice, and the Aids pandemic in Africa, and the call for bottom-up multi-stakeholder strategies in addressing these concerns, have all underscored the central role to be played by partnerships and participation in the quest for sustainable development in Africa.

Despite rapid urban growth, most of sub-Saharan Africa's population continues to live in rural areas. For that reason alone, local government in rural Africa - and its capacity to deliver public goods and services - merits both investment and interest. Moreover, it is in the rural areas of Africa that the poorest live and where the greatest chal¬lenges for poverty reduction exist - focusing on poverty reduction in Africa almost invariably implies the need to pay special attention to the rural dimensions of poverty. If local government in rural Africa is to be relevant, accountable and thus deliver appropriate services, then, it must also face up to the challenges of poverty reduc¬tion.

The Africities Summit 2003 on the theme of Ensuring access to basic services in African Local Councils is a unique occasion to take stock of the progress achieved over the last few years by cities in Africa on urban safety and crime prevention. Crime, violence and insecurity present major challenges for the social and economic development of cities around the world. Urban safety is a central quality of life issue and a component of good governance. For persons living in our cities, it is a daily need, something now generally regarded as a basic service which local authorities must be able to provide.

As a poor relation to national budgets, culture is often paid little attention on the part of public authorities. Associated with pastime, on the sidelines of the labor activities, cultural activities are always considered as folklore or, in the best of cases, as heritage. Whereas, the richness of African culture is a reflection of a dynamism, which gives the continent a positive image. Culture does not limit itself to heritage or to its conservation, even if this issue has become fundamental in Africa in order to brave the onslaught of collective amnesia.

The increasing tendency towards decentralization offers several approaches to the improvement of governance, service delivery to the populations, and transparent, responsible and participatory governments. It also stresses the increasing duty of the local governments as the key-player in the development game, working closely with the State, private sector, NGO and the community of partners in order to pave the way for a more equi¬table and perennial world.

The civil society, threatened by problems of access to various services : water, sanitation, waste, security, education, health, energy, trans-port, etc..., are involved in the search for various solutions, whether it is in an organized manner or not, successful or not.

Sanitation is a basic service that is hardly perceived as such by the people and the municipal authorities. Actually out of a greater concern for the improvement of urban living conditions, or of the urban environment, or still the fight against the various types of pollution or other allied urban problems, including the fight against floods (or rain sanitation) and the draining of solid wastes.

Prospects of improving the health of poor people in Africa look grim in the light of the recently formulated Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). The objective of this internationally agreed convention is to reduce world poverty by one half by the year 2015. All estimates point to thefact that Africa is not meeting its targets in any of the eight areas and will most likely not meet them. The New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) notes that African economies would have to grow at more than double (7%) their present rates (3%) if the targets are to be met.

With the current urbanization rate, there will be a need, within the next 40 years, for the construction of approximately one thousand cities with a capacity of three million inhabitants. This urban revolution will affect mostly the South: the few cities in third world countries would grow at the current rate of 65 millions inhabitants per year.