Quito, 22 December 2015 – Earlier this month, the jury of the sixth edition of the national competition “Best Practices in Local Management” rewarded initiatives in Environment and Sanitation, Public Management, Social Policies and Productive Development category, in the Eugenio Espejo Convention Center, in Quito. In the Public Management category, the first place went to the Slum Upgrading project in Cuenca, an initiative that has been underway since September 2014 and has technical support from UN-Habitat.

"Days before the election, the organization told us that we should travel to Quito to organize a booth to present the initiative to all participants and be evaluated. This is an opportunity to exchange with other municipalities, local governments and parish boards in Cuenca which supports the suburbs. It was a surprise to know that our work has been rewarded and recognized in this edition," said the project's technical assistant, Gabriela Sanchez Calvete.

The Executive Director of the Association of Ecuadorian Municipalities, Octavio Ponce, said that this contest allows the promotion of the local governments work in the context of the institutional recovery. He added, "It allows us to get closer to the population."

The event organizers recorded 51 registered local practices. The contest is sponsored by the Association of Ecuadorian Municipalities, Consortium of Autonomous Provincial Governments of Ecuador, the National Council of Governments Rural Parish. The Ministry of Public Health, the Coordinator of Social Development Ministry, the National Secretariat for Planning and development, German Technical Cooperation Agency and three agencies of the United Nations