Determined to ensure the success of the UN-Habitat New Urban Agenda, Nigeria and 20 other countries have pledged $152m towards that course.
The new commitment was reached during the first-ever UN-Habitat Assembly that held in Nairobi, Kenya, last week.
Other countries are China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, the Gambia, Germany, Ghana, India, Japan, Kenya, Madagascar and Malawi were in attendance.
Also, Morocco, Norway, Poland, South Africa, South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland and Zambia which pledged USD 152 million to fast track the New Urban Agenda.
Five resolutions were reached during the meeting. Some of them include focuses on safer cities, implementation of the New Urban Agenda, achieving gender equality through UN-Habitat’s work to support inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements.
Delegations from 127 countries, including four Heads of State and Government and 49 ministers agreed to “promote sustainable patterns of consumption and production” through various methods including smart technologies, sustainable lifestyles and resource efficiency.
Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, UN-Habitat, while addressing the Assembly expressed satisfaction over the commitment, saying, the future of cities are brighter.
Though details are sketchy, indications are that the gesture signposts the UN body’s commitment towards ensuring a speedy realization of the NUA towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador, the NUA was unanimously adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), serving as a new vision for cities and municipalities for the next 20 years.
It is anchored in participatory urban policies that mainstream sustainable urban and territorial development as part of integrated development strategies and plans, supported by institutional and regulatory frameworks linked to transparent and accountable finance mechanisms.
At the closure of the flagship conference in the Kenyan capital, UNHA 1 adopted a Ministerial Declaration, five Resolutions, and one Decision to promote sustainable urbanization.
The resolutions concern:
The Strategic Plan for the period 2020–2023;
UN System-Wide Guidelines on Safer Cities and Human Settlements;
Enhancing capacity-building for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the urban dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;
Achieving gender equality through the work of UN-Habitat to support inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements; and
Enhancing urban-rural linkages for sustainable urbanization and human settlement.
The decision highlights the arrangements for the transition towards the new governance structure of UN-Habitat, and the Ministerial Declaration portrays the commitment for accelerated implementation of the NUA towards the achievement of the SDGs.
In the closing plenary, delegates adopted the draft report and the draft proceedings of UNHA 1 as well as the report of the first meeting of the Executive Board.
In her closing remarks, Sharif announced that “UN-Habitat is back” and lauded the Assembly for successfully completing its work, noting that 21 countries had pledged $152 million to support the implementation of the NUA.
The UN on Thursday, May 30, 2019 decried the rising internal displacement in urban areas, which it said are caused by conflict and disasters.
Filiep Decorte, Deputy Director of New York office of UN-Habitat, said that, “the world is experiencing more conflicts while urbanization is taking place in risk-prone areas”.
Decorte said on the sidelines of the first UN Habitat Assembly that “it is important for national and local governments to plan cities well so that they can take care of internally displaced persons.”
He added that both the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda provide tools for authorities to facilitate the return of the displaced cities
Source: Daily Independent
