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Tag: Un-Habitat

  • Nigerian minister chairs inaugural 2024 UN-Habitat executive board session in Nairobi

    Nigerian minister chairs inaugural 2024 UN-Habitat executive board session in Nairobi

    The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) commenced its First Session of the 2024 Executive Board Meeting in Nairobi, presided over by Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa.

    The gathering, hosted at the UN-Habitat Headquarters from May 6th to 8th, 2024, marks a pivotal moment for global initiatives addressing human settlement challenges.

    During his opening address, Arc. Dangiwa urged Executive Board members to intensify efforts in redefining UN-Habitat’s role as a potent force in addressing human settlement issues systematically and sustainably.

    He said: “As stewards of the global human settlements agenda, we shoulder a profound responsibility to ensure structured and impactful approaches. Collaboration will be paramount under my Chairmanship, and I call upon your collective support to elevate our organization to new heights.”

    Drawing on his concurrent role as the Chair of the 2023 Annual General Meeting Bureau of the Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), Arc. Dangiwa underscored his commitment to forging strategic alliances beneficial to UN-Habitat’s mandate.

    “I do not count it a coincidence that as the Minister of Housing and Urban Development of the most populous country in Africa, I also Chair the AGM Bureau of Shelter Afrique Development Bank, and I now Chair the Executive Board of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

    “I see these strategic alignments as a call to maximize the opportunities my current positions afford me to promote more beneficial global collaborations, more international attention, and hopefully, more funding for UN-Habitat,” Dangiwa noted.

    The UN-Habitat Executive Board, composed of 36 member states, including Nigeria, convenes thrice annually to oversee the organization’s normative and operational activities.

    Read Also: Fed Govt, Un-Habitat partner on nationwide urban renewal

    Notable agenda items for the 2024 session include financial matters, updates on draft work programs and budgets, and progress on strategic plans.

    Key issues slated for discussion encompass geographical and gender imbalances in staff composition, implementation of the United Nations development system reform, and measures to strengthen protection against exploitation and abuse in the workplace.

    The opening session witnessed the participation of representatives from the 36 member countries, alongside the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. Alice Wahome, who extended a warm welcome on behalf of Kenyan President, His Excellency William Ruto.

  • Fed Govt, Un-Habitat partner on nationwide urban renewal

    Fed Govt, Un-Habitat partner on nationwide urban renewal

    The Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is deepening its partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to mobilise multi-lateral funding and technical support for a nationwide urban renewal and slum upgrading programme

    The programme, under the Renewed Hope Agenda of the government, is aimed at improving living conditions in Nigeria’s urban areas and transform settlements into vibrant, integrated neighbourhoods with access to essential services, while preventing proliferation of slums.

    Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, stated this during a meeting with a delegation of UN-Habitat, led by the Director, Regional Office for Africa, Oumar Sylla, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

    He said UN-Habitat’s new vision of “a better quality of life for all in an urbanising world” aligns fully with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu on housing.

    He called on the body to support the plans of the ministry to increase access to decent, quality, and affordable housing for all Nigerians, including those that fall within the low and medium-income segments of the country.

    “We are counting on UN-Habitat to continue to render its technical support to the ministry as the focal point for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 11, which aims to make our towns and cities safe, resilient, and sustainable.

    “Additionally, we would like to seek UN-Habitat’s collaboration in advancing the SDGs. Specific areas include helping us to mobilise multilateral funding for our Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading Programme andthe New City Development Project,” Dangiwa said.

    He commended the UN-Habitat for assisting with the review of the National Urban Development Policy (NUDP), assuring that the ministry will complete and adopt the document with the technical support of the organisation.

    “I am impressed with your strategic plan for the period 2020-2023. In it, I see several points of intersection with the Renewed Hope Agenda of our government. This includes reduced spatial inequality and poverty in communities across the urban-rural continuum; enhanced shared prosperity of cities and regions; strengthened climate action and improved urban environment; as well as effective urban crisis prevention and response,” Dangiwa said.

    He said Nigeria remained committed to its yearly funding support to the UN-Habitat Support Office (UN-HAPSO) in the country, adding that the continued funding support to UN-Habitat’s office in Nigeria will reposition the office to adequately play its role in providing technical support services to housing and urban development stakeholders in the country.

    Read Also: FCTA, UN-Habitats collaborate to urbanise Abuja

    The UN-Habitat’s delegation’s visit came as the ministry continued to unveil plans to make affordable homeownership accessible to more Nigerians, while also building sustainable cities and upgrading slums in the country. The intention of the ministry is to leverage the partnership with UN-Habitat to foster speedy and sustainable implementation of its plans for housing and urban development.

    Dangiwa, therefore, called for series of future engagements with UN Habitat so that the activities and programmes mapped out in any future work plan will align with the priorities of the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, as mandated to the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

    Oumar Sylla, the leader of the delegation, assured the Minister that the 2023-2027 work plan of the UN-Habitat for the country will definitely be aligned with the priorities of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration.