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Tag: UN Habitat

  • Urbanisation: Niger, UN-Habitat sign MoU

    An eight-man delegation from Niger State, led by the Secretary to the State Government, Ibrahim Isa Ladan, has paid a visit to United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) head office in Nairobi, Kenya.

    During the visit,  the delegation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UN-Habitat to implement the New Urban Agenda. The ceremony was witnessed by the Nigerian Ambassador to Kenya, Sheidu Omeiza Momoh.

    The parties agreed to foster cooperation through the following projects: a Niger State Urban Development Policy (based on the National Urban Development Policy); development of an integrated development plan for Minna and Suleja; development of a plan for a new smart town in Sutleja; provision of technical support to the state on various issues and development of a public space surrounding River Iku in Sutleja.

    “Today marks a very important milestone in the effort of my administration to lay a solid foundation for the sustainable development of the state and for creating compact, connected, socially inclusive and self-sustaining towns and cities, through this technical urban assistance programme between UN-Habitat and Niger State,” said Ladan.

    He extended his appreciation to UN-Habitat for securing a grant from the South Korean government to develop the state urban policy.

    In a statement, UN-Habitat Executive Director, Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, noted that the new collaboration would ensure the opportunities available in Niger State in terms of land area, power generation, agriculture and proximity to the nation’s capital, Abuja, are maximised. She further commended the state for taking the lead in enacting a sub-national urban policy. She also highlighted the Federal Government’s support in helping to develop the “Africa Common Position on Habitat III”. Both speeches were followed by the signing ceremony at 11am (Nairobi time).

    Prior to the signing, the delegation made a detailed presentation where it expanded on its urban challenges and opportunities inviting UN-Habitat’s expertise to assist. Several bilateral meetings with the delegation were also held.

    The visit ended with the delegation visiting Nairobi County’s Ministry of Land & Urban Planning and the administration’s headquarters at Konza Techno City to learn from good practices in governance and smart city planning.

  • UN-Habitat says 1.2b Africans will live in slum by 2050

    UN-Habitat says 1.2b Africans will live in slum by 2050

    •Ambode promises affordable houses

    The United Nations Habitat Programme Manager for Nigeria, Malam Kabir Yari has predicted a rise of Africans living in slum to 1.2 billion by 2050.

    Yari spoke yesterday while delivering a goodwill message at the celebration of the 2017 World Habitat Day by the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

    He said over 60 percent of the urban population in Nigeria live in informal settlements mostly without adequate basic urban services including water and sanitation.

    According to him, a research commissioned by the UN Habitat in 2016 found that with the exception of informal housing for low and high income cities, all other housing types in the market are unaffordable and that public housing is not affordable in any city regardless of GDP per capita.

    “Affordable housing is a universal challenge. It is estimated that the global housing affordability gap is equivalent to $650 billion per year or one percent of global GDP. While many houses are constructed annually, there are not enough affordable homes, particularly for the low income earners in most cities.”

    Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode said that this year’s theme of the World Habitat Day, Housing policies: Affordable homes’, the United Nations is calling the attention of governments around the world to the need to provide housing within the reach of the common man.

    Ambode said his administration promise to make life more comfortable for the people was made keeping in mind the need to provide decent and affordable housing for all.

    Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Abiola Anifowoshe, said that the governor was passionate about the celebration of the World Habitat Day because the environment, physical planning and other related matters critical to the improvement, preservation and better living conditions of the people are among governance issues that the governor has endeared himself to most.

     

     

     

  • FCTA partners UN-Habitat, AfDB on urban renewal projects in selected settlements

    FCTA partners UN-Habitat, AfDB on urban renewal projects in selected settlements

    Some core indigenous settlements communities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have been selected for urban renewal projects under a soft loan arrangement from African Development Bank (AfDB) and UN-Habitat.

    The Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Umar Jibrin said this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

    The projects according to the Executive Secretary, has been given a new impetus by the present FCT Administration under the leadership of Malam Muhammad Bello.

    Jibrin said the settlements include Jikwoyi, Dutsen Alhaji, Gwagwalada and Kuje.

    The minister said the move was a demonstration of the Administration’s resolve to complete viable ongoing projects in the FCT, thereby shifting emphasis on the development of satellite towns.

    According to him, this will go a long way in opening up the grassroots of the Territory to make them places where people can live, work and raise their children.

    Also speaking, the Director, Satellite Town Development Department, (STDD), Victoria Imande said that FCT Administration had submitted proposals which were acceptable to the African Development Bank (ADB) and UN-Habitat.

    “As a result, a substantial part of the pre qualification conditions have been met which include project identification, detailing of scope of work and identification of major problems.

    “Under the arrangement, FCT is shopping for a 300 million dollars syndicated loan by both institutions at an interest rate of between one to 1.5 per cent.

    “The facility would be channeled to addressing the dearth of modern infrastructure among poor communities,’’ she added.

    According to Imande, more than over one million people have been projected to benefit from the life improvement projects which include facilities to be provided such as tap water, electricity, roads, sewage and other basic utilities.

    “The Administration is working with the Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF), consultants to the international agencies to ensure due diligence in the procurement process.’’

    She stated that NIAF was already working on the development of the concept note, environmental and social management framework and tentative scope of the project.

  • FHA, UN-HABITAT, others to partner on national housing

    FHA, UN-HABITAT, others to partner on national housing

    The Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is to work with other agencies on the development of a national housing profile for the country.

    Its Managing Director, Prof Mohammed Al-Amin, made this known during a visit to the UN-HABITAT Programme Office in Abuja, where he received by its Programme Officer, Mr. Kabir Yari.

    According to him, the initiative has become necessary because of the unreliability of the country’s housing statistics.

    Al-Amin noted that though an attempt was made to incorporate a housing census into the 2006 national headcount, the data obtained from the exercise was unreliable. That failure, he said, was due to the defective nature of the tool designed for it. For instance, enumerators were only trained on how to capture data on individuals and not housing units.

    He noted that the lack of reliable housing data had armstrung proper planning and called for concerted efforts to address the situation.

    The FHA chief, however, expressed doubt about the authenticity of the 17 million housing deficit figure being bandied in various quarters, saying such figure has not been proven. The FHA, he explained, is in touch with the National Population Commission (NPC), which he disclosed has indicated that it would embark on a proper housing count during the next population census. He, therefore, urged the UN-HABITAT to make its expertise available to ensure the success of the exercise.

    Al-Amin said the FHA was keen to participate in the implementation of the resolutions of the just concluded Habitat III- the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development held in Quito, Ecuador.

    Expressing regret that Nigeria had not been taking advantage of platforms opened to it by international organisations, he said FHA was poised to participate in the follow-up to Habitat III at the national, sub-regional and regional levels.

    He said FHA was also eager to work with the United Nations’ agency on critical housing issues, such as slum development and the rising housing deficit in the country to improve the quality of urban life.

    Yari noted that the UN-HABITAT had helped many nations to develop their housing policies but expressed regret that monitoring and implementation had been the bane of policies in Nigeria.

    He said a nation should, with available statistics to project into how many houses it would need for its populace in the short, medium and long term.

    He said his agency and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) had projected that the global population of urban dwellers would rise to three billion by 2050.

    In view of that projection, he said it was important for policy makers to be on guard to ensure the availability of adequate waste disposal facilities and sustainable use of resources. Yari noted that low income earners who formed the bulk of the housing need base got their housing mostly from the informal sector, adding that he was  characterised by acute lack of infrastructure.

    He said if nations could get it right with pro-poor housing, they would reach the majority of those who needed housing.

    Yari, who pointed out that the UN-HABITAT was not a funding agency, promised to provide technical assistance to the FHA in the execution of its programmes.

  • UN-Habitat releases guidelines on urban planning

    The United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat), has predicted that by 2050, seven out of 10 people will be living in cities, leading to a rapid urbanisation.

    According to the body, this trend has been fueled by inappropriate policies, plans and designs of towns, which has led to inadequate spatial distribution of people and activities, and resulting in proliferation of slums, congestion, poor access to basic services, environmental degradation, and social inequity and segregation.

    To this end, the UN-Habitat has released guidelines to provide governments, local authorities, civil society organisations and planning professionals with a global reference framework that promotes more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities and territories that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change.

    The guideline, known as the International Guidelines on Urban and Territorial Planning, serves as a compass for policy makers and urban professionals when reviewing urban and territorial planning systems.provide national governments, local authorities, civil society organisations and planning professionals with a global reference framework that promotes more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities and territories that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change.

    It also comes in handy when reviewing, developing and implementing urban and territorial planning frameworks, and will be available in seven other languages of Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese.

    The drafting of the guidelines, which spanned over two years, was supported by 35 experts, through a broad-based consultative and participatory process and based on evidence, good practices and lessons learnt from various contexts and at various planning scale.

    The United Nations (UN) agencies and members of the Committee of Permanent Representatives at UN-Habitat were also consulted and briefed throughout the development of the Guidelines.

    The process was supported by financial and technical contributions from the government of France through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the government of Japan through the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism the Prefectural Government of Fukuoka, the Municipal Government of Fukuoka and Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka.

  • Nigerian is UN-Habitat’s Director, Africa

    Nigeria’s most senior diplomat  at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, has been appointed Acting Director, Regional Office for Africa (ROAF), UN-Habitat.

    The ROAf/UN-Habitat is in 24 countries in the Africa. They include Nigeria, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Zambia.

    The key focus areas are: urban land, legislation and governance, especially land management, urban basic services including water, sanitation and the energy sector, risk reduction and rehabilitation, urban planning and design – especially preparation of national urban policies, housing and slum upgrading, urban economy and urban youth livelihoods.

    Oyelaran-Oyeyinka is the first Nigerian professor in Economic Development, Industrial Policy and Technology Management. An erudite scholar, who strives to translate ideas into practical action, he mixes rigorous scholarship with policy advocacy.

    He is a leader in Development Economics and a passionate champion for African development.

    He was first appointed a director at the UN-Habitat in 2007, and during the period, he led several housing, infrastructure, urban and social development initiatives at both states and federal levels in Nigeria, including co-authoring Nigeria’s recently formulated: “Nigeria Land, Housing and Urban Development Roadmap” by the Federal Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development, Abuja.

    He led the design and implementation of “City Structure Plan Programmes” in Osun, Kogi, Ondo, and Zamfara states. He  served as Director Monitoring & Research Division in which capacity he provided intellectual leadership for the UN-Habitat flagship reports: “State of the World Cities Report” and the “Global Report on Human Settlements”.

    His postings in the UN was as professor at the United Nations University – Institute for New technologies (UNU-INTECH). He spent six years at this global citadel of research and training in the Netherlands.

    Before then, he was Senior Economic Adviser, UN Centre on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Geneva where he coordinated a 10-year review of performance of Least Developed Countries. After serving as Senior Research Fellow, he was nominated a Professorial Fellow in Innovation and Development, United Nations University- MERIT, Maastricht, The Netherlands; and Visiting Professor, Innovation and Development, The Open University, Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.

    He is the author of “Rich Country Poor People: The Story of Nigeria’s Poverty in the midst of Plenty” (2014) and co-author of “Urban Innovation in China’s Shanty Towns” (2014) among a dozen other books.

    He is a board member of several academic journals and programmes as well as a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering.

  • UN-Habitat envoy coming

    Deputy Executive Director/Assistant Secretary-General for UN-Habitat, Ms. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira is expected to arrive in the country tomorrow for a five-day visit to strengthen ties between the United Nations and Nigeria.

    The mission, coming ahead of the fifth session of the African Ministerial Council on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD) scheduled for N’djamena Chad from February 25 and 28 and the seventh session of the World Urban Form holding in Medellin, Columbia from April 5 to 11, is coming in the wake of efforts towards the articulation and adoption of a New African Urban Agenda, required to tackle urbanisation on the continent.

    These will lead to the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, billed for 2016.

    Nigeria, last year demonstrated its commitment to the process with a pledge of $3million spread over three years, to drive participation by African countries.

    During the visit, the UN-Habitat chief is expected to hold meetings with top government functionaries, including the Supervising Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Musa M. Sada and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    She is expected to address the inaugural ceremony of Nigeria’s National Habitat Committee on Thursday in Abuja.

    The establishment of National Habitat Committees was recommended by the UN General Assembly to serve as a vehicle for ensuring a broad-based, gender balanced and inclusive participation process leading up to the Habitat III summit, and will include representation from the government, civil society, the private sector, academic and research institutions and the media.

    The Committee will, among several other tasks, ensure the effective and efficient participation of all stakeholder groups in the Habitat III preparatory process and oversee the preparation of national reports. The deadline for conclusion of National Habitat reports is June, this year.

    Meanwhile, following the recent launch of the Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC), Ministers for Land and Urban Development in Africa will address housing finance during their meeting next week in Chad, as they deliberate on “Case Studies in Financing Human Settlements in Africa: Appropriate Legislative Frameworks and Innovations in Implementation.”

    The meeting would develop an enhanced operational compendium for legislative framework and innovative practices for human settlements financing; define ‘Africa Urban Agenda 2063’ that will also serve as an input into the African Union’s ‘Agenda 2063 as well as to the Post-2015 Agenda and to Habitat III; and ddopt the N’Djamena Declaration on Financing Human Settlements in Africa.

  • Surveyors transit to new world geodetic system

    Stakeholders and groups, including community associations, trade groups and government officials will this week begin the validation of Urban Profiles prepared in nine cities in Osun State.

    The N100 million Structure Plans Project is funded by the state government in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat).

    The Osun Structure Plans Project, which kicked off in July last year, seeks to develop and adopt Structure Plans that will guide the growth, development and management of the participating cities over the next 20 years.

    The participating cities, grouped into three clusters of three cities each are: Osogbo, Ikirun, Ila Orangun (Cluster 1), Ilesha. Ile-Ife, Ede (Cluster 2) and Iwo, Ejgbo and Ikire (Cluster 3).

    Structure Plans are planning instruments that will guiding the growth of these towns for the next 20 years and, specifically, make significant contributions towards achieving the goals of the state’s six-point Integral Action Plan, the various Local Economic Empowerment and Development Strategies (LEEDS), the HABITAT Agenda and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    The project, according to a statement, involves use of the Rapid Urban Sector Profiling for Sustainability (RUSPS) methodology, which establishes a sustainable, participatory, long-term framework for the orderly physical, economic and social development of the city.

    The RUSPS methodology, based on ‘Guidelines for Sustainable Urban Development’ designed by the European Commission and UN-Habitat, seeks to reduce urban poverty through policy development and assessment of needs and responses for urban institutions.

    “One of the major challenges facing urban centres is lack of information and accurate statistics that could be used when planning development. This is one of the issues we want to address. The successful implementation of the process would help town planners prioritise their needs and put their resources into the places they ought to be,” said Dr. Alioune Badiane, Director, Projects’ Office at the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement in Osogbo.

    In all, 13 consultants, comprising specialists in urban planning and local economic development; urban environment and infrastructure; governance, gender and anthropology, as well as urban services and transportation were commissioned to work on the project under the coordination of a chief technical adviser.

    According to Commissioner for Lands, Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Muyiwa Ige, the project is a follow up to an Urban Renewal Scheme involving the upgrading of a two-kilometre radius from the city centre in the nine cities.

    “We are determined to transform our cities into functional settlements that will match our expectations as a state of excellence,” Mr Ige said.

    The consultations begin today at Ilesa, to be followed by Ile Ife and Ede on July 11.

    Others will follow at Iwo (July 15), Ejigbo (July 16) and Ikire (July 17), while consultations for the final cluster will hold at Ikirun (July 22), Ila (July 23) and Osogbo (July 24).

  • Fed Govt, Ondo commit $5m to UN-Habitat partnerships

    The Federal Government and Ondo State have pledged $5 million to boost the work of the global city agency. The contribution was announced at the 24th Governing Council Meeting of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) which ended at the weekend in Nairobi Kenya.

    The contributions comprised $3 million through the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, aimed at research and strengthening UN-Habitat’s engagement with Habitat Agenda Partners and other non-governmental actors across sub-Saharan Africa and, $2 million from Ondo State, to be used in preparing a range of programmes, such as slum upgrading, youth empowerment schemes, local economic enterprises, and land reform in the state.

    The Nation learnt that the new partnerships will enhance Nigeria’s status among emerging economies supporting UN-Habitat with core funds. The continental initiative is aimed at mobilising and building the capacity of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and non-governmental actors towards a New African Urban Agenda, which focuses on transformational initiatives and governance, anchored on the core values of transparency and inclusiveness.

    African countries have been actively engaged with the urban challenge over the past two decades. Following the African Union’s Decision 29 in 2003, African countries established the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD) in 2005, and have addressed themselves at national levels to the challenge of urban poverty, slums and access to land for development.

    This initiative is aimed strengthening the second and third legs of the engagement with private sector firms and civil society actors as the continent prepares itself to benefit from urbanisation.

    The New Urban Agenda recognises Africa as a rising continent which prosperity will be shaped by its cities as the drivers of growth, equity and sustainability. It is expected that the process will contribute to a shared vision for sustainable urban development.

    The Ondo State initiative is coming on the heels of a N100 million partnership brokered between Osun State and the UN Habitat in July last year, under which Structure Plans are being developed for nine cities in the state, namely: Oshogbo, Ile Ife, Ilesa, Iwo, Ede, Ejigbo, Ila Orangun, Ikire and Ikirun.

    Earlier, the partnership had seen the completion of Structure Plans for three cities in Anambra State (Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi), as well as work nearing completion on masterplans for four cities in Nasarawa State (Lafia, Doma, Keffi and Karu).

    In Ondo State, the administration has risen to the urgency of governance and is addressing the needs of its people through programmes that touch and impact on peoples livelihoods. The Governor who is a winner of UN-Habitat’s Scroll of Honour pledged to further the recognition by aligning the State’s development priorities with the new vision of UN-habitat.

    The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Pepple, said: “The New Urban Agenda recognises that Africa’s prosperity will be shaped by its cities as the drivers of growth, equity and sustainability. It is expected that the process will contribute to a shared vision for sustainable urban development”.

    According to Governor Olusegun Mimiko, “The collaboration between UN-Habitat and the Ondo State government that we are here to formalise today is to ensure that together we are able to transform our vision to reality in the areas of youth employment, urban economic development, urban infrastructure rehabilitation and better land reform management. To us, these areas are strategic and important for both individual development and improved state economic growth.”

    Un-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos commended “the energy and freshness brought in by Nigeria’s move”, and expressed hope that other countries in the global South would follow suit.