UN-Habitat Assembly

• 01 Jun 2019

India is elected to the Executive Board of the first UN-Habitat Assembly at the Plenary Session of the Assembly being held in Nairobi.

• The theme: for the UN-Habitat Assembly is "Innovation for Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities".
• UN-Habitat: is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all.
  
  • Mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1978 to address the issues of urban growth, it is a knowledgeable institution on urban development processes and understands the aspirations of cities and their residents.

The outcome of the UN-Habitat Assembly

• Contributions: of more than $152 million towards making cities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, by the member countries.
• Communities, cities or towns that improve their solid waste management and reduce their waste management expenditure will be publicly recognised as ‘Waste-Wise Cities’.
  
  • The initiative asks communities, cities and towns around the world to “rethink, reduce, recycle, refuse and reuse waste”.
• The strategic plan of the UN human settlements programme for the period 2020–2025 is presented. The plan aims to advance sustainable urbanisation as a driver of development and peace, to improve living conditions for all.
• Participating nations also presented their statements on efforts to promote the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and sustainable urban development.
  
  • Asian and African countries like India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Rwanda and Uruguay presented an overview of the national policies and practices.
  • Venezuela suggested considering social housing as an important public good.
  • Korea stressed the potential of artificial intelligence and virtual reality technology to address urban problems.

UN-Habitat

• The United Nations Human Settlements Programme is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development.
• It was established in 1978 as an outcome of the First UN Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat I) held in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976.
• UN-Habitat maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.
• It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
• It is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The mandate of UN-Habitat derives from the Habitat Agenda, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996.
• The twin goals of the Habitat Agenda are:
  
  • Adequate shelter for all.
  • The development of sustainable human settlements in an urbanizing world.