The Federal Government had begun talks with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) towards mobilizing multilateral funding and technical support for the planned National Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading Programme.
The meeting, which was held at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development headquarters in Abuja, was meant-deepen the partnership and improve living conditions in the countryโs urban areas, as well as transform informal settlements into vibrant, integrated neighbourhoods with access to essential services while preventing the proliferation of slums.
IdanNews learnt that the meeting was Nigeriaโs $250,000 yearly funding support to the UN-Habitat Support Office (UN-HAPSO) in Nigeria. The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, who met with the delegation of UN-Habitat, led by the Director, of the Regional Office for Africa, Oumar Sylla, assured them of Nigeriaโs commitment to fulfilling its obligations.
He said the Federal Government has already set in motion the process to pay its statutory contribution, which was delayed due to the transition to a new administration in the country.
The minister further stated that continued funding support to UN-Habitatโs 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.
Dangiwa observed that UN-Habitatโs new vision of โa better quality of life for all in an urbanizing worldโ aligns fully with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration, and called on the body to support the bold 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.
โWe 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.
โAdditionally, we would like to seek UN-Habitatโs collaboration in advancing the SDGs. Specific areas include helping us to mobilise multilateral funding for our Urban Renewal and Slum Upgrading Programme and the New City Development Projectโ, he said.
He appreciated UN-Habitat for assisting with the review of the National Urban Development Policy (NUDP) and assured of the ministryโs commitment to complete and adopt the document with the technical support of the organization.
IdanNews also gathered that the minister said the meeting should mark a new, bolder, innovative, and more impactful partnership between the two parties; one that will see the ministry explore all the potentials and capacities of UN-Habitat to help achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
โI 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 responseโ, Dangiwaadded.
The visit of UN-Habitatโs delegation comes as the ministry continues to unveil plans to make affordable homeownership accessible to more Nigerians.
While also building sustainable cities and upgrading slums in the country. The ministry intends 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 a 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, as mandated by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Responding, Sylla, the leader of the delegation, assured the minister that the 2023-2027 work plan of the UN-Habitat for the country will be aligned with the priorities of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration.
