President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured of Kenya’s support to UN-Habitat and its activities as host to the global agency as he announced an increase from Sh7 million to Sh10 million contribution to the UN-Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation Gains Account.
President Kenyatta said the amount is meant to help the UN-Habitat formulate sustainable strategies that will transform cities and human settlements into engines of economic growth.
Today I joined President Uhuru Kenyatta at Nairobi’s 1st session of the #UNHabitatAssembly at the @UN complex Gigiri. Kenya has great potential and we must come up with innovative ways to planning, working with the community and include everyone in urbanisation. #Innovate4Change pic.twitter.com/ZV2SZM6Zq3
— Chris Kirubi (@CKirubi) May 27, 2019
“Lack of adequate financial resources has hampered implementation of the New Urban Agenda, that has been slow,” the President said while opening the first UN-Habitat Assembly Conference at United Nations offices in Gigiri, Nairobi.
Addressing delegates, Uhuru welcomed the restructuring of the UN-Habitat and called on the established organs to re-engineer its processes to enable it deliver on its core mandate as the lead agency in urbanisation and human settlements.
The President asked the established subsidiary organs, through the new governance structure, to strengthen the UN-Habitat’s organizational capacity and resource base to make it a centre of excellence and a global leader in the field of urbanization and human settlements development.
“This will also enable the UN-Habitat to effectively deliver on the double mandate entrusted to it as the designated focal point for sustainable urbanization and human settlements,” President Kenyatta said.
President Uhuru Kenyatta: Allow me to welcome you all to Kenya; home to our breathtaking natural beauty and rich wildlife#LeoMashinani na @loftymatambo#UNHabitatAssembly pic.twitter.com/qgvVCRNn9M
— ktn (@KTNKenya) May 27, 2019
The Head of State was speaking Monday at the UN-Habitat’s headquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi, where he officially opened the inaugural session of the UN-Habitat Assembly whose theme is ‘Innovation for a Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities’.
The Assembly replaces the UN Governing Council following the endorsement of the resolution by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2018.
The resolution established a new governance structure which upgraded UN-Habitat’s status to a universal body and created a 36-member board.
Happening this week: 1st-ever @UNHABITAT Assembly takes place in Narobi, Kenya. https://t.co/Oa71H0SsN1 #UNHabitatAssembly pic.twitter.com/H8aJf1WPpQ
— United Nations (@UN) May 27, 2019
“This new structure is really intended to transform UN-Habitat’s governance, provide oversight and enhance UN-Habitat’s efficiency and effectiveness in delivering its mandate,” President Kenyatta said.
President Kenyatta challenged the UN agency to formulate strategies that will transform cities and human settlements into engines of economic growth and development in a sustainable manner.
He urged all stakeholders to support the work of the UN-Habitat, noting that the implementation of the New Urban Agenda has been slow partly because of financial and institutional constraints at the global body as well as member states’ insufficient capacity to interpret, implement and report on the progress of the urban agenda.
“I also urge member states to increase and honour their voluntary contributions to the UN-Habitat human settlements foundation, while at the same time encouraging those in a position to do so, to consider increasing non-earmarked funds to be part of the core budget of UN-Habitat,” he said.