THE Second Preparatory Committee (PrepCom2) of Habitat III held in Nairobi from 14 to 16 April 2015 gathered key stakeholders to prepare and discuss issues leading to the Third UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Development (Habitat III) that will take place in Quito next year. ASPAC’s region was represented by the Secretary General and the political representative, the President of the Federation of Sri Lankan Local Governments Authorities, Mayor Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana.
UCLG and the Global Task Force on Local and Regional Governments (GTF2016) have been advocating to acknowledge the role of local governments as a key player in the Post-2015 Development and new urban agenda. It was agreed that the 2nd World Assembly on Local and Regional Authorities would be organised in conjunction with Habitat III.
In addition, the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities (UNACLA) meeting took place and presided by Dr. Joan Clos, UN Habitat Executive Director, UCLG ASPAC Secretary General Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi and Secretary Generals from other UCLG sessions, participated in the meeting that was chaired by Dr. Kadir Topbas as the Chairman of UNACLA.
Dr. Joan Clos, UN Habitat Executive Director, who took the floor after the opening speech made by Dr. Kadir Topba?, stated that he has launched the necessary initiatives for the local authorities to take a strong part in Habitat III Conference that will be held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016, and that he will support local authorities in this regard.
Secretary General also spoke at the various side events, including the Public Space Forum, Capacity Building for the New Urban Agenda and the Post-2015 Development, and the Gender Meeting in which she was invited as the new member of AGGI (Advisory Group on Gender Issue) of UN HABITAT.
Source: UCLG MEWA (Middle East and West Asia Session).
