Abidjan, 8 January 2015 – UN-Habitat’s Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP) has moved into its second phase in the Ivory Coast, celebrated with a launch ceremony at the end of 2014 at the Bureau National d'Etudes Techniques de Développement (BNETD) conference room in the country’s capital.

The ceremony, which was chaired by Mr. Sanogo Mamadou, Minister for Construction, Housing and Sanitation in Ivory Coast was attended by various participants among them Mr. Guihi Benedict, Director of Cabinet in the Ministry of Construction, Housing, Sanitation and Urban Development, Mr. Coulibaly Kinapara, Deputy CEO of BNETD, Mr. Amani N'Guessan, Secretary General of L'Union des Villes et Communes de Côte d'Ivoire (UVICOCI ), Mr. Assoua Raymond, Secretary General of BNETD and Mr. Oumar Sylla, Senior Programme Officer and Representative of UN-Habitat in Nairobi.

Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme rose out of the need to respond to the problems of urbanization in developing countries and aims to improve the living conditions of the urban poor. It is a programme that is currently being implemented in more than 34 countries and 100 cities across Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific.

Programme will help improve the living conditions of slum dwellers

Ivory Coast is facing demographic pressures which have manifested in the formation of so-called slums, precarious housing neighborhoods. The issue of substandard housing is a concern especially during periods of heavy rains that lead to floods and landslides that often cause death and displacement.

To cope with this, Ivory Coast, supported by development partners UN-Habitat and the European Union and national structures including UVICOCI and BNETD, embarked on restructuring programmes in these vulnerable neighborhoods.

Implementation of the second phase of the PSUP in Ivory Coast is being led by the BNETD’s Department of Urban Planning and Local Development.

Ultimately, the programme will help improve the living conditions of slum dwellers, creating income generation and enabling social integration while strengthening the capacities of the beneficiaries so that they become agents of their own development.

BNETD through its Department of Urban Planning and Local Development has extensive experience in conducting similar projects and has been appointed as the implementing partner for the PSUP in Ivory Coast.