Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, UN-Habitat's Deputy Executive Director, on Monday 22 October signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mr. Jean Louis Leonard, President the Conference on Urban Mobility in the Developing World(CODATU) to strengthen UN-Habitat's outreach and advocacy in sustainable urban mobility.

Established in Dakar in 1980, CODATU's mandate is raising awareness on urban transport issues in developing countries and to develop a community of experts from the North and South on this issue. Since then the CODATU conference is held every two years in a different continent to promote exchange between experts of diverse backgrounds including decision makers, academics, transport operators and companies. CODATU receives support from the city of Lyon, France and a representative body of French Transport Authorities.

This strategic partnership established between UN-Habitat and CODATU is expected to support UN-Habitat's outreach and advocacy efforts in the area of sustainable urban mobility and is one in a series of partnerships established by the agency with organisations working in the area of mobility such as the Institute of Transport Development and Policy, the World Resources Institute (EMBARQ) and the City of Suwon, South Korea.

The signing event took place at the offices of the African Union in Addis Ababa, where Dr. Kacyira delivered the opening address at the fifteenth CODATU conference on the "Role of Urban Mobility in (re) shaping cities".