1 August 2020 - The UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif has paid tribute to the former Director for the Programme Division, Dr Alioune Badiane, who passed away after a short illness.
“Dr Badiane was a towering figure in all areas connected to sustainable urbanization,” said Ms Sharif. “With his decades of experience he helped to build UN-Habitat and bring issues such as housing and urban development into the global spotlight.”
Dr Badiane, who was a senior urban and regional planner with over 35 years of experience working for the UN and Government Ministries in Senegal, joined UN-Habitat in 1991. He worked as Chief Technical Adviser, Regional Coordinator for the Urban Management Programme and Director for the Regional Office for Africa and the Arab States before being appointed as Director for the Programme Division.
After retiring from UN-Habitat in 2016, Dr Badiane became President of The Urban Think Tank Africa (TUTTA) for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda in Africa. He was also the Honorary President of, the International Council for Canada China and Africa for sustainable urban development and the co-founder of the RESAUD network based in Montreal. He served as Chair of the Advisory Council of the African Forum for Urban Safety based in Durban and Special Advisor to United Cities and Local Governments of Africa-(UCLG-Africa).
Dr Badiane was born Meckhe in Senegal, and studied at the Dakar School of Economics and Laval University, Canada, before pursuing post graduate studies at the City University of New York.
He continued to work closely with UN-Habitat after his retirement, recently moderating the virtual launch of a Report on COVID-19 and African Cities last month and participating in the UN-Habitat Executive Board representing Senegal. He was also a panelist at the Tenth World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi in February.
“Dr Badiane’s enormous energy and knowledge will be sorely missed,” said Ms Sharif. “Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”
His colleagues around the world are encouraged to share their condolences and memories at