Medellín, 6 April 2014: Journalists from all over the world participated in the Digital Media and Urban Journalism Academies, held in the side-lines of the World Urban Forum (WUF7) which opens on Monday in Medellín, Colombia.
The Mayor of Medellin Mr. Anibal Gauria (Second left) gestures as he makes a point to UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos (centre). Looking on are UN-Habitat Deputy Executive Director Dr. Aisa Kirabo (second left), Colombia´s Permanent Representative to UN-Habitat Ms. Maria Eugenia Correa (extreme left) and the UN Resident Coordinator in Colombia Mr. Fabrizio Hochschild (extreme right).
The increasing prominence of the youth bulge in most urban areas presents a unique opportunity, as they represent the most dynamic human resource available. Their numbers today are larger than at any point in human history. Yet this group suffers the most from urban unemployment and often feels that they lack equal access to opportunities.
The Urban Planning and Design focus area of UN-Habitat aims to support cities, regional and national authorities in adopting improved policies, plans and designs for more compact, socially inclusive, better integrated and connected cities that foster sustainable urban development and are resilient to climate change. This lecture provides an introduction on why this is relevant and how it can be achieved.
In this lecture, Anna Heringer presents a series of projects where the choice of building materials and techniques has had a major influence on distribution of resources, participation and equality. Emphasizing that 'we cannot build houses of only steel and concrete for seven billion people' she proposes a strategy of bringing global creativity to the local materials, local skills and local potentials.
Nearly 25,000 people have registered as participants for the Seventh Session of the World Urban Forum that will take place in Medellin, Colombia in early April.
As online registration this week, UN-Habitat and the WUF7 Secretariat confirmed that a record number of people have signed up to attend the world’s premier conference on cities and urban development.
The government of Kenya and the United Nations on Wednesday signed a development assistance framework that will see the UN mobilizing USD 1.2 billion for implementation of development programmes in the country over a four-year period.
An international conference on post emergency shelter reconstruction ‘Restoring Communities through Home-Owner-Driven Reconstruction: from post-Emergency to Development’ kicked off Tuesday morning in the capital city of Sri Lanka, Colombo.
The Government of Japan has announced that it is providing funding amounting to US$ 3,678,178 (Japanese Yen377,000,000) through the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) for the rehabilitation of community infrastructure, livelihood improvement and women’s empowerment in Sri Lanka’s Northern and Eastern Provinces over the next two years.
There is a need for a holistic approach to urban development and human settlements which provides for affordable housing and infrastructure and prioritizes slum upgrading and urban regeneration. Government’s task for UN-Habitat is to promote an integrated approach to planning and building sustainable cities and urban settlements, support local authorities,increase public awareness and enhance the involvement of local people, including the poor, in decision making.