Paris, 7 June 2017 – Tunisian Minister for Equipment, Housing and Territorial Development, Mohammed Saleh Al Arfaoui, and UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos recently signed an agreement to establish a country office in the Tunisia.

The agreement was signed during a side event at the Second International Conference on National Urban Policy (ICNUP) held in Paris recently.

The objective of the establishment of this office is to strengthen cooperation between the two sides in the field of ​​housing and urban development, particularly with regard to Tunisia's participation in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the SDGs 2030, in particular, the goal 11 “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable".

Within the context of this agreement, UN-Habitat will start supporting Tunisia to develop a National Urban Policy aimed at establishing an integrated framework that will lay the foundations for sustainable and integrated urban development, involving all stakeholders on the national and local level, including civil society organizations.

In addition, the Tunisia office will support the Tunisian Government and other local partners to provide more public spaces that are safe, inclusive, and accessible to all, especially women, children, the elderly and disabled.