Geneva 16 November 2017--Representatives of Armenia, Moldova, Serbia and Tajikistan last week attended the joint UN-Habitat and UNECE final regional workshop of the UN Development Account 9th tranche project “Strengthening national capacities for sustainable housing and urban development in countries with economies in transition”. The workshop was held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 10 November 2017 to share experiences, best practices of and lessons learned in the implementation of the project.

The regional workshop was in addition to government representatives attended by consultants and representatives of academia who supported the project. The project aimed to build capacities of national governments for development and implementation policies on sustainable housing and urban development in the above four countries with economies in transition.

The workshop highlighted:
(1) Best practices in building capacities to achieve the urban related SDGs, implementation of the New Urban Agenda and other relevant global and regional agreements; and
(2) Next steps in cooperation of UN agencies and other international organizations in supporting countries with economies in transition to achieve the urban related SDGs and to implement relevant global and regional commitments. This includes through an ongoing UN-Habitat-UNECE 10th Tranche Development Account project on evidence-based policies for sustainable housing and urban development.

The regional workshop was held within the framework of the 78th Session of the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management, marking the 70th anniversary of establishing the Committee. The Session included a Ministerial Segment on 9 November 2017, which was organized as a forum for a high-level exchange of experiences and views on progress and challenges related to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the New Urban Agenda and the Geneva UN Charter for Sustainable Housing. The segment included several UN-Habitat presentations, including a briefing on the 9th Session of the World Urban Forum.