India elected as President of UN-Habitat

• India has been elected as the President of the UN-Habitat. UN-Habitat is an organ of the United Nations Organisation (UNO), which reports to the United Nations General Assembly.
• India has been designated as the President of the UN-Habitat after a break of 10 years.
• This is the third time that India has been elected as the President after 1988 and 2007.
• India will be represented by the Union Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.

About UN Habitat:

• UN-Habitat is established in 1978.
• UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all.
• Cities are facing unprecedented demographic, environmental, economic, social and spatial challenges. There has been a phenomenal shift towards urbanization, with 6 out of every 10 people in the world expected to reside in urban areas by 2030. Over 90 per cent of this growth will take place in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. In the absence of effective urban planning, the consequences of this rapid urbanization will be dramatic.
• Mindsets, policies, and approaches towards urbanization need to change in order for the growth of cities and urban areas to be turned into opportunities that will leave nobody behind. UN-Habitat, the United Nations programme for human settlements, is at the helm of that change, assuming a natural leadership and catalytic role in urban matters.
• In October 2016, at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III – member states signed the New Urban Agenda. This is an action-oriented document which sets global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development, rethinking the way we build, manage, and live in cities. Through drawing together cooperation with committed partners, relevant stakeholders, and urban actors, including at all levels of government as well as the private sector, UN-Habitat is applying its technical expertise, normative work and capacity development to implement the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 11 – to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
• Cities need to be green and manageable in a sustainable way, as well as future-proof and in tune with the environment. Furthermore, cities must ultimately become blooming places for the self-fulfillment of all residents. UN-Habitat has therefore developed a holistic and global approach towards urbanization that embraces much more than just technical considerations. Beyond its traditional core areas — such as city planning, infrastructure development, and participatory slum upgrading — UN-Habitat, today, also focuses on urban legislation and risk management, as well as gender, youth and capacity building for all actors involved in the urbanization process.

By: Vishal