NAIROBI, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Executive Board of the UN settlements agency (UN-Habitat) on Tuesday called on member states and international donors to provide adequate funding to enable the organization to deliver on its key mandate, mainly to make the world cities better places to live in.
The executive board made of 36 ambassadors and permanent representatives accredited to the UN, mandated to represent Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe, convened in Nairobi for the first time ever to deliberate on a plan of action to enable the UN-Habitat to perform its role effectively.
"We are working together to come up with an effective framework for sustainable urbanization," UN-Habitat executive director Maimunah Sharif said during a session of the Board to discuss the organization's financial, budgetary and administrative matters.
The Nairobi-based UN agency is emphatic on the need for better funding to enable it to hire additional staff members, including the posting of country coordinators to help all countries of the world to implement better urbanization policies in the future.
"I appeal to you to help me raise funds to implement the strategic framework. In this framework, we are talking about cities. It is a (lack of funds) frustrating situation. We appeal to the states to give us funds to deliver effectively on our mandate," she said.
According to the UN-Habitat, the status of poverty in the world's cities has registered improvements since 1976, when the world leaders met in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss human settlements and a follow-up meeting in 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey, but poverty and inequality persist.
Speaking during the session, Aboul Wahab Haidara, Senegalese Ambassador, said his country was worried about the financial crisis facing the UN agency.
"Senegal will be standing on your side," Haidara said and commended the UN-Habitat for its reforms undertaken since 2010 and reiterated calls for quality leadership to all the branches of the UN agency, especially its operations within Africa.
In 2016, world leaders met again in Quito, Ecuador, at a meeting attended by some 30,000 delegates and agreed upon a new plan of action for cities, known as the Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for all, which aims to accelerate the search for better management of cities.
