The Warsaw Office serves Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. It was established in response to a generous offer of the Polish government which will fund it.
Launched on World Habitat Day on 2 October 2006, the opening of the office was presided over by the then Poland's Minister of Construction, Mr. Antoni Jaszczak, and attended by top government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, as well as representatives of the United Nations and universities. The director of the office is Mr. Marek Bryx, former Head of Department at the Warsaw School of Economics, and a former Secretary of State
The office enables UN-HABITAT to work better in the region, coordinating with interested countries in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe. It carries out advocacy and networking work in the sub-region, organizing workshops and ministerial meetings and preparing regional programmes for European Union funding.
The Warsaw Office also helps countries in the region develop national and local capacities to systematically redress urban poverty and adequate shelter shortfalls. It promotes the Habitat Agenda and the UN-HABITAT global campaigns on secure tenure and urban governance. It also seeks to improve the flow of human settlements information and boost policy making, planning and management. One of the first tasks of the new office is to set up a regional Advisory Council of government officials responsible for housing and human settlements. Its first meeting is scheduled for 25-26 February, 2007.
For more information about the Office, please visit: www.unhabitat.org.pl