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| Ten heads of state met in the Chad capital N'Djamena for the fifth session of the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (c) UN-Habitat/Grancia Ndiwaita | Chad’s president Idris Deby Itnohas declared that he would be requesting his prime minister and the minister in charge of urbanisation to give him a full briefing on how they intend to lay a road map towards achieving the recommendations from the meeting the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD).
The fifth session of the Ministerial conference ran for four days in the Chad capital N’Djamena last week and saw a high turnout of leaders, including ten heads of state, from across the continent show their commitment to addressing urban issues in their respective countries.
In his closing ceremony speech President Deby was accompanied by the chairman of the Africa Union and the president of Islamic Republic of Mauritania Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and the chairperson of the Africa Union Commission Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
In a powerful speech, Mr. Deby thanked the organisers saying the decision to hold the meeting in his country was a huge vote of confidence in the government and the people of Chad. He stressed that AMCHUD was the most important vehicle for African nations’ quest for housing provision.
The Action Plan and the N’Djamena Declaration were clear indicators of progress in that quest, the head of state said adding that the Round Table held during the session enabled the participants to enrich themselves on the problems of housing and the possible solutions to tackle the issues facing them.
Mr. Deby said Chad had just come out of a period of war and instability and that it was devoting a huge proportion in the national budget towards reconstruction projects. “This is evident in the resources poured into urbanisation not only in the capital N’Djamena but to other cities and towns of our country,” he said.
Thanking AMCHUD for choosing his country as the chair, the president gave his word that his country would offer maximum help to the organisation not only during its tenure at the helm but afterwards as well.
In his speech, Chad’s Minister of Urban Development, Housing, Land Affairs and Administration Mr. Gata Ngoulou highlighted some of the urbanisation challenges facing Chad and the entire African continent. The minister who had just been elected the chair of AMCHUD said it was a great honour and promised to help push the urbanisation agenda forward.
In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy Dr. Aisa Kirabo, UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos expressed his satisfaction by the land legislation system adopted by the host country. He hailed the N’Djamena Declaration as a good document which he predicted would be of invaluable help to those involved with Africa’s urbanisation.
Namibia’s Minister for Housing Mrs. Priscilla Beukes read a statement on behalf of her colleagues while her counterpart from Niger read the N’Djamena Declaration. |
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