UN-HABITAT's Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka on Wednesday held a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Ahmed Qureia and briefed him on the work UN-HABITAT was doing in the area.Mrs. Tibaijuka explained to the Prime Minister the new Special Human Settlements Programme for the Palestinian People and informed him on the progress to date including the recruitment of a Senior Coordinator, Mr. Abdalla Abbas, and two national officers. The Programme is the result of a resolution unanimously adopted by the Palestinians and the Israelis and other member states at the 19th Session of the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT in May 2003 and will focus on capacity building, policy reform and providing technical assistance to the Palestinian People. Upon the invitation of Mr. Qureia, Mrs. Tibaijuka offered to provide UN-HABITAT's technical expertise to support the Palestinian Authorities in the areas of housing and sustainable urban development. On Tuesday, Mrs. Tibaijuka who is on a five day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories met with Israeli deputy prime minister Shimon Peres and discussed many issues including the pending disengagement of Israel from Gaza that is presently being debated in the Israeli Knesset (Parliament). |
