UN-HABITAT and the Brussels-based African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group) have signed a cooperation agreement aimed at promoting sustainable urbanization and the eradication of poverty in ACP countries. The agreement was signed in Brussels, Belgium, by the Secretary-General of the ACP Group, Mr. Jean-Robert Goulongana, and the Chief, Office of the Executive Director, UN-HABITAT, Mr. Rolf Wichmann, who represented the Executive Director, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka. By this agreement, UN-HABITAT and the ACP Secretariat will cooperate to realize Target 11 of Millennium Development Goal 7 - improving the living conditions of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020. The agreement also aims to help the international community to implement the Habitat Agenda and the Declaration on Cities and other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in June 2001. The agreement focuses on improving: housing policies, urban planning and management, urban environmental management, post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction, disaster prevention and post-disaster reconstruction, and participatory urban governance. Others are: urban safety, strengthening town-country linkages and infrastructure development, water and sanitation in urban areas, decentralization and capacity building of local authorities, local campaign against HIV/AIDS, and urban development indicators and statistics. |
