The Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka, on Monday received the credentials of the Permanent Representative of the European Commission to UN-HABITAT, Mr. Eric Jacob van der Linden. Citing UN-HABITAT’s “very cordial” relationship with the Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, she called for further improved relations between the two institutions. She thanked the Commission for its support to UN-HABITAT’s programmes, including disaster management activities in Kosovo, the Balkans and Somalia. Observing that UN-HABITAT is a growing organization, the Executive Director called on the envoy for support to finalize a memorandum of understanding between the two that would change the ad hoc nature of Commission support to UN-HABITAT. She also called on the Commission to help UN-HABITAT’s Safer Cities Programme deal with youth unemployment as a way of improving security in cities. Mrs. Tibaijuka also said UN-HABITAT’s office in Brussels, Belgium, was there to help promote a more structured framework of cooperation with the European Commission headquarters. She said that some UN-HABITAT’s initiatives had been designed to create secondary towns to absorb population growth. These include the Lake Victoria Region City Development Strategy. |
