 | An aerial view of Dushanbe |
Experts drawn from various countries and agencies met in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to discuss affordable housing challenges in Central Asia. The meeting organised by UN-HABITAT in conjunction with the Agency for Construction and Architecture of the Government of Tajikistan was also linked to the 27th meeting of the Intergovernmental Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States on Cooperation in the Construction Sector which took place last week. Participants discussed affordable housing as defined by UN-HABITAT which states:
“An affordable housing policy is a policy which ensures that housing costs are financially affordable to all social groups, and that price-to-income ratio and rent-to income ratio are maintained within acceptable limits to enable all social groups to access adequate shelter options.” They shared experiences, visions and discussed problems. The meeting concluded with the participants identifying the way forward to tackle the problems of affordable housing which could be jointly addressed. It was chaired by Mr. Abduvali Komilov, Director of the Agency charged with developing City Development Strategies for three Tajik cities and facilitated by his team headed by Mr. Abubakr Safarov and coordinated by Mr. Nasrullo Khayrulloev, Head of city of Dushanbe “Vodokanal” (water supply and sewage systems of the city). Among the speakers were UN-HABITAT experts Mr. Daniel Biau, Mr. Mohamed El-Sioufi, Mr. Claudio Acioly, Mr. Christian Schlosser, representative of UN-HABITAT Urban Programme in Afghanistan, Mr. A.Popal, as well as Dr. K. Singh from India and Mr. Kamo Khachatryan from Armenia. Mr.Komilov presented the prevailing situation and challenges in the housing sector in Tajikistan as the starting point for the conference. The workshop was supported by the Ministry for Regional Development of the Russian Federation represented by the Deputy Minister Mr. S.Kruglik, the Ministry of Environment of Finland, represented by Mr. Martti Lujanen, Director General, the Ministry for Regional Development of Czech Republic, represented Deputy Minister, Mr. Milan Pucek, and United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Committee for Housing and Land Management, represented by its Secretary Paola Deda. The State Housing Bank of Norway sent to its representative, Mr. Per Ahren.
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