Mrs. Tibaijuka with President Compaore. Photo (c) UN-HABITAT
Paying a courtesy call on Burkina Faso’s President Blaise Compaore, UN-HABITAT Executive Director Mrs Anna Tibaijuka appealed to the head of state to support the World Urban Campaign.
The Executive Director who was accompanied by a number of UN-HABITAT staff as well as the local UN Resident Coordinator, briefed President Compaore on the World Urban Campaign which will be launched on the sidelines of the Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum to hold in Rio de Janeiro 22-26 March 2010.
She briefed the President on UN-HABITAT activities in Burkina Faso and invited him to be part of the Presidential Committee she is working to put in place to support to implementation of the World Urban Campaign.
On his part President Compaore acknowledged the importance of UN-HABITAT’s work on urban issues and encouraged Mrs. Tibaijuka as leader of a UN Agency to strengthen the capacity of the African countries and to facilitate exchange of experiences and best practices.
He welcomed the idea of the creation of a Presidential Committee to lead the implementation of the World Urban Campaign and promised the Executive Director his full support and commitment to a successful implementation of the world initiative.
Executive Director UN-HABITAT Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka Signing Cooperation agreement with M. Soumaila Cisse, President of WAEMU
The Executive Director also paid a visit to the victims of the Sept 2009 floods which affected over 100,000 people in Ouagadougou. Accompanied by the Minister of Urban planning and the Minister of Social Affairs and National Solidarity, she met the victims in the resettlement site in Yagma , on the outskirts of Ouagadougou where she signed a cooperation agreement pledging UN-HABITAT’s contribution of US dollars 30,000 to support vulnerable communities affected by the flooding.
She also signed a Cooperation Agreement with the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) aiming at strengthening the cooperation between the two Institutions to support the Members States in the field of urban and regional planning; housing finance, access to basic services towards the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals to implementation.
