Mr. Chairman, Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen
I align this statement with that delivered by Ecuador on behalf of G77 and China and hereby make the following remarks in my national capacity.
Kenya attaches significant importance to the UN Habitat. We are particularly pleased to have hosted the 26th Session of the UN Habitat’s Governing Council in May this year. As you all may know, Nairobi is also proud to be the headquarters of the UN-Habitat, and my delegation reiterates the importance of having this locale and the need to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, accountability and oversight of UN-Habitat in supporting the implementation of its mandate.
In many countries, cities generate substantial percentage of the GDP. Essentially, they are engines of economic growth and wealth creation. However, without proper planning and good governance and ability to respond to the economic and social needs, as well as to the environmental challenges of the time, to paraphrase the words of the CEO of NEPAD in this week’s High-Level Inaugural Event of Africa Week, the rapid rate of urbanization without the essentials, will result in a mere “ruralization of cities.”
The challenges we are facing today in our urban and rural areas have increased both in scope and complexity.
Mr. Chair,
My delegation wishes to highlight three areas that need our immediate and committed action. First, on the New Urban Agenda, an effective means of implementation will be required to further unlock the full potential of cities and other human settlements. At the global level, I note the UN-Habitat, which is the lead UN agency responsible for promoting sustainable urbanization, has been assigned the additional mandate in the implementation, follow-up and review of the New Urban Agenda.
The New Urban Agenda offers a viable framework through its policy options for planning, developing and managing robust and livable cities and other human settlements. This Agenda also finds its relevance in the localization and implementation of the SDGs. All aspects of human development as espoused in the SDGs, especially, poverty eradication, sustained economic growth as well as combating climate change will be realized in cities and rural areas.
We are confident this Agenda is a step in the right direction, among other goals, in “making cities and other human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” as envisioned in SDG 11.
Mr. Chair,
Given the role and importance of UN-Habitat within the UN system as a focal point on sustainable urbanization and human settlements, my delegation supports the proposal to merge the UN Habitat with a UN-Urban entity.
An optimal implementation of the New Urban Agenda will need not only an enabling environment but also mobilization of financial resources.
Secondly, therefore, Mr. Chair, on funding, in order to augment efforts by Governments, the international community should galvanize financial resources both from public and private sources for enhanced capacity building, technical assistance and technology transfer.
The UN-Habitat is at crossroads. Financially, the agency cannot support itself. Currently it is among the least funded of all the UN-agencies. To save, stabilize and rapidly strengthen UN-Habitat, the United Nations must provide an immediate financial rescue package as a stopgap measure to cushion the agency from imminent collapse. This should be followed by providing additional, adequate and predictable financial resources from the UN regular budget.
My delegation further supports the call for the identification of innovative funding sources including through the establishment of the proposed Global Trust Fund and a scaling up voluntary contributions from traditional and new, donors, and development of a cooperation strategy with other relevant stakeholders such as the private sector.
The goal is to have predictable multi-year funding and increased non-earmarked contributions to support the implementation of the UN-Habitat mandate, and consequently sustainable urbanization.
Thirdly, Mr. Chair, resource mobilization has to go hand in hand with strengthened local and international partnership and collaboration. In Kenya, 37% of our people work and live in cities and towns. This is expected to rise to 70% by 2030. We are determined to establish the necessary frameworks to ensure this structure increasingly creates globally competitive cities for investments.
Furthermore, Africa is the second most populous continent with a population of about 1.2 billion. By 2050, this is expected to rise to about 2 billion. Currently, a significant proportion of this population lives in rural areas. Nevertheless, the trend is progressively changing since the continent is the fastest urbanizing region in the world.
The trend presents immense opportunities for collaboration and partnerships in developing smart cities across Africa- cities that are economically viable, socially livable, environmentally resilient, and politically stable.
Lastly, we urge the Secretary-General to ensure that the reform of the United Nations Development System, the peacekeeping system, and the management of the UN enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of the UN-Habitat in the successful delivery of the relevant aspects of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the new responsibilities as outlined in the recent international agreements.
In conclusion, Mr. Chair, Kenya reiterates its support to the New Urban Agenda and urges for its full and effective implementation. We are looking forward to participating in the World Urban Forum in February 2018 hosted by the Government of Malaysia in the city of Kuala Lumpur.
Indeed, the destiny of mankind, the planet and its life support system, largely depends on the way we manage our cities and rural areas.
I thank you.