SL among first countries backing human settlement development strategy: NHDA Chairman

PrepComIII of the UN Habitat Conference was held in Surabaya, Indonesia from 25-27 July. Pic shows National Housing Development Authority Chairman L.S. Palansuriya  addressing the inauguration session of this conference

Sri Lanka was one of the first countries to commit to the implementation of an ‘enabling strategy’ in human settlements development, according to National Housing Development Authority (NHDA) Chairman L.S. Palansuriya.

He made this observation at the third session of the Preparative Committee (PrepCom3) for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat 3) held from 25-27 July in Surabaya, Indonesia.

“Sri Lanka’s urban-rural linkages have been getting stronger during the last few decades owing to the village-based programs of the Government. Sri Lanka’s population growth is one of the lowest in the region and urbanisation in terms of the increase of persons living in areas designated as urban is low with the population of Colombo city actually decreasing,” he stated. 

“Sri Lanka is one of the first countries to commit to the implementation of an ‘enabling strategy’ in human settlements development. We have played an active role in the deliberations of this august agency – the UN-Habitat - for many years and we’re responsible for mooting the declaration of an International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (IYSH) in 1987.  Therefore, we in Sri Lanka are proud to be associated with the new moves and strategies developed and launched by UNCHS.”

Indonesian Vice President Muhammed Jusuf Kalla, who inaugurated the PrepCom3 ceremony, said: “There are three important things to be highlighted in relation to cities. They are people, people and people. We are now living in an urbanised world where 54% of the population of people live in a city. Cities are made for people and by people. This is the place for us. We grow up in cities. We meet each other in cities and cities happened because of us.”

PrepCom3 put the city of Surabaya in the global spotlight of sustainable urbanisation for three days. In 27 parallel events and 39 side events, United Nations member states, representatives from intergovernmental organisations, local and regional governments and stakeholders discussed how a new model of urban development would be able to integrate all facets of sustainable development to promote equity, welfare and shared prosperity. 

The important role of PrepCom3 as the key arena for member states to discuss the New Urban Agenda before the Habitat III Conference in Quito was also reflected through the extraordinarily high turnout.  Nearly 5,000 participants attended the PrepCom3 - among whom were 860 international participants from 142 different countries - during the three days of this meeting.

At the inauguration ceremony of Habitat PrepCom3, the NHDA Chairman added: “Access to adequate housing has been a Sri Lankan government priority and the programs aimed to shelter and settlement programs uplifting the living conditions of people centred on housing development.  The availability of drinking water, sanitation, drainage, clean energy and accessibility to urban amenities is higher than many countries in the region.  There is room for many improvements, especially in regard to community housing, housing finance and the land market.  The National Housing Policy identified several non-conventional areas of housing such as rental housing, over-night stays, etc.”

Palansuriya went on to state: “The New Urban Agenda needs to consider moving up to the next level of development where the quality of housing is to be enhanced. The Sri Lankan approach to a New Urban Agenda will also consider the inclusion of some essential aspects of being a human.”

During the three days of this PrepCom3, the final draft for the new urban agenda was published by the United Nations Habitat with the agreement of the participants and this will be submitted to the Habitat III United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development which will take place in Quito, Ecuador from 17-20 October 2016.

The United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the Habitat III Conference to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanisation in order to focus on the implementation of a New Urban Agenda, building on the Habitat Agenda of Istanbul set in 1996.

In resolution 66/207, and in line with the bi-decennial cycle (1976, 1996 and 2016), the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the Habitat III Conference to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanisation, to focus on the implementation of a New Urban Agenda, building on the Habitat Agenda of Istanbul in 1996.