By Thabo Mokgola
HOUSING and development experts from across Africa converged in Durban in preparation for a two-day ministerial meeting scheduled to commence on Thursday.
Representatives from African governments, the United Nations Habitat and the African Union (AU), officially opened the three-day expert meeting.
The main objective is to prepare recommendations for submission to the African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (AMCHUD).
The latter - expected to draw over 45 ministers from across the continent in the fields of housing, urbanisation, development and local government - is aimed at dealing with the challenges of urbanisation and development in Africa.
During the welcoming ceremony, speakers agreed that the conference ought not to become a talk shop but should emerge with realistic outcomes for implementation.
Most notably, they agreed that there was an urgent need to agree on an enhanced framework of implementation in overcoming the challenges of shelter and urbanisation, taking into account the Millennium Development Goals, Nepad and decisions of the 2002 Johannesburg Summit.
Another expected outcome is to enable decision-makers to develop a collective understanding of the implications of urbanisation and human settlements in the strategic vision and mission the AU adopted recently.
Speaking on behalf of the South African government, Housing Director-General Mpumi Mpofu said the expert meeting ought to emerge with firm recommendations on an implementation plan for the way forward.
"On your work depend the lives of 75 percent of Africa's urbanised people. On your work depends Africa's future development and on you rest the hopes of all our people for a better life. "You know you cannot fail them," she said.
UN-Habitat representative Lars Ruitersward said what was needed at this gathering were efforts to emerge with a united action to tackle problems and to build high degree dynamism in the development of urban systems.
"The output that will reach the ministers from this meeting will be derived not from an ordinary expert group meeting but from a body that addresses issues of urban land, shelter and urbanisation by putting people's welfare at the centre of development," he said.
Ruitersward added that UN-Habitat stood ready to provide necessary inputs for realising the expected results.
It is expected that the summit will allow African ministers, NGOS, academics and researchers to share ideas on how to fast-track the implementation of Africa's human settlement agenda.
Source: BuaNews
Presentation for Seminar
