South African minister highlights cooperation with UN-Habitat

JOHANNESBURG, Oct. 14 — The Minister of Human Settlements Mmamoloko Kubayi on Wednesday night said South Africa and UN-Habitat are at an advanced stage to ensure that UN-Habitat opens an office in South Africa.
Kubayi remarked during the high-level stakeholder engagement between the executive director of UN-Habitat Maimunah Mohd Sharif and the South African government. She said the South African government values the relationship with UN-Habitat and would like it to be strong.
Kubayi said the visit by Sharif is an affirmation of the strong relationship between the South African government and the UN-Habitat. She said the collaboration has improved urban safety, capacity building, and municipal financing.
Sharif has called for more collaboration between her organization and the country’s stakeholders to address human settlements and improve the quality of life. Sharif is on a five-day visit to hold bilateral discussions on strategic partnerships and country programs.
“We are here to engage and learn about the programs in the country and see where we can work together and collaborate to improve the quality of life. With 2030 (Sustainable Development Goals cutoff date) around the corner, we must work with speed to address the goals. By collaborating we can make things happen,” said Sharif.
She stated that climate change and COVID-19 have taken the world some steps back. Sharif said by 2030 about 70 percent of the people will live in cities and countries have to prepare for that. She said urbanization should not be a challenge, but countries should prepare for that.
“There should be a new paradigm and plan for cities to make them resilient. We can’t blame urbanization. We can’t stop urbanization but can prepare for it. It has to be well managed as we built integrated cities which are well planned,” Sharif said.
She said communities have to have access to housing and leave no one behind. Sharif said the UN-Habitat policy and strategy should be adopted and aligned to the country’s policies at national and provincial levels.
Sharif would visit various parts of the country and see the effects of climate change, informal settlements, and projects they have with the South African government. South Africa signed a partnership agreement 25 years ago.  (Xinhua)