15 May 2018
Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, UN-Habitat Meet on NUA, SDG Implementation
UN Photo/Kibae Park/Sipa Press
story highlights

The dialogue in Guinea-Bissau focused on urban resilience, particularly in the context of political instability, poor planning and ineffective enforcement.

In Cape Verde, participants discussed housing and sustainable urban development, along with efforts to deal with the growth of slums.

The Cape Verde meeting launched a participatory programme to improve informal settlements, which will run until 2022 with the participation of affected communities.

9 May 2018: Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), convened Urban Breakfast dialogue sessions to raise awareness on sustainable urban development and review implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and progress towards achieving the SDGs.

The Urban Breakfast in Guinea-Bissau focused on urban resilience, particularly in the context of political instability, poor planning and ineffective enforcement. The country faces rapid urbanization mainly through migration from rural areas to the capital, Bissau, which is located in a fragile coastal ecosystem threatened by uncontrolled urban sprawl. Participants discussed planning resilient urban development in, and various urban planning options for, Bissau. Many supported a proposal for the development of a ministry-led UN-Habitat country programme.

In Praia, Cape Verde, a similar event discussed housing and sustainable urban development. Participants assessed progress regarding NUA implementation, and discussed preparation of Cape Verde’s Voluntary National Review (VNR) to be submitted to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2018. Speakers highlighted efforts to deal with the growth of slums, particularly on tourist islands. In addition, the event launched a participatory programme to improve informal settlements, which will run until 2022 with the participation of affected communities.

Participants of the two events included representatives of civil society, national and sub-national governments, the private sector and the UN. The meetings underscored the importance of inclusive dialogue platforms in raising awareness and engaging all stakeholders for effective NUA and SDG implementation. [UN-Habitat News Story]


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