Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah Chairs UN Habitat Assembly

Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah presided over the just-ended 2nd Session of the United Nations (UN) Habitat Assembly.

The Deputy Minister who is Vice-President of the Assembly, presided over proceedings which started on 5th of June 2023 and ended on 9th June 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme “A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in times of global crises.”

As the governance body of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the United Nations Habitat Assembly convenes every four years. It is the highest global decision-making body on sustainable urbanization and human settlements.

The 193 UN Member States cast the votes, while participants include non-Member States, other UN bodies and specialized agencies, as well as intergovernmental organizations, civil society, private sector, academia and research institutions, women, youth and children, and grassroots organizations.

The Techiman South lawmaker led participants to adopt several resolutions including;

• International guidelines on people-centered smart cities;
• Accelerating the transformation of informal settlements and slums by 2030;
• World Cleanup Day;
• Biodiverse and resilient cities;
• enhancing the interlinkage between urbanization and climate change resilience;
• Localization of SDGs;
• Adequate housing for all;
• Urban planning and sustainable infrastructure;
• Creation of a human settlements resilience framework; and
• Equitable financing and effective monitoring of the implementation of UNHA2 resolutions.

In his closing remarks, the Hon. Adjei-Mensah Korsah, acting as Assembly President, thanked delegates for their cooperation and declared the meeting adjourned.