World Habitat Day
Every year, on the first Monday in October, the United Nations celebrates World Habitat Day. In 1985, in accordance with the recommendation of the Commission on Human Settlements, the UN General Assembly by its resolution (A/RES/40/202) established this World Day with the goal of providing the world’s population with housing by 2000. The main idea of the Day is to think about the state of our cities and the basic universal right to adequate housing, as well as remind the world of the collective responsibility for the future of the human environment.
The United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) promotes sustainable human settlements development through advocacy, policy formulation, capacity building, knowledge generation and strengthening partnerships between governments and civil society.
UN-Habitat was founded in 1978. It is the leading agency for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the coordination of human settlements development in the United Nations system, focusing on two priority areas: adequate shelter for all and sustainable urban development. UN-Habitat is also mandated to help the international community achieve the Millennium Development Goals, with a target of improving the livelihoods of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
UN-Habitat has two major global campaigns – the Global Campaign for Urban Governance and the Global Campaign for Secure Tenure.
The Human Settlements Program provides support and works in collaboration with governments, local authorities, NGOs and the private sector. Its technical programs and projects focus on a wide range of issues, including slum reconstruction, urban poverty reduction, disaster relief and reconstruction, urban water and sanitation, and mobilizing local financial resources for housing. Most of these programs are implemented in collaboration with other bilateral aid agencies.
Since 1996, World Architecture Day has been timed to coincide with World Habitat Day.
The problems of housing and living conditions were raised at the first UN conference on sustainable settlement development in Vancouver, Canada in 1976. Since then, the world has changed significantly, but the problems of lack of housing, poverty, pollution and disease do not lose their severity, rather the opposite.
In his speech on World Housing Day 1999 on the theme “Cities for All,” the UN Secretary-General stated that all urban dwellers – young and old, rich and poor, men and women – must have a say in decision-making concerning their lives, and noted that when local governments maintain a genuine partnership with civil society, including the poorest of the urban population, the entire environment is beneficial.
In April 2015, at the organizational session of the UN Economic and Social Council, elections to the subsidiary bodies of the Council were held, during which ECOSOC members unanimously elected Turkmenistan to the Board of Governors of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) for the period 2016-2019.
Along with this, during the above session, Turkmenistan was re-elected as a member of the UN Commission on Population and Development for the new period 2016-2019.
In the prosperous epoch of the powerful state, under the wise leadership of the esteemed President, the sphere of urban planning and infrastructure is actively developing in our country. In the cities and villages of our Motherland, new, modern, comfortable residential buildings, schools, houses of culture and art, shopping and entertainment centers, medical centers and much more are being built. Particular emphasis is placed on the transformation of the white marble capital. Ashgabat, being a large business, cultural center and a recognized city of international cooperation, embodies a successful model of a dynamically developing capital. It harmoniously combines beauty and comfort, the latest architectural developments, the advanced achievements of engineering and technical thought and the traditions of national architecture. Our white marble capital should become not only one of the most beautiful and most comfortable cities, but also turn into an advanced metropolis.
Day by day Ashgabat is becoming more beautiful, and its magnificent architectural ensemble is replenished with new buildings and structures. The city infrastructure is being systematically modernized, which provides Ashgabat residents with conveniences in accordance with international standards. In recent years, entire districts have been reconstructed in the capital, new comfortable residential areas have appeared, among which are architectural objects erected as part of the 16th stage of construction in the capital.
More than 5 thousand people got keys of comfortable apartments. The laying of the foundation of a grandiose mega-project in the northern part of the capital “Ashgabat City”, the idea of which belongs to the esteemed President of Turkmenistan, is also worth mentioning.
During the celebration days of the 30th anniversary of the sacred independence of Turkmenistan, new residential buildings and social facilities were commissioned in cities, villages and in the capital city.
Serdar RAHIMOV,
3rd Year Student of the Faculty
of International Relations
of the Institute of
International Relations of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan