It is necessary to ensure that the high-level meeting of the Baku Sustainability Coalition on urban climate action and sustainable urbanization is elevated to a qualitatively new stage, stated Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development Alice Mutoni Wahome at the high-level meeting of the Baku Sustainability Coalition on urban climate action and sustainable urbanization held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Report informs.
"I was in Baku for COP29, and we indeed held discussions and reached an agreement that the issue of sustainability – how communities are managed, how their livelihoods are subsequently affected – is of paramount importance, because sustainability and adaptation become key components.
Based on this, when analyzing the work we have done, it is necessary to acknowledge the need for advance planning, because people are already living in our immediate proximity. When it comes to interacting with communities already established in our urban areas, the matter becomes significantly more complex, because the infrastructure required to support them demands enormous financial investments. In a situation where people have already settled in our cities, belated – and sometimes untimely – intervention makes the issue of financing critically important," the minister noted.
Wahome drew attention to the necessity of reaching agreements on tools capable of ensuring the attraction of significant financial resources, as well as identifying legal, administrative and regulatory mechanisms for the joint mobilization of this financing.
"However, bearing in mind that equity plays a fundamental role, that people are at the center of attention, and that these homes will provide people with shelter – all of this becomes a priority direction for member states, for countries, this becomes a priority for me as a cabinet secretary, it becomes a priority for our country Kenya. That is precisely why I would like to express my support for this initiative and thank UN-Habitat and the Government of Azerbaijan for organizing WUF13," the minister stated.