The Third African Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development closed on Wednesday with a new plan of action to tackle growing urban poverty on the continent.
“It gives me great pleasure to congratulate you on the Bamako Declaration and Plan of Action,” UN-HABITAT’s Executive Director Joan Clos said after governments adopted the new plan after three days of deliberations.
“What we have achieved this week must take us into a new era when we can say we have brought the percentage of people living in slums below the 60 percent level of Africa’s urban populations,” he said.
Dr. Clos congratulated governments for looking into land policies, at new land ideas, at better land governance - “in short, at one of the most important areas where we can bring visible improvement for all in this rapidly urbanising continent.”
“As we heard in many of the excellent presentations this week, land governance which enhances gender equality, decentralized land management and grassroots participation, urban equity, efficiency and sustainability is a key element of successful urban policies,” Dr. Clos said after representatives of some 29 African countries unanimously adopted the new Bamako Declaration and the Plan of Action.
The closing plenary was also addressed by President Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali who also expressed his satisfaction at the outcome of the meeting focussed on better land management and governance in rapidly urbanising African towns and cities.
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