Rio de Janeiro
It is truly a very great honour for me and my colleagues at UN-HABITAT to have convened this fifth session of the World Urban Forum here in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro. In terms of global participation, it has been by far the largest forum we have yet held. It has been also a gathering at which we heard many voices from every region of the world.
Rio de Janeiro
If women do not feel safe, the city is unsafe. And this means providing safety from the home and all those places in between—streets, parks, schools, neighbourhoods and other public spaces. It must be a continuum – from door to door, day and night.
It is indeed a great honour to be here today to celebrate the first Rafik Hariri Memorial Award that was yesterday presented to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, His Excellency Recep Erdogan. It is also my pleasure to inaugurate the Rafik Hariri Memorial Lecture Series.
This is a great achievement! My congratulations to you all for it is thanks to your hard work and your political lobbying that has ensured the voices and messages of the youth get into the process of the World Urban Forum.
Your Worship Mayor Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro,
Ms Lucia Maiera, Special Advisor of the Special Secretariat of Policies for Women, who is here on behalf of Honourable Nilcéa Freire, Minister of the Special Secretariat of Policies for Women, Presidency of the Federative Republic of Brazil,
It is a great honour and indeed a great pleasure for me to present to you, Your Worship, Mayor Se-hoon Oh, the Habitat Scroll of Honour Special Citation for the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
It is an honour and a privilege for me to receive this award in recognition of my contribution to learning and to the advancement of knowledge for holistic human development. I wish to convey my gratitude to the University Council for bestowing upon me this accolade. I take it as a tribute not only to what I have been blessed to do in my life, but also as a recognition of the centrality of holistic human development in teaching and learning; and indeed, in all vocations.
It is a great pleasure to welcome all of you who have given generously of your time to participate in this Messengers of Truth Urban Arts and Youth Summit. I would like to take this opportunity to extend a special welcome to our UN-HABITAT Messengers of Truth, representatives of local and national governments, private sector, community based arts groups and other guests who have traveled from afar as well as our colleagues based in Kenya.
The Hague, The Netherlands
It is a great honour and privilege for me to address the first session of CFC’s 20th Anniversary Seminar on the Role of Commodities in Development. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my good friend His Excellency Ambassador Mchumo, Managing Director of CFC, for inviting me to this important event.
It is with a deep sense of honour, gratitude and humility that I accept this prize, not only for myself but also for my colleagues at UN-HABITAT who have been by my side in our campaign for sustainable urbanization. We continue to seek an end to homelessness, urban poverty, deprivation, social exclusion and suffering throughout the world. If we cannot secure the human habitat, we shall not be able to secure the environment. Sustainable urbanization is a prerequisite for sustainable development.
First of all, I would like to say what a personal and professional privilege it is for me to join you this morning to discuss this most important topic. My special thanks go to UNDESA, the Global Alliance for ICT and Development, the Regional Plan Association (RPA), and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York Chapter for fostering this initiative of which we are proud to be associated with.
It is a great honour and privilege for me to accept the Honorary Degree conferred upon me today by the prestigious Warsaw School of Economics. I must start by expressing my deep and humble appreciation to this School as well as the many others involved in initiating and supporting this highly significant gesture of recognition.
Nairobi,Kenya
I am honoured and privileged to address this welcoming session of this International Seminar on Sustainable Public Transport for Africa. Before starting, I would like to request a one-minute silence in honour of our dear colleague, Brian Williams who passed away almost one month ago. Brian was a highly respected professional and an acknowledged expert in his field of energy and transport. He was also a very loving and caring father.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
It is a great honor to be asked to address this distinguished Alumni and the Graduation Ceremony of this esteemed University. This was an invitation that was gladly received and had to be given top priority, coming as it did from my own boss and mentor, Prof. Geoffrey Mmari. I am glad God has enabled me to make it from New York where I was attending the UN General Assembly. I am delighted to be here on this asuspicious occassion.
It is an honour to report to you today with an update of the activities of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. As my term of office comes to a close, this occasion marks the last time that I appear before this Committee in my capacity as UN-HABITAT’s Executive Director to highlight the achievements and the challenges that confront us in a rapidly urbanising world.
Washington, DC
It is an honor for me and my colleagues from UN-HABITAT to be here on this historic occasion when World Habitat Day is hosted by the Government and people of the United States of America in the nation’s esteemed capital, Washington, D.C.
We have chosen the theme, Planning our Urban Future, for World Habitat Day 2009 for a simple but very important reason: In many parts of our world urban planning systems have changed very little. Indeed, they are often contributors to urban problems rather than tools for human and environmental improvement.
Address by Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN-HABITAT at the closing ceremony of the fifth session of World Urban Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Friday, 26 March 2010