Asia-pacific regions form new forum

A permanent secretariat and a bureau will be set up with India as its first chairperson, reports Hemendra Singh Bartwal.

Plagued by similar problems of fast-paced urbanisation, poverty, mushrooming slums and inadequate civic infrastructure , 30 nations of the Asia-Pacific region have come together to set up a permanent forum for evolving joint strategies to meet these challenges.

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The Asia-Pacific Ministers Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD), which concluded in New Delhi on Saturday, has taken a decision to institute a consultative body with the same name that will meet every two years to review the progress in promoting sustainable development of human settlements in the region.

A permanent secretariat and a bureau will be set up with India as its first chairperson.

The focus of the APMCHUD will be on promoting good urban governance, pro-poor housing policies, slum eradication, low-cost construction technologies for urban and rural housing and other best practices for urban management.

It will coordinate with the UN-Habitat and other international agencies to achieve its objectives, according to Minister of State for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Kumari Selja whose ministry organised the event.
At the conclusion of its first four-day meet in New Delhi, the conference adopted the Delhi Declaration stating that political will, decentralisation, good governance and empowerment of national and local authorities were crucial in meeting the challenges of housing and urbanisation in the region.

It noted that a large percentage of the total population of the Asia-Pacific region was living in slums and that poverty in terms of low income, poor health and education as well as low access to basic services was widespread in the region.

The region was emerging as a major contributor to the global urban transition, holding 61 per cent of the total world population and 43 per cent of its urban population, the Declaration observed.

According to Selja, the participating countries will share their experiences in dealing with problems of slum prevention and upgradation, urban poverty as well as provision of water, sanitation and other civic amenities.

The representatives will then apprise their governments on the strategies evolved at the meet and persuade them to implement these.

Email Hemendra Singh Bartwal: hsbartwal@hindustantimes.com