Luanda - Angola's ambassador to Kenya, Mário de Azevedo Constantino, on Tuesday in Nairobi, reaffirmed the country's commitment to working with United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), as it is a crucial partner in promoting social and economic development in territorial and urban planning field.
Due to that, he reiterated the country's willingness to deepen relations with the organization, especially in projects that have a direct impact on the well-being of citizens.
These statements were made during the first session of this year of the Executive Board of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), which takes place from 25 to 27 this month, at the headquarters of the UN-Habitat organization.
For this reason, he expressed his conviction that the actions taken by the organization will make the recruitment process more effective in terms of diversity and balance.
The official added that he hopes these measures will lead to the achievement of a broad geographical distribution of staff and gender parity within UN-Habit, as enshrined in Article 8 of the UN Charter.
In addition to the financial, budgetary and administrative issues that are being discussed by the Executive Board at its first session of 2025, it highlighted an update on the draft work programme and the Draft Budget of the United Nations Foundation for Habitat and Human Settlements for 2026.
The meeting will include an update on the preparation and possible recommendation of the draft strategic plan for the period 2026-2029, a briefing on the Sustainable Cities and Communities Foundation, the implementation of normative and operational activities, including reports on programmatic activities in 2024.
Participants will discuss the implementation of its sub-programmes, flagship programmes and technical cooperation activities.
The Executive Board is composed of 36 Member States.
Given its importance, its sessions are also open to observers, UN Member States that are not members of the Executive Board, any member of a specialized agency, Organizations of the United Nations System and Organizations in Consultative Status with United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) or accredited to the United Nations Habitat Assembly.
This was the first participation of Mário de Azevedo Constantino in this meeting after having been accredited as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Angola to Kenya by the President of the Republic of Kenya, William Ruto.
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