SADC Executive Secretary, H.E. Mr. Elias Magosi, today 26 February 2025 met with Mr. Oumar Sylla, the Director for Regional Office for Africa of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). The purpose of the courtesy visit was to mainly foster collaboration between the two organisations, through discussion of shared priorities and explore ways to strengthen cooperation in promoting sustainable urban development across the region.
The UN-Habitat is the coordinating agency within the United Nations System for human settlement activities and, in collaboration with governments, is responsible for promoting and consolidating collaboration with all partners, including local authorities, private and non-governmental organisations, in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, Goal 11 of “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.
The Executive Secretary informed the UN-Habitat that through the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030) under Pillar 3 (SOCIAL AND HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT), Strategic Objective: Enhanced living conditions of the people through the promotion of sustainable cities in the region, the SADC Secretariat requires technical and financial resources to implement this objective.
In this regard, SADC Secretariat and the UN-HABITAT signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2023, fully informed by the RISDP 2020-2030. The purpose of this MoU is to provide a legal framework of cooperation and facilitate collaboration between the two parties, on areas of mutual interest, for the period until December 2028.
