At WUF12, DPM Singh seeks UN cooperation on Nepal's urban challenges 

KATHMANDU: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Urban Development, Prakash Man Singh, has called for the cooperation of the United Nations and UN-Habitat to address Nepal's major urban challenges.

During bilateral meetings on Friday with Kazuko Ishigaki, Regional Representative for the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and the UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, on the sidelines of the 12th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12) in Cairo, Minister Singh stressed the need for collaboration to tackle significant urban challenges.

Ishigaki pledged that UN-Habitat would always support Nepal through fact and data-based projects.

Similarly, Hamdy emphasised the UN’s commitment to robust cooperation for sustainable urbanisation. She also highlighted the need to localise the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and stressed UN-Habitat's role in addressing urban development challenges.

Minister Singh addressed three sessions at the World Urban Forum. During the session on 'Cities and Climate Crisis' on Tuesday at WUF12, he emphasised climate justice and sought technical collaboration and assistance for city-level climate adaptation to promote inclusive and resilient urbanisation.

"For Nepal, the climate crisis is becoming our day-to-day reality. We are one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, and we can already see its devastating impacts on lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure, both in rural and urban areas," he informed the Forum.

WUF12, which commenced on November 4, concludes today. DPM Singh is scheduled to return home at 10:00 am on Saturday.

By RSS