Dangiwa Meets Group of African Members of the UN Habitat Executive Board  ·    Says Nigeria’s Chairmanship will Ensure Strategic Direction for UN Habitat, etc   Nairobi, Kenya - On May 7th, 2024, the Honourable Minister of Housing and Urban Development and Chair of the UN-Habitat Executive Board, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, engaged in a critical meeting with the Africa Group, representing 10 countries, on the sidelines of the first session of the 2024 UN-Habitat Executive Board Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.   At the meeting, Arc. Dangiwa outlined the key priorities for Nigeria's leadership of the Executive Board, as identified during the recent Retreat of the Regional Group of African States in Naivasha, Kenya. These priorities include:   1.    Promoting increased strategic direction for UN-Habitat by promoting the balance between the organisation’s Mandate, the available global opportunities as well as within the United Nations Wide System and the quest for increased Resources.   2.    Regular and ongoing caucusing for the benefit of the continent. Under this, he said Nigeria will call for a Ministerial Caucus, and subsidiary technical fora of the Africa Group on Human Settlements in line with the African Union Specialised Technical Committee On Public Service, Local Government, Urban Development And Decentralisation (AU-STC 8).   3.    Enhanced global collaboration and engagement. He noted that Nigeria will also be working towards increased global collaboration through engagement both in consultation with Nairobi based delegations and Capitals. This will include engagements with stakeholders from other regions. Nigeria will also be calling for a platform for Ministerial Collaboration of Members of the Executive Board and would be glad to drive the agenda through the Africa Group.   4.    Strengthened due diligence to maximize benefits and protect the organization's mandate. He noted that Nigeria commits to enhancing due diligence to UN-Habitat activities to ensure that the continent achieves increased benefits for its engagement within UN-Habitat in particular and the UN system in general, as well as to protect the organization from possible erosion of its mandate. Furthermore, the Honourable Minister highlighted additional continental priorities, including the celebration of UN-Habitat's 50th anniversary, the development of a new strategic plan, and the promotion of African-grown initiatives.   Arc. Dangiwa expressed gratitude to Her Excellency Dr. Vivian Nain Kuma of Cameroon, Chair of the Africa Group, for convening the meeting, and expressed appreciation to all attending delegations for their commitment to the cause. He emphasized the importance of sustained and purposeful engagement in matters of human settlements, acknowledging the pivotal role played by the Africa Group in advocating for the continent's interests.   Dr. Vivian Nain Kuma, in her response, congratulated Nigeria and the Hon. Minister for assuming the position of Chair of UN-Habitat as Africa’s representative. She pledged, on behalf of members of the Group, that they will work to support his agenda and ensure the success of his tenure as Chair. She encouraged the Hon. Minister to champion strategic collaboration with the Shelter Afrique Development as part of efforts to raise concessional finance to solve the continent’s housing and urban development challenges.   The meeting featured a presentation by the Managing Director of Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), Mr. Thierno-Habib Hann, who spoke on the need for strategic collaboration between the institution and UN-Habitat, especially since they share similar objectives and a unique Board leadership under Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa. Such a partnership, he said, will help unlock concessional funding necessary to meet the continent’s housing and urban development needs. ...

Dangiwa Chairs First Session of 2024 UN-Habitat Executive Board Meeting in Nairobi The First Session of the 2024 Executive Board Meeting of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme has commenced in Nairobi under the Chairmanship of Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development. The session is being held at the UN-Habitat Headquarters from May 6th to 8th, 2024. In his opening remarks at the meeting, Arc. Dangiwa tasked members of the Executive Board of UN-Habitat to redouble efforts towards repositioning the organization as an impactful global tool for tackling human settlements’ challenges in a structured and sustainable manner. “As members of the Executive Board, I must draw our collective attention to the fact that our nations, at this time, are among the privileged few tasked with the important responsibility for the regular supervision of the global human settlements agenda. We have a moral obligation to approach this duty with our best efforts, utmost sincerity, and the highest responsibility for the good of mankind. To this end, during my Chairmanship, I intend to pursue global collaboration in partnership with the various regional and political groups, and I would count on your support as I look forward to active engagement to bring this organization to its rightful footing,” he said. The Minister, who also doubles as the Chair of the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) Bureau of the Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), noted that he sees his unique positions as an opportunity to forge strategic alliances that are beneficial to actualizing the mandate of UN-Habitat. “I do not count it a coincidence that as the Minister of Housing and Urban Development of the most populous country in Africa, I also Chair the AGM Bureau of Shelter Afrique Development Bank, and I now Chair the Executive Board of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. I see these strategic alignments as a call to maximize the opportunities my current positions afford me to promote more beneficial global collaborations, more international attention, and hopefully, more funding for UN-Habitat,” he noted. The UN-Habitat Executive Board is a legislative body of UN-Habitat. It comprises 36 member states elected by the UN-Habitat Assembly with 10 seats for Africa, one of which is occupied by Nigeria currently producing the Chair, 8 seats for Asia and Pacific States, 4 seats for Eastern European States, 6 seats for Latin America and Carribean States, and 8 Seats for Western European and other States. Nigeria has been a member of the Executive Board since 2019 and was granted a renewed term of two years in 2023 until 2025. The body convenes three times a year to oversee the implementation of the normative and operational activities of UN-Habitat, ensure accountability, transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness, approve and oversee the implementation of the annual programme of work and budget of the organization.  Notable issues slated for discussion at the first session of the 2024 Board Meeting include financial, budgetary, and administrative matters, including the implementation of the resource mobilization strategy in accordance with the strategic plan for the period 2020–2025 and actions by UN- Habitat to address geographical and gender imbalances in the composition of its staff; updates on the draft work program of UN-Habitat and the draft budget of the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation for 2025, progress on the strategic plan of UN-Habitat for the period 2026–2029, and implementation of the normative and operational activities of UN-Habitat, including reporting on its programmatic activities in 2023 and the implementation of subprograms, flagship programs, and technical cooperation activities. The meeting will also review the implementation of the United Nations development system reform in UN-Habitat and actions taken by UN-Habitat to strengthen protection against sexual and any other type of exploitation and abuse and against sexual harassment in the workplace. The opening session had attendance representatives of the 36 member countries, the Cabinet Secretary for Lands, Public Works, Housing and Urban Development of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. Alice Wahome who welcomed the members on behalf of the Kenyan President His Excellency, William Ruto.    ...

Dangiwa Receives Progress Reports from Housing Sector Reform Task Teams ….. 80% of task completed so far … Ministry to host validation workshop on reports Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa has commended the heads and members of the Housing Sector Reform Task Teams instituted by the Ministry for making substantial progress towards delivering on their Terms of Reference.  The commendation was given when the leadership of the four Reform Task Teams constituted by the Ministry in January 2024 made a presentation to the Minister at the Ministry's headquarters in Abuja. The Minister commended the efforts of the teams, noting that they have so far achieved more than 80% of the tasks given to them.  " I am so pleased by the way you have all taken this national assignment so far. I can see the extent of work you have done, and this is a testament to the confidence we reposed in you when we chose you all to drive some of the strategic reforms we were pursuing in the sector" he stated  Dangiwa also expressed delight that the task teams surpassed 80% of the deliverables and expect to receive the final reports in the next few weeks. He explained that the report will form the guidelines to follow in strengthening the institutional capacity of federal housing agencies, promoting synergy between the agencies and optimising their capacity to deliver on the housing mandate, streamlining land administration in Nigeria, and establishing Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria  Accordingly,  the Minister disclosed that a workshop will be held in the coming weeks to have an interface between all four Task Teams and validate their draft reports for fine tuning and necessary modifications before the final reports will be submitted. The task teams, comprising the Housing Institutions ReformTask Teams, Multi-Agency Project Delivery Task Team, Land Reform Task Team, and the Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team, were constituted to map out the modalities, strategies, and frameworks with which the Ministry can break the barriers to efficient housing delivery and embark on sector-wide reforms to bring about sustainable housing delivery and Urban Development in Nigeria. Notably, the Land Reform Task Team, headed by Rev. Ugochukwu Chime, is also expected to review and identify areas of the Land Use Act requiring amendment, as well as map out modalities for the establishment of the National Land Commission. On the other hand, the Building Materials Manufacturing Hubs Task Team, headed by Engr. Nuhu Wya, was charged with designing a framework for how, where, and in what form the hubs will be established, including the design, size, and financial implications. The Housing Institutions ReformTask Team is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that housing agencies under the supervision of the ministry are optimized to deliver on the provision of quality, decent and affordable homes to Nigerians. This includes a thorough review and facilitation of necessary legislative amendments of relevant housing industry laws, including National Housing Fund (NHF) Act,1992, Federal Mortgage Bank Of Nigeria Establishment Act, 1993, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Act,1973, and PenCom Act to allow for increased investment in housing As head of the team, Adedeji Adesemoye said, the issues of Recapitalisation of the FMBN, ensuring that institutions have up-to-date financial reports, and prevailing on Institutions to engage in demand-based analysis are some of the areas where the team has made meaningful progress. On it's part, the Brig. Gen. Tunde Reis (rtd)-led Multi-Agency Project Delivery Task Team is expected to find ways of fostering synergy and collaboration between all federal housing agencies for improved housing delivery in the country.   ...