Indonesian Public Housing Minister Suharso Monoarfa said his country was committed to solving the urbanisation problem and ready to develop the needed network.
“Indonesia is ready to take a leading role in Asia-Pacific region by developing a Sustainable Urban Development network,” Suharso said on the sidelines of the 23rd Governing Council UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday.
Spokesman of Indonesian Embassy in Nairobi, Riando Sembiring, said the Governing Council UN-Habitat was an international forum for ministers who deal with settlements and urbanisation.
Riando said the public housing minister in the forum made two statements, one was on behalf of Indonesian government and the other was in the name of Asia Pacific Ministerial Conference on Housing and Urban Development (APMCHUD), chaired by Indonesia for 2010-2012 period.
In his capacity as APMCHUD chairman, Suharso conveyed Asia Pacific success in formulating the Solo declaration, adopted on June 24, 2010 to step up cooperation in settlement and urbanisation field.
APMCHUD, established in New Delhi, India in 2006, is a consultative mechanism for the promotion of sustainable housing and urban development in the Asia-Pacific region.
It serves as a forum and network to discuss the urban challenge at the regional level as a basis for national, provincial and local level policies and strategies, and as a focus for the discussion of the Habitat Agenda and the relevant Millennium Development Goals and Targets.
It aims to address the challenges of urbanisation, housing and habitat management, millennium development goals, urban poverty and slum development and to develop strategies and policies for habitat development in which land and housing are considered to be key components.
The five-day Governing Council UN-Habitat in Nairobi from April 11-15 will discuss and make important decisions, at the international level, related to sustainable urban development issues including urban slums handling and the relation of urbanisation issues with climate change.
