UN-Habitat participates at the Economist Safe Cities Summit
Singapore, 29th August 2019. The Safe Cities Index of 2019 was successfully launched during the Safe Cities Summit held by The Economist. UN-Habitat Afghanistan was invited to participate in the summit and share experiences of Safer Cities Programme in Asia through the Afghanistan Urban Safety and Security Programme (AUSSP).
AUSSP assists the Government of Afghanistan in healthier urban development through promoting safer and secure cities. The programme is currently present in Kabul and other seven provinces, namely Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Kunduz, Farah, Nili, and Bamyan. Funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the programme aims at improving state-society relations to advance the neighborhood safety and security in urban areas with special attention to marginalized groups such as women, youth, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and returnees.
During the conference, Keiko Matsuo, AUSSP Chief Technical Advisor, stated that “for the future of urban living, the key for action is placing people and communities in the center of decision making and implementation process for promoting urban safety and security” She added that “Asian cities are often with unstable political situations, and therefore directly engaging with communities and people ensures bottom-up growth, building their capacities as a vital partner for government and municipalities.”
For more information, contact Mr Koussay Boulaich, UN-Habitat’s Head of Communications in Afghanistan