Sri Lanka elected to Executive Board of UN-Habitat Assembly 

The inaugural session of the UN-Habitat Assembly (UNHA) took place in Nairobi, Kenya, last month where Sri Lanka was nominated by acclamation to the Executive Board.

This first UNHA was established under the theme ‘Innovation for a Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities,’ and witnessed the participation of 113 countries.

A total of 2,250 delegates – including presidents, prime ministers, ministers and mayors – attended the session.

The sub-theme of the UNHA session (‘accelerated implementation of the New Urban Agenda towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals’) was also discussed at length.

Sri Lanka’s delegation was led by Secretary to the Ministry of Housing, Construction & Culture Affairs Bernard Vasantha, who issued a statement highlighting efforts undertaken by Sri Lanka with regards to housing programmes, governance policies and the overall urban agenda, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He added that the core of the Western Region Megapolis planning concept in Sri Lanka is to provide more green space for housing settlements.

The recently introduced National Construction Policy promotes environmentally-friendly structures with green building guidelines.

Moreover, existing legislation is in the process of being amended to facilitate the implementation of SDGs.