By Ezra Kashumbusha and Gilbert Akampa Kakurugu,
KAMPALA
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in 1985 to observe the first Monday of October every year as the International Habitat Day. However, Uganda has opted to hold the event on Thursday, October 5th to enable full participation of partners.
This year’s theme for the World Habitat Day is “Resilient Urban Economies, Cities and Drivers of Growth and Economic Recovery”. The symposium will be held at Mestil Hotel and Residences in Kampala.
Hon. Judith Nabakoba Nalule, the Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development, revealed that the first housing symposium was held in October 2022, and stakeholders endorsed that a national level forum be jointly convened annually to bring all key actors together to address the escalating housing deficit.
The goal of the national housing symposium is to provide a sector-wide platform to showcase innovation that supports access to decent, affordable and inclusive housing, while addressing affordability, habitability and tenure security through a collaborative arrangement with other stakeholders.
“All stakeholders in the housing sector are reminded to pause, reflect and review their performance in the past year, recommit themselves and marshal resources to improve the state of their human settlement and housing conditions for the next year,” said Hon. Nabakoba.
The Symposium will also include the implementation of Enterprise development project additional funding through land adjudication and certification project to increase security.
Housing is a fundamental human right, and the ministry, together with its partners, is committed to ensuring that this right is upheld for everyone. The public is encouraged to support the Home Equals campaign to help achieve this goal.
