HABITAT III: MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS COLLABORATE TO SUPPORT NEW URBAN AGENDA’

In support of the ‘New Urban Agenda’ adopted this week during the UN-sponsored global Habitat III conference, eight Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) are putting the Agenda’s words into action by issuing a “Joint Statement”expressing their commitment to promote equitable, sustainable, and productive urbanization and urban communities.

On the occasion of the ‘The New Urban Agenda and the role of the Multilateral Development Banks’ session at Habitat III, the eight MDBs – the Asian Development Bank (ADB), African Development Bank (AfDB), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), and the World Bank – presented their plans to work “together to ensure that the programs we support promote a model of urban development that encourages equitable, sustainable, inclusive and productive settlements, including small rural communities, villages, market towns, intermediate cities, and metropolises.”

“More than any other continent, Africa is facing an extremely rapid urbanization. It’s a challenge that the AfDB will help tackle through the combined synergies of our High 5 Strategies and our operations and interventions. The MDB joint statement is an important step to converge donor’s actions, strategies and improve our services to our member countries,” said Amadou Oumarou, Director of the Transport, ICT and Urban Development Department at the AfDB.

In line with their respective institutional mandates and governance structures, the organizations committed to foster coordination between urban, regional and national development plans, strengthening planning institutions capabilities, and access to finance at all levels of government and in the private sector.

In their Joint Statement, guided by their institutional mandates and their member countries’ own development goals, they committed to supporting the implementation of the UN ‘New Urban Agenda’ through direct financing, catalyzing other resources, as well as domestic resource mobilization. As such, they are determined to continue working to strengthen domestic financial markets, deepen financial inclusion, and attracting sources of co-financing to enable innovative and concessional funding to address the challenges of the poor and most vulnerable urban residents.