UNITAR Contributes to Habitat III Discussions on Urban Legislation and Municipal Finance 

5-6 July 2016, Quito, Ecuador - UNITAR’s Decentralized Cooperation Programme (DCP) in collaboration with the Government of Ecuador hosted the second series of webinars aimed to raise awareness of key topics related to the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III).  330 participants from Ecuador and Latin American countries joined the webinars on 5 and 6 July to learn about Urban Legislation and Municipal Finance.

In the framework of Urban Legislation, the webinar titled “Urban Planning and Rights in Ecuador” took place on 5 July with 220 participants to discuss the relationships between land-use and city planning and how they require an analysis of the legal provisions concerning the use, regulation and exploitation of urban land. Also, it touched on how this relationship influences the fulfillment of constitutional rights, such as: the Right to the City, to housing, to a healthy environment, to access to public services, among others. The context of Ecuador was treated as a subject of study during the presentation.

The webinar on “Municipal Finance” was delivered on 6 July with 100 participants from around the world and provided an introduction to the principles and concepts of municipal finance, as well as examples of how to strengthen the administration of public funds and improve the generation of local revenues. There also was an introduction to the New Urban Agenda that will be adopted during Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador this upcoming October.

This webinar was delivered by Dr. Vito Intini, Manager of the Municipal Investment Fund Programme at the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and by Dr. Dmitry Pozhidaev, Acting Regional Coordinator for Southern and East Africa and Regional Technical Advisor in charge of United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) programming in Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia.