Inclusive Cities: Resilient Communities
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Government of Nepal Ministry of Urban Development Inclusive Cities: Resilient Communities Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) National Report October 2016 Government of Nepal Ministry of Urban Development Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) National Report ©2016 Government of Nepal, Ministry of Urban Development. Citation: MoUD, 2016. Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) – Nepal National Report. Kathmandu: Government of Nepal, Ministry of Urban Development. Cover photo: Residential development in Lalitpur district of Kathmandu Valley (by Kirti K. Joshi). Message The Third United Nations towards equality, prosperity and justice. Conference on Housing and Implementation of the new Constitution will Sustainable Urban depend on the role that cities and human Development (Habitat III) is settlements will be playing. They ought to taking place two decades shoulder bigger responsibilities including, for after Habitat II held in 1996 in instance, ensuring right to housing, which is Istanbul where member now enshrined in the Constitution as a states, including Nepal, fundamental right. With social and political pledged to work towards achieving adequate achievements on hand, it is also high time to shelter for all and ensuring sustainable human focus our collective energy on physical planning settlements development in an urbanizing and development. Planned and strategic world, and reaffirmed their commitment to the investments in cities are not only important for realization of the right to housing. It is time to urban dwellers but also instrumental in assess our progress against the commitments harnessing rural-urban linkage potentials in we then made. reducing poverty and regional disparity. Besides implementing the new Constitution, we For the past few decades, Nepal has been are also moving towards achieving the experiencing rapid pace of urbanization, driven Sustainable Development Goals with lessons primarily by the rural-to-urban migration of the learnt from our experiences with the Millennium people in search of better livelihoods and Development Goals. I am pleased to see that economic opportunities. Since urbanization of the National Report has dwelt on our domestic the rural areas unleashes development priorities while addressing our international potentials by making yet untapped resources commitments. available, the Government of Nepal recognizes this process as an opportunity for the overall It is a matter of pride that the National Report economic development of the country. has been prepared after a series of intensive consultation with key stakeholders. I There are, however, a host of challenges to congratulate Mr. Deependra Nath Sharma, overcome including housing supply and Secretary at the Ministry of Urban Development affordability; provision of adequate urban and his entire team, for their dedicated efforts in infrastructure and services; employment producing the National Report which, I am sure, opportunities; safety and security; protection of will guide us in our pursuit of sustainable urban environment; and inclusiveness, among others. development in the coming decades. With the promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal in 2015, the country is on a new journey _______________________ Arjun Narasingha KC Minister for Urban Development Foreword Today more than half of the and presents Nepal's New Urban Agenda. The world population live in cities. New Urban Agenda is guided by national and In Nepal, nearly two persons international commitments, in particular to the out of five now live in Sustainable Development Goal 11 ("make cities municipalities. The urban and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient share in the national and sustainable") of the 2030 Agenda for population has increased Sustainable Development. rapidly with the rural-to-urban The National Report has been prepared migration and declaration of new municipalities through rigorous consultations with various as the major driving factors. stakeholders and experts. It is now time to move With the increasing role of cities and human towards realization of the New Urban Agenda, settlements in the overall development of the which requires partnerships based on multi- nation, our municipal areas require and deserve sectoral engagement, participation, and more strategic investments than ever before. collaboration. Sustainable urban development With this on mind, the Ministry of Urban is our national goal and shared responsibility. I Development (MoUD) prepared National Urban am confident that the implementation of the Development Strategy (NUDS) to realize the New Urban Agenda receives the same level of vision of achieving balanced and prosperous enthusiastic support from all stakeholders as national urban system following the National was received during its formulation stage. Urban Policy, 2007. Building on these policy As the Chair of the Steering Committee formed documents, learning from the past experiences, for the preparation of the National Report, I feel and addressing national and international fortunate to have a competent and hardworking commitments, this National Report has evolved, team to successfully accomplish the task. I and the MoUD proudly presents it to the Third would like to thank Mr. Shiva Hari Sharma, Joint United Nations Conference on Housing and Secretary and Mr. Suman Salike, Senior Sustainable Urban Development, 2016 (Habitat Divisional Engineer at the MoUD, for bringing III). stakeholders and experts together for the The Habitat Agenda of Istanbul (Turkey, 1996) formulation of our New Urban Agenda and set twin goals of achieving adequate shelter for producing the National Report. Thanks are also all and ensuring sustainable human settlements due to the team led by Dr. Jibgar Joshi and all development in an urbanizing world. The other contributors to the preparation of the National Report for Habitat III begins with the Report. review of Nepal's progress on the Habitat Agenda; identifies key issues and challenges; _______________________ Deependra Nath Sharma Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development Acknowledgement In resolution 66/207 and in line The Report documents overall achievements of the with the bi-decennial cycle (1976, Habitat II Agenda, and focuses on the issues and 1996 and 2016), the United future challenges in the implementation of New Urban Nations General Assembly Agenda for the next 20 years. decided to convene the Third United Nations Conference on I am indebted to Mr. Deependra Nath Sharma, Housing and Sustainable Urban Secretary at the MoUD for his guidance and directives Development (Habitat III) in 2016 throughout the process. I am thankful to Mr. Padma in Quito, Ecuador to reinvigorate Kumar Mainalee, Joint Secretary and Mr. Suresh the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, Prakash Acharya, Former Secretary who chaired the and to focus on the implementation of a New Urban Technical Committee prior to my assumption of the Agenda, building on Habitat II Agenda and Istanbul position. My special thanks go to Mr. Suman Salike, Declaration, 1996. Senior Divisional Engineer, who has worked as Habitat III program officer in Habitat III secretariat at A 30-member National Habitat Committee was formed MoUD and for his tireless effort and dedication from under the Chair of Honorable Minister for Urban the very beginning of the report preparation, and to Development for the preparation of Habitat III. A 16- Ms. Monika Maharjan, Engineer, for providing member Steering Committee was formed under the excellent support in event organization, knowledge leadership of the Secretary at the Ministry of Urban management, and communication. I would like to Development (MoUD). Likewise, a Technical thank Mr. Padma Sunder Joshi, National Programme Committee comprising eight members was formed Manager, UN-Habitat Nepal for his cooperation. with myself as its chair. The National Report has been prepared under its guidance. A team of experts led by Dr. Jibgar Joshi has prepared and finalized the National Report. The team consisted The process of preparing the Report has been of Dr. Kirti Kusum Joshi (expert, Urban Planning and consistently interactive and consultative, involving key Urban Governance), Ms. Sangeeta Singh and Dr. stakeholders. Five Consultative Forums (professional Sunil Babu Shrestha (experts, Urban Environment and organizations; NGOs, CBOs and civil society; local Housing), and Mr. Sanjaya Uprety and Mr. authorities; youth; and private sector) were formed to Dibyeshwor Shrestha (experts, Urban Demography make the overall process as consultative and inclusive and Urban Economy). The experts' team was as possible. Discussions held in these forums supported by urban planners Mr. Rajendra Man contributed to the creation of knowledge base and Shrestha and Ms. Barsha Chitrakar. The team helped obtain views of the various sectors of the deserves special thanks. I would also like to society. A national workshop was organized on 8 July appreciate the role played by the five Consultative 2016 to consolidate feedback from the key Forums, in particular, their respective coordinators stakeholders received on earlier drafts. The drafts and member secretaries, in making the process were also shared on the MoUD website for wider participatory. feedback. A validation workshop was organized on 26 August 2016. The National Report for Habitat III is thus