APA News Agency conducted an interview with Amina J. Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
We will move from dialogue to implementation and investment
- What priority outcomes or initiatives do you expect from WUF13 in Baku?
- We will move from dialogue to seeing how we implement the investments in a world where we are going to be over 70% in urban settings by 2050. We have the 2030 agenda to meet in another five years, and the cities' goal is an important one, but it sits within an economy that needs to grow with people and with urban settings as a central part of the investments that are made.
I was here during the COP climate conference, and two years later I also saw growth in your urban settings
- How do you assess Azerbaijan's role in hosting major international dialogue programs?
- Well, we are very proud of the hosting and the partnering that we've had with Azerbaijan. It has many examples. I was here at the COP on climate and two years later, I also saw growth in your urban settings, and that has been inclusive. Young people are part of that, and I think the leadership of Azerbaijan is focused on creating more inclusive cities, to see a way that you have the balance between what has been the traditions and the cultures of the generations gone by to the new world and the opportunities of technology and new designs and urbanization. So this is not just a conference in a few rooms, it's a conference in a city, and a city that is progressive.
We have been involved in the journey that Azerbaijan has taken to peace
- How do you assess the current cooperation between your organization and Azerbaijan and what new opportunities do you see for expanding this partnership, particularly in the areas of sustainable development, urban planning and post-conflict reconstruction?
- Well, we have a very good and long relationship with Azerbaijan. We have a footprint here in which we have a resident coordinator in the country team, a number of agencies that represent different expertise, and so we have continued to work on the sustainable development agenda with Azerbaijan and their priorities. We have, of course, also been involved in the journey that Azerbaijan has taken to peace. Sustaining that peace requires so much more effort, and what we see in Karabakh - the investments in systems in the small and medium-scale industries, in the infrastructure and the quality of it - is one about reintegration into a country where equality is at the center of it. So the relationship is growing. It's growing not just in national priorities but also in Azerbaijan's leadership in the region, and that's important because people look up to Azerbaijan in the progress that they've made, the possibilities of the partnerships. It is difficult today because of the geopolitical tensions and the neighbors' conflict is there right now, but we believe that together we can overcome. So, not just Azerbaijan, the region, but at the global level too, we see Azerbaijan's voice in the General Assembly at the United Nations.
The biggest challenge is financial structures that do not enable access to affordable housing
- Housing affordability remains a serious issue globally, and what advance of practical solutions does the UN support for ensuring affordable and inclusive housing?
- I think the biggest challenge we have is looking at the financial structures that do not enable access to affordable housing, and we have long talked about first making finance available for countries. That requires us to look at the financial architecture internationally and regionally, which will allow investors into an environment that is conducive enough to open up financing for housing. It is more than a government responsibility. It's also the private sector, it's private investors, and all of that has to be done recognizing the diversity of one's community. Those who don't necessarily have the means to do so need not be left behind. So we have to find different financial solutions for that. Governments perhaps have to step in there. But then there are others who are on this ladder of growth, and they also need to be accompanied, whether it is women, young people, or the elderly. I mean, we're talking about a whole life cycle of a dwelling, of a home, and that includes elderly people. Are we living longer today? Where are you in your communities? And how are we making room for them?
We need to see young people, we need to see entire communities, women who live this
- What role can young people and local communities play in shaping sustainable and inclusive cities?
- Well, they have to be fully engaged. It's very important that fora like this encourage the narrative that shaping any policy requires those who will benefit from it. As they say, you should not shave someone’s head in their absence. So we need to see young people, we need to see entire communities, women who live this. You need to have the lived experience. We were talking about informal settlements today and one woman speaking about it said: ‘Do you understand what it means to live in an informal settlement where there is no sanitation? I do not have clean cooking.' How do we bring that in? That will only happen if you have fora like this, but at the national level where policymaking is taking place, where government is designing policy for housing, they need to have that space and consultations with communities at the local level, but communities all the way through to when they make that policy national.
We have an ambitious agenda
- How does the United Nations see the future of urban diplomacy and cross-regional city cooperation?
- We're very hopeful. The urban agenda that has been committed to over the decades is one in which we see, as we saw this time, it's growing, the engagement is growing. So we're very hopeful that even in times of conflict, in times of geopolitical tensions, in times where financing is not always there for development, we still are hopeful that we're able to make some inroads in some countries and use them to say this can be done, and that we can show leadership by the practice that has succeeded, and to bring more people into the tent to gain from urbanization. We have an ambitious agenda and the sustainable development goals are much about an integrated approach. The cities and the urban agenda are a part of that, and so it's very important that we move this together, and we're very hopeful that this can happen if we continue to partner this way, we continue to put visibility on the issues, but we also find the solutions together.
Photo - Ilkin Nabiyev ©️APA GROUP
