World Urban Forum to be held in Bahrain

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain paved the way for Bahrain to host the sixth session of the World Urban Forum in 2012. A press conference preceded the signing ceremony at which the Minister of Housing and Mrs. Tibaijuka outlined the benefits of hosting the world’s premier conference on cities.

On Thursday 10 June 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, hosted a meeting of ambassadors and representatives of Arab countries to appeal for support for the Habitat Programme run by the Palestinian Government and UN-HABITAT.

They called for urgent support to the special Human Settlements Programme for the Palestinian People. The programme focuses on supporting the Palestinian Authority in efforts undertaken to alleviate the deteriorated human settlements conditions in the Palestinian territory through better urban development planning and management, the development of the housing sector, and providing assistance to the overall housing efforts.

Thanking the governments and institutions from the Arab region which have already financially supported the UN-HABITAT’s activities for the Palestinian People, mainly the Saudi Committee for the Palestinian People Relief, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Sudan, the co-chairs asked Arab States for more political and financial backing for the UN-HABITAT in the Palestinian territory.