Habitat III Series: Municipal Finance
For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population is living in urban areas. It is remarkable that only one century ago, two out of every 10 people were living in such areas. The world has been rapidly urbanizing since and, in some countries and regions, at an unprecedented pace. By 2050, it is expected that seven out of every 10 people on the planet will be living in urban areas.
To discuss the challenges and opportunities that urbanization offers, the United Nations General Assembly decided to convene the third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in October 2016 to promote a renewed global commitment to sustainable urbanization. The Habitat III Conference will bring together some 30,000 representatives from around the world, including delegates from the 193 UN member states, along with local government officials, private sector representatives, international organizations, civil society, academia, and the United Nations System.
It is a unique opportunity to rethink urban development, discuss the important challenge of how cities are planned and managed, identify the opportunities that urbanization brings, and position cities as drivers of sustainable development.
More than one hundred training events, dialogues and parallel sessions will take place within the framework of the conference, offering a unique venue for developing a shared perspective on human settlements and sustainable urban development, and to formulate and adopt a “New Urban Agenda” that will guide inclusive, integrated, and sustainable urbanization for the next twenty years.
The New Urban Agenda proposes a new development paradigm and a new business model where urbanization and development are seen as mutually reinforcing and crucial to sustainable development. This represents a critical juncture to use the dynamic forces of urbanization to make a giant leap towards sustainability and collectively adopt a strategy that helps cities walk steadily into the 21st century.
Cities need a sustainable flow of resources and the necessary conditions to unlock financial resources to promote local economic development and achieve sustainable urbanization. This webinar aims to provide an overview on the principles and concepts of municipal finance, case studies from around the world on ways to strengthen public financial management and local revenue, and an introduction to the New Urban Agenda.
The webinar will be composed of the following:
- Introductory video
- Lecture by Guest Speakers from the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
- Dr. Vito Intini, Manager of the Municipal Investment Fund Programme at the UNCDF
- Dr. Dmitry Pozhidaev, Acting Regional Coordinator for Southern and East Africa and Regional Technical Advisor in charge of U UNCDF programming in Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia.
- Q&A
- Wrap up
The webinar will be held WEDNESDAY 6 JULY at 11:00 (Ecuador time) / 12:00 (New York time) / 18:00 (Geneva time)
The Webinar is open to the public. It is the third of a Webinar Series aimed at raising awareness of key topics related to the New Urban Agenda, which will be discussed and adopted in Quito during Habitat III.
The webinar will be held WEDNESDAY 6 JULY at 11:00 (Ecuador time) / 12:00 (New York time) / 18:00 (Geneva time)
Recommended reading: Zero Draft of the New Urban Agenda: www.habitat3.org/zerodraft
Speakers Profile:
Dr. Vito Intini is the Manager of the Municipal Investment Fund Programme at the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). Vito has extensive experience in the area of regional economics, private and financial sector development, poverty reduction and public financial management. He has served in academia and various international organizations such as the European Union (EU), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Bank and the UN Secretariat. Vito specialized holds Masters degrees in Environmental Policy, Development Economics, and a PhD in Economic Geography.
Dr. Dmitry Pozhidaev is the 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. Having joined the United Nations in 1998, Mr. Pozhidaev led local government and local development programmes in Afghanistan and Yemen and worked as an international municipal administrator under the UN Mission in Kosovo. He participated in the design and launch of UNCDF’s Local Finance Initiative in Uganda and Tanzania. Has worked with the World Bank, Council of Europe, UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and Adam Smith International in Albania, Kazakhstan, Palestine and Serbia. He holds master’s degrees in finance and investment from the London School of Business, in public administration from the University of Birmingham, UK and a doctorate in quantitative research and statistics from Moscow University. He authored studies on public financial space in Myanmar and infrastructure financing markets in Ethiopia and has a number of academic publications.