Iraqi governorates and the Ministry of Planning representatives meet in Erbil to discuss the National Strategic Urban Development Framework

Over 60 participants from all the Iraqi governorates and from the Ministry of Planning were represented.

The workshop aimed to define a strategic approach to addressing urban resilience and economic development for governorate planning and strategies, as well as outlining the process for developing the National Strategic Spatial Development Framework for National and Governorate levels. The Framework will be entitled: “Achieving Sustainable urban development through resilience and economic development in Iraq”, and is expected to contribute to a balanced urban development throughout the country.

In line with the global ‘New Urban Agenda’, governorate strategies will promote contemporary approaches and methodologies that encourage planned and balanced development of urban areas through planned city expansion, the notion of ‘thinking strategic but acting locally’, as well as the key role that governorates play in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) by embracing sustainable urbanization. UN-Habitat also emphasized the need for governorates to strengthening their respective institutional arrangements and execute governorate budget so as to ensure effective delivery of services and infrastructure to the citizens of Iraq, which will also meet the aims of the world global ‘Urban Agenda’ within the context of Habitat III.

One of the sessions focused on the online Data Management Platform created by UN-Habitat to introduce a new level of participatory planning among decision-makers and technical staff. The Platform is easily accessible by the Ministry and all governorates’ staff. An official from Basra governorate showcased how data can be uploaded onto the platform, and how data can be shared between the national and governorate levels as well as between governorates.

This work is part of a three years Local Area Development Programme (LADP-2015-2018), jointly implemented by UNDP & UN-Habitat and funded by the European Union. The programme aims to improve capacity for urban planning and implementation across governorates in Iraq, resulting in higher budget execution and efficient service delivery. The programme also seeks to encourage efficient communication and coordination between central and governorate levels as well as pave the way for the adoption of participatory approaches in local planning and development.

For more information please contact

Bazhan Amedi +964 0750 432 3922 or by email bazhan.amedi@unhabitat.org