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Political/Economic Assistant Juhani Platt described U.S. efforts to celebrate World Habitat Day and domestic efforts to promote urban revitalization, including President Obama's Partnership for Sustainable Communities.
U.S. Embassy staff Celebrate World Habitat Day 2009 with Cambodian community representatives
October 5, 2009
On October 5, 2009, U.S. Embassy staff joined Cambodian civil society groups and community representatives to commemorate World Habitat Day 2009, the theme of which was "Planning Our Urban Future". The event, organized by the Housing Rights Task Force (HRTF) and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), included representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN-HABITAT, as well as Phnom Penh's Group 78 and Boeung Kak communities.
This year, the U.S. served as the global co-host of World Habitat Day celebrations in partnership with UN-HABITAT. On October 5th, housing providers and advocates from throughout the world joined UN-HABITAT, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, The Rockefeller Foundation, Habitat for Humanity and others at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. to mark the event. Speakers shared ideas on domestic and international innovations that promote public engagement in planning livable communities.
At the Phnom Penh event, Political/Economic Assistant Juhani Platt described U.S. efforts to celebrate World Habitat Day and domestic efforts to promote urban revitalization, including President Obama's Partnership for Sustainable Communities. Quoting U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, Mr. Platt said, "World Habitat Day offers the opportunity to share ideas about how we can take these and other promising approaches to scale across the globe – to promote equitable, affordable housing, provide more transportation choices and create economic opportunity for those who need it most."
Information about World Habitat Day events and discussions can be found at the Department of Housing and Urban Development's website: http://www.hud.gov/whd/schedule.cfm.
