Lebanon marked World Habitat Day 2011 with a special conference on access to housing held under the auspices of the Minister of Social Affairs. The day-long event aimed to raise awareness and promote debate on pressing urban issues and challenges in Lebanon, particularly those related to access to housing. It also sought to form a better understanding of the available frameworks governing access to housing in Lebanon and the dynamics used in practice. And it stressed the importance of sharing knowledge on main interventions and housing finance mechanisms, whether those applied globally by UN-HABITAT or those applied practiced by the public and private sectors in Lebanon.
This conference drew speakers representing the Government, the banking sector, the developers as well as academia and practitioners.
The occasion was also used to launch the first Lebanon Urban Profile - a comprehensive desk review that represents a background document for an in-depth study of the State of Arab Cities.
The Lebanon Urban Forum, a dialogue platform to advocate improved national urban policies, national strategies and programmes related to housing was also launched. |
