Urban Improvement National Policy (AF0007)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address?: Lack of public service delivery in informal and unplanned urban areas has led to increased vulnerability of citizens; their denial to basic rights; heightened urban poverty; lack of infrastructure; lapse in social status; formation of social identity crisis; and increased environmental risks, and incurred staggering expenditures on the government, urban administration and broader society.; What is the commitment?: In order to address the abovementioned challenges, Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH) decided to develop and approve national urban improvement and rehabilitation policy in consultation with social and civic organizations.
It is expected that development of this policy will provide grounds for recognizing unplanned areas by the government in collaboration with the public. Under this policy, measures will be taken to prevent the growth of unplanned areas, given the factors that are contributing to this growth. This will restore basic rights of citizens and reduce their vulnerability. In addition, development of this policy will pave the grounds for investment and job generation for residents of informal, unplanned areas.; How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?: Development of this policy in collaboration with the relevant public sector departments as well as social and civic organizations will highlight the need for the establishment of Citizens Empowerment Offices at provincial level. Once this policy is approved by the cabinet, then the MUDH will develop an action plan for the policy with inputs from social and civic organizations.
This policy and the consequent action plan will provide legitimacy to implementing a detailed adjustment plan for informal and unplanned areas, under which unplanned areas will be included in planned areas to benefit from public service delivery. It is expected that by formulating and implementing of this policy the basic rights of citizens will be restored and their vulnerabilities will be addressed.; Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?: Since the Urban Improvement and Rehabilitation Policy is to be developed and implemented with public participation, people will be able to effectively take part in good urban governance to identify their socio-economic challenges and suggest and implement alternative solutions in collaboration with the government.
As a result, this commitment has relevancy with public participation as one of values of Open Government Partnership, since CSOs and the related professionals will be involved in development of the mentioned policy. Municipalities, community-based councils, neighborhood representatives and influencers in unplanned areas will take an active role in urban improvement and rehabilitation.
This commitment is also relevant with the principle of accountability. In the current situation, the government fails to provide essential public services in unplanned, informal areas. Development of this policy will pave the ground for delivering urban basic services to all residents in unplanned areas. In addition, people will be able to hold government accountable through participating in urban improvement and rehabilitation processes.; Additional information: The necessary fund for implementing this commitment will be provided from MUDH’s budget. This commitment has relevancy with Urban National Priority Program.