UN-Habitat
Following the recommendations of the Council Off-site Strategy Meeting (COSM) and in alignment with the mandate of the 39th Session of the Assembly, the Secretariat is fostering partnerships with relevant stakeholders to assist Member States in enhancing their air transport systems and to ensure that sufficient resources are mobilized for the sustainable development of the aviation sector.
The partnership established with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is a tangible example of this initiative. As a means to harness the existing synergies between airports and urban development, in October 2015, ICAO and UN-Habitat initiated a pilot project aimed at promoting interconnections and interrelationships between airport and urban development in Nairobi (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and Wilson Airport), Addis Ababa (Bole International Airport), and Johannesburg (O.R. Tambo International Airport and Lanseria International Airport).
The outcomes of this pilot project were presented during the Habitat III United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development held in October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador. This Conference afforded ICAO the opportunity to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at enhancing the synergies between urban development and aviation, which was signed by Dr Fang Liu, ICAO’s Secretary General, and Dr Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat.
This agreement will strengthen the cooperation between ICAO and UN-Habitat with a view to advising States on technical and policy matters relating to aviation issues raised within the context of the sustainable integration of airports in urban areas and within national development programmes. The actions enabled by this agreement will contribute to the implementation of related ICAO provisions, while promoting implementation of the UN SDG 9 “Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”, SDG 13 “Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”, and SDG 11 “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” as well as Habitat III’s New Urban Agenda.
