Ecuador to Receive 11 presidents for UN’s Habitat III Conference

Quito — Ecuador will welcome 11 presidents who will participate in the Habitat III – United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, which will take place in Quito from Oct. 17-20, announced Cesar Navas, Ecuador’s Minister of Security on Wednesday.

In a press conference, Navas confirmed the presence of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Bolivia’s Evo Morales, Colombia’s Juan Manuel Santos and Costa Rica’s Luis Guillermo Solis, among others.

Senior dignitaries will also include UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Navas added that 45,000 people have registered to participate in the meeting, which will be held at the Ecuadorian House of Culture in Quito.

The Habitat meetings only happen once every 20 years, with the first having taken place in Vancouver, Canada in 1976 and the second in Istanbul, Turkey in 1996.

The UN General Assembly elected Quito to host the third instalment back in December 2014. The timeline between these landmark conferences is to follow, analyze, define and plan concrete actions for the development of urban centers around the world.

At the same press conference, Ecuador’s Minister of Urban Development and Housing, Maria Duarte, who has led the conference’ s preparation committee, said everything was ready.

“Quito will be the seat of one of the most important events of recent times as the entire world has something to say about urbanism, cities, settlements, development and planning,” she said.

According to Duarte, the Habitat III conference will also see the signing of the “Quito Declaration on Sustainable Cities and Human Settlements for All.”

This document will cover the New Urban Agenda, which will “be a reference for the next 20 years”. The New Urban Agenda, which will be adopted in Quito, has been built from a consensus between the 193 members of the UN after months of negotiations.

On Oct. 14, President Rafael Correa will visit the House of Culture to supervise preparations, as well as the El Arbolito Park and the National Assembly building, which will host the Habitat III exhibition.

On the margins of the Conference, around 400 activities are being planned, such as forums, assemblies, training events and dialogue sessions.

Authorities will deploy a security operation, involving 2,800 police officers, while classes have been suspended in 14 educational centers near where the Conference is being held. (PNA/Xinhua) FPV/EBP