The Government of Uganda launched the National Urban Forum on 6 May 2010 as part of an effort to establish a national consensus dealing with challenges and opportunities of rapid urbanisation. The forum was launched in Kampala in cooperation with the Cities Alliance.
The Uganda National Urban Forum (UNUF) provided a platform for dialogue and participation among stakeholders to influence the country’s policy and legal reforms for sustainable urban development.
John Behangaana, the Secretary General of the Urban Authorities Association of Uganda chaired the forum. The keynote address was delivered by Samuel Mabala, Commissioner for Urban Development. The Commissioner extended a special welcome to the representatives from the Uganda Slum Dwellers Federation. “We want to get rid of slums, but not slum dwellers. They are part and parcel of the urban fabric. Sustainable urbanisation can only happen through dialogue and participation”.
The State Minister of Urban Development Hon. Urban Tibamanya called the UNUF “A milestone in the work of addressing urban challenges in Uganda”.
TSUPU programme is the first national initiative within the Cities Alliance’s global programme Land, Services and Citizenship (LSC) for the Urban Poor. One of the main objectives of TSUPU is to bring greater coherence of effort by creating an institutional framework for different stakeholders to align their efforts and resources towards common objectives.
In keeping with the Cities Alliance’s new business model, building such coherence between national and sub national governments, and urban poor communities is vital for successful programmatic approaches to sustainable urban development in developing countries.
