The United Nations Development Program will keep promoting more economically efficient and environmentally friendly use of unique features of Belarus' small and medium-sized towns, UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus Alexandra Solovieva told reporters reviewing the results of the Tenth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF10) that took place in Abu Dhabi in February, BelTA has learned.

“The UNDP helps highlight the unique features of Belarusian provincial towns and make the most of their economic and environmental potential in the interests of local communities. We are promoting instruments to converge urban heritage, culture, local economic needs, environmental priorities and low-carbon development and to adapt them to the climate change with a view to achieving sustainable development and prosperity of urban communities,” Alexandra Solovieva said.

She noted that the World Urban Forum discussed the paths to sustainable urban development, including the need for coherent implementation of the New Urban Agenda and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, and the Paris Agreement. Top on the agenda were innovative solutions in urban planning, management and infrastructure development, financing mechanisms for sustainable cities, building capacities of cities as open investment Empowering cities as open investment platforms to harness enabling business and regulatory environments.