Ukraine interested in launching the UN-Habitat Program – Serhii Komnatnyi addressed the UN-Habitat Assembly
The second session of the UN-Habitat Assembly (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT) is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, from June 5 to 9. Its theme is “A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in times of global crises.”
The UN-Habitat Assembly is the governing body of the organization. It convenes every four years and makes decisions on sustainable urbanization and human settlements. The session is attended by representatives of UN member states, non-member states, other UN bodies and specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, the private sector, academics, women, youth, and children.
The delegation of Ukraine, headed by Svitlana Startseva, Head of the Housing Policy and Improvement Department of the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, is participating in the Assembly. The delegation is also co-led by Serhii Komnatnyi, Chairman of the Board of the State Fund for Support of Youth Housing Construction (hereinafter – the SFYH).
On June 6, the Chairman of the Board of the SFYH addressed the Assembly. Thanking for the opportunity to brief the world community on the state of Ukraine's housing policy in the context of war, Mr. Komnatnyi outlined the scale of the disaster that our country is facing as a result of the insidious aggressor's actions.
"Hundreds of Ukrainian towns and villages have been razed to the ground by russian soldiers, millions of my fellow citizens have fled their homes, thousands of schools, hospitals, critical and civilian infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed," emphasized Serhii Komnatnyi.
"Only this night insane Kremlin Regime has launched 35 cruise attack missiles with only one purpose: to kill as much Ukrainians as they can. While we are discussing draft resolutions and Ministerial Declaration, russians terrorists have destroyed Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. This dam was 30 meters tall and 3.2 km long. Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster. The Government of Ukraine has already started the evacuation of around 19 thousand of civilians, who are expected to be affected. It is expected that half of Kherson city will be flooded, many cities on the contrary will be left without drinking water. We call upon all Members States of UN-Habitat to condemn this barbaric attack on the civil population of Ukraine," said the member of the Ukrainian delegation. – "Despite these challenges, my country has a vision and understanding of how to restore normal life after the war.
In Ukraine, there are several mechanisms to address the housing issue of IDPs:
1) Provision of temporary housing
2) Facilitating the purchase of housing to be owned
3) Free temporary accommodation of IDPs by other citizens in their homes.
Our government is doing everything possible to restore the housing rights of citizens affected by the war. In particular, a law was adopted to regulate the mechanisms of compensation for damaged and destroyed housing. It defines the principles of compensation for damage and destruction of certain categories of real estate as a result of hostilities, terrorist attacks, and sabotage caused by Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.
Developed at the initiative of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and presented in Lugano (Switzerland) in 2022, the Recovery Plan for Ukraine envisions modernizing the state housing policy and is consistent with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
"The recovery of our country is possible only through the modernization of housing policy. In this regard, the Government of Ukraine is developing a number of amendments to housing legislation that require expert support from international organizations such as UN-Habitat," said Serhii Komnatnyi.
Mr. Komnatnyi emphasized Ukraine's interest in strengthening cooperation with UN-Habitat, including the launch of the UN-Habitat Program in Ukraine: "The experience, knowledge and potential of UN-Habitat would be an invaluable support to our efforts to reform the country's housing policy."