The critical contributions made by airports to the sustainable socio-economic development of urban areas are to be enhanced through a new agreement made by the United Nations via two of its organisations: International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
Initialled on Wednesday in Montreal, Canada at the ICAO’s World Aviation Forum by ICAO Secretary General Dr. Fang Liu and UN-Habitat’s Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, the Memorandum of Understanding between the two United Nations bodies, it was gathered will make important contributions to States’ pursuit of the UN’s Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
“Well-managed, ICAO-compliant airports are crucial to global socio-economic development, providing essential links between the world’s markets and peoples,” ICAO Secretary General Liu remarked. “Supported by the transport corridors that link them, airport and urban development go hand-in-hand, and this partnership with UN-Habitat will help bring renewed focus to the role of modernised aviation infrastructure in ensuring the efficient movement of people and goods.”
ICAO and UN-Habitat have kicked-off their collaboration with a joint pilot project involving five airports located in four different African cities – Addis Ababa, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg and Nairobi. Their goal is to foster increased cooperation between civil aviation, land, planning and urban development authorities, as well as international organisations, airlines and aircraft manufacturers.
The projected outcome will be new global guidelines for enhancing sustainable development synergies between airports and urban areas.
The ICAO and UN-Habitat agreement will be formally signed at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat-III), which will take place between 17- 20 October in Quito, Ecuador.
Habitat-III will also be the occasion of the presentation of the outcomes of the pilot project.
