Tehran, April 16 (MRUD NEWS)—The advisor of Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development and secretary of the National Habitat Committee (NHC), Arman Khorsand, sent a message on the part of Islamic Republic of Iran to the 10th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development 2023. 

In the message, pointing to the positive relations between Islamic Republic of Iran and the UN Habitat, Khorsand explains that Iran is facing a lot of natural hazards like earthquakes, climate change, drought, and also the problem of refugees. So, Iran is open to share its experiences and to receive the innovative approaches from the UN Habitat and other international organizations for facing these problems. 

Moreover, Iran and UN Habitat have had lots of common experiences that achieved very positive outcomes. Particularly, the joint projects include National Urban Policy Programme (NUPP) and the Project for Improving the Resilience of Hospitals known as BEHTAB. Thereby, Tehran announced its readiness for sharing experiences and working together toward a better and safer cities and infrastructures. 

The government of Islamic Republic of Iran is currently working on a huge project to create better housing for vulnerable populations of the country (known as 'National Housing Movement'). So, considering the mission of UN Habitat "to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all", cooperation between Habitat and Iran would be fruitful for provision of housing for the vulnerable groups. 

The Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development is an annual, inclusive intergovernmental forum to support follow-up and review of progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the regional level.