MOLIT marks 10 years of supporting urban policies in developing countries; 'Phase 3' to begin in 2028

[Financial News] The governments of Egypt, Mozambique and Paraguay have finalized national-level urban policies in succession with support from South Korea. A joint urban policy cooperation program for developing countries run by South Korea and UN-Habitat is delivering results.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) on the 26th, MOLIT and UN-Habitat held the K-NUPP Expert Group Meeting (EGM) at the UN office in Nairobi, Kenya, from the 13th to the 15th. The two organizations shared the results of the Phase 2 midterm evaluation with government officials from participating countries and discussed the direction of future cooperation. K-NUPP is an international cooperation program jointly run by MOLIT and UN-Habitat since 2016 to help developing countries formulate and implement national urban policies on their own. The support totaled 3 billion won for three countries in Phase 1 and 4 billion won for five countries in Phase 2.
The most notable achievement in Phase 2 has been policy approval. Egypt was the first to finalize its national urban policy, in September 2023. It later established an advisory committee on policy implementation, bringing together the Ministry of Housing and the land planning authority, among others, to strengthen implementation. Initiatives to improve urban services and administrative capacity, such as bike-sharing and the development of a digital land management system, are also underway.
The program began with Habitat III, held in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016. Habitat III is a UN high-level conference on housing and sustainable urban development, held every 20 years. The New Urban Agenda was adopted at the conference. Korea presented the role national urban policy had played amid rapid urbanization and economic growth. It supported the creation of UN-Habitat's NUPP program to help developing countries formulate policies and also pledged financial contributions. MOLIT subsequently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with UN-Habitat. In Phase 1 (2017–2022), it helped Iran, Myanmar and Nigeria develop urban policies. It also contributed to improving living conditions by installing groundwater wells in Nigeria to increase the supply of drinking water and distributing 600 sets of solar-powered home lighting in Myanmar.
Im Wol-si, director of MOLIT's Urban Policy Division, said, “We will share the experience Korea has accumulated in national urban policy during its growth and create a platform for cooperation where our local governments can share their know-how with participating countries, supporting developing countries in formulating and implementing urban policies. We will fulfill a responsible role commensurate with our economic scale and international standing, and continue to provide support so developing countries can develop and implement urban policies on their own.”

[email protected] Jeong Gyeong-su Reporter