Kabul, 14 February 2018. - The Mayor of Kabul, Mr. Abdullah Habibzai, inaugurated today the upgrading of seven public parks in an event organized at the “Alawodin park” in District 6 in Kabul city. The upgrading activities are part of the UN-Habitat Clean and Green Cities (CGC) Programme which will implement area-based upgrading and urban services in the city. The programme aims at stimulating job creation as well as social and economic development.

At UN-Habitat, the leading UN programme on urbanization, we strongly believe that public space is the essence of sustainable urbanization. The design of public spaces in a city is an important driver for social cohesion, inclusiveness, creation of employments, cultural exchanges and improved quality of life. The New Urban Agenda, the United Nations roadmap for sustainable urban development stresses the relevance of "promoting safe, inclusive, accessible, green and quality public spaces, including streets, sidewalks and cycling lanes, squares, waterfront areas, gardens and parks, that are multifunctional areas for social interaction and inclusion, human health and well-being, economic exchange, and cultural expression and dialogue among a wide diversity of people and cultures, and that are designed and managed to ensure human development and build peaceful, inclusive and participatory societies, as well as to promote living together, connectivity and social inclusion"(art 37).

The upgrading of these parks is also accompanied with a number of activities, namely; walk way upgrading (inside the park), greenery (tree plantation, grass), site walks upgrading (around the park), water well digging, electricity connection to water pump with Panel board, upgrading of boundary wall (stone masonry, fence, painting of fence), steel benches, stone benches, entrance gates fabrication, irrigation water distribution system. These public parks are located in Kabul districts; 4, 6, 8, 11, 12, 15 and 16 areas.

CGC programme in Kabul started in March 2017 with the financial support of USD5,920,000$ from USAID which creates 598,833 job days USD2.033,200$ from EU which creates 225,972 job days, implementing by KM, IDLG and MUDH and assistance from UN-Habitat.

The Clean and Green Cities (CGC) Programme will implement city cleaning, greening and beautification activities in 12 cities in Afghanistan. In Kabul, five types of activities have been identified in consultation with the community and Kabul Municipality. These are, (i) Solid waste collection from households to collection points located in the Nahia, (ii) Tree Planting, (iii) Street sweeping, (iv) Curbs painting, and (v) Cleaning roadside ditches. CGC Programme will cover a total of 15 Nahias, including Nahia 1 to 17, with the exception of Nahias 11 and 15, over a duration of 12 months. These municipal services will be delivered regularly based on a minimum performance standard, as agreed by the Kabul Municipality and Nahia members. These activities will be delivered by empowering the local communities in planning and service delivery in coordination with the Municipality. To this end, Nahia Development Committees, have been established to deliver the activities within their respective geographical boundaries.