Yaounde, 5 July 2017— Cameroonian para-state, MAETUR (Mission d’Aménagement et d’Équipement des Terrains Urbains et Ruraux/The Urban and Rural Land Development and Equipment Authority), recently invited UN-Habitat to contribute to a range of activities to celebrate its 40th Anniversary.

In the context of ongoing collaboration with MAETUR, UN-Habitat presented the preliminary findings of the key pillars of the strategic re-orientation of MAETUR. The study is ongoing and the outline of the work was well received.

UN-Habitat also facilitated training sessions on urban and territorial planning, urban legislation, crime prevention through environmental design, land-based finance, land readjustment and security of tenure. Over 100 participants attended the three-day workshop to familiarise themselves with key principles enshrined in the New Urban Agenda. The selected principles covered the following themes: urban and territorial planning, legislation, land, safety and security. UN-Habitat representatives outlined how these principles had been put in use in various countries and demonstrated how decision makers, professionals and other stakeholders could take advance of the New Urban Agenda to benchmark sustainable urban development practice in Cameroon.

Of particular interest to participants were the principles related to mixed use, density, right to the city, continuum of land rights, situational crime prevention, and essential urban laws.

Participants represented various government departments, local authorities, academia, professional associations, and private sector.

The outcomes of the workshop informed the high level seminar that followed.

The final Communique issued at the end of the seminar appreciated the contribution of UN-Habitat and took into account the preliminary findings of UN-Habitat ongoing studies on the strategic re-orientation of MAETUR. The workshop and seminar were parts of series activities that culminated with the celebration of 40th anniversary MAETUR with the awards ceremony to deserved MAETUR staff.

With MAETUR, UN-Habitat is undertaking a joint project on planning and land management along the Yaounde-Nsimalen corridor on behalf of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development of Cameroon. This project complements another initiative related to the technical assistance to MAETUR on strategic planning, maximizing its land assets and quality assurance of its products.