Former City of Johannesburg mayor and South African Local Government Association (Salga) chairperson Parks Tau was appointed as a co-chair of the United Nations High Level Independent Panel on Monday to oversee the effectiveness of the Habitat III.<\/p>\n
Habitat III is a programme adopted by the UN to “reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanisation”.<\/p>\n
Salga in a statement said Tau was appointed together with Mexican secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development, Rosario Robles, as co-chair during a sitting of the UN in New York.<\/p>\n
In the statement, Tau described his new role on the panel as an instrument to advance the interests of local government both on the local and international scale.<\/p>\n
“Having committed to advocate for the location of local government at the centre of a changing world, the panel presents an opportunity to lead this agenda,” he said.<\/p>\n
The panel is expected to write an assessment report of the progress of Habitat III, which will serve as an input to a meeting of the UN General Assembly in September.<\/p>\n