Bulgaria has received UN support through the HABITAT program for a project, which will monitor the implementation of integrated urban investment and housing policy

Bulgaria, Malaysia, Bahrain, Angola, and Paraguay received funding through a joint UN project through the HABITAT program for monitoring the integrated investment in cities and the housing policy. This was announced at the first joint meeting of the participating countries and partners in the project Strengthening the Capacity of National and Local Authorities to Devise and Implement Housing Policies and Strategies, attended by Denitsa Nikolova, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works. The meeting was part of the Ninth Session of the World Urban Forum, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The meeting presented the project and a work plan to carry out activities over the next 2 years as is the deadline for implementation.

Deputy Minister Denitsa Nikolova thanked the representatives of the UN-HABITAT program for the inclusion of Bulgaria in the project to strengthen the capacity of national and local authorities to devise and implement integrated urban strategies and, in particular, housing policy to support the implementation of sustainable development objectives. “Housing provision should be recognized as one of the main priorities in urban development,” said Deputy Minister Nikolova.

Deputy Minister Nikolova reminded that for the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and for the Bulgarian Government priority is given to integrated urban development, launching of activities in the field of decentralization and housing policy. She introduced the participants with some of the specifics of the housing sector in Bulgaria and pointed out that 96% of the property was private. In front of the forum, Deputy Minister Nikolova explained that in Bulgaria the program for energy efficiency of multi-family residential buildings was developed and successfully implemented and the State has invested EUR 1 billion from the state budget in it. In addition, over EUR 200 million have been provided under the Operational Program Regions in Growth to support measures to achieve higher energy efficiency.

By implementing the project activities and by means of analyzes, exchange of experience and good practices, it should be possible to create models for successful exceeding of the results achieved in urban development and housing policy. In the course of implementation, HABITAT will provide external expertise to contribute to the successful implementation of the project.

The United Nations Program (UN-HABITAT) promotes sustainable development of settlements and sustainable urban development through policy-making, capacity-building, knowledge-building and strengthening of partnerships between governments and civil society. The program also aims at promoting socially and environmentally sustainable cities.