The US Habitat III National Committee held the last roundtable in the After Quito: Implementation of the New Urban Agenda series, in collaboration with the Wilson Center, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Citiscope. Attendees discussed the need to monitor both the fiscal and spatial dimensions of urbanization so that cities can be successfully sustainable and equitable, and how to do so.  Though this was the last of the roundtables, the Habitat III National Committee has provided several resources to the public in preparation for Habitat III, including a  video  of the roundtable, a Habitat III policy paper on municipal finance and local fiscal systems, and a blog post about the importance of financing in the New Urban Agenda.

Recap: Solid Ground Panel on Land Rights and Gender Equality

Thursday morning, Habitat for Humanity International's Solid Ground Campaign, which advocated globally for greater security of tenure for the urban poor and most vulnerable, hosted a panel discussing the Impact of Land Rights on Gender Equality across the world. Piper Hendricks, the Director of Advocacy Communications for Habitat for Humanity International served as moderator of the panel, which also featured World Bank Private Sector Development Specialist in Women, Business and the Law Nayda Almodovar-Reteguis, the Regional Director for Asia at the Center for International Private Enterprise John Morrell and the Global Campaign Director for Habitat for Humanity International Anne Myers. Panelists discussed the progress made across the world in improving women's rights over land, the challenges they still face, and how the private sector can improve upon women's access to land.

For more information, visit the Solid Ground Campaign's website here. IHC Global is a Solid Ground Campaign partner, and gender, land and prosperity rights is a core policy issue.

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee has approved $400 million in funding for programs under Senator Paul Simon's Water for the Poor Act (also known as WASH, initiated in 2005) for the 2017 fiscal year. Though this reaffirms the U.S. Government's commitment to urban sanitation and housing, this is the first year since the 2013 fiscal year that funding for WASH has not increased. John Sparks of the Millennium Water Alliance has expressed his concern that the current funds fall short for both the State Department and USAID, hindering both from operations, training and transparency in their work.  In addition to the resource level limiting the capabilities of these two agencies to respond to the need, IHC Global continues to be concerned about insufficient attention being paid to urban WASH issues.

To read the full bill as approved July 12, click here.

President Obama at White House Summit on Global Development

• Has China reached the peak of urbanization? Find out more here.

• Cycling is helping break down social barriers in Santiago, Chile. Click here to read more.

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