Nairobi, April 16, 2007: The 21st session of UN-Habitat's Governing Council (GC) opened in Nairobi sounding the alarm on the year of the homo urbanus.

“The year 2007 is a year when human beings will become an urban species, homo urbanus. From now on the majority of people will no longer be rural but urban. And there is no going back for this demographic shift. The transition is irreversible,” proclaimed Mrs, Anna Tibaijuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

This year’s GC is the first since the agency’s 30th anniversary celebrations at the Third Session of the World Urban Forum in Vancouver, Canada, last year, and also marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Habitat Agenda in 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey. As Mrs. Tibajuka puts it, “It is an opportune time to take stock of what we have accomplished and to re-strategise, taking into account the ongoing UN system-wide reform that has been given emphasis by member States.”

Led by the Programme Manager, Billy Cobbett, the Cities Alliance delegation to the GC will participate in a series of meetings and activities with members, including the regional launch of the State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future in collaboration with the World Watch Institute.

For a detailed report on the opening session of the 21st session of UN-Habitat’s GC:

http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=4678&catid=5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0.