Nairobi, 9 Dec 13 : Grand Korea Leisure Co. Ltd, a Korean-based private company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UN-Habitat to work on sustainable economic development for residents of the Kibera slum in Nairobi.
The agreement, which was signed in Nairobi by the company’s Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Mr. Han Jang Young and Oyeyinka Oyebanji on behalf of UN-Habitat’s Executive Director, Dr Clos,will seek to enhance and empower the livelihoods of slum dwellers in Kibera communities with a specific focus on young people.
At the meeting, Mr Oyebanji assured the team of UN-Habitat’s continued support. He gave a brief on issues affecting slums globally,emphasizing that slums are the indications of deep-rooted poverty but that there is now a new direction regarding peaceful and sustainable development in the world.
Around 60 percent of the population of Nairobi lives in informal settlements and a large proportion of these are youth, with whom the focus of this project lies. Mr Oyebanji further appealed for more partners to come on board to support such projects that ease the burden of slum dwellers.
The Director of the Grand Korea Leisure Company stated that it was a great honor for his organization to work with UN-Habitat.
“GKL are proud to be associated with UN-Habitat in supporting youth and sustainable urbanization,” stated Mr. Han Jang Young, “We believe that the project will be successful and will expand in the future. We commit to striving to connect youth with opportunities in order to empower them and will work together to in achieving the goals and mandate of UN-Habitat.”
The MOU will focus on supporting education, economy, health, environment and security of the youth through building and upgrading infrastructure and providing training in areas such as sports and development, livelihoods and urban agriculture.
The agreement is aimed at supporting the construction of greenhouses and training in urban agriculture which will focus on the production of food for the locals as well as providing food security and income generating activities to the community.It will also seek to provide capacity building and training through providing skills on urban agriculture, sports development, vocational and entrepreneurial skills, and further provide training on moral and innovative leadership.
Also present at the meeting were: Mr. Cha Moon Young, Assistant Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at GKL Co. Ltd; Mr. Lee Chang Ho, Founder of a Korean NGO working with GKL; and representatives from the Global Peace Foundation and Practical Action. UN-Habitat invited its guests to participate in the 7th session of the World Urban Forum, to be held in Medellin, Colombia in April 2014.
