The Director of Housing in the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship, Ms. Mamphaka Mabesa says Lesotho joined the world in commemoration of World Cities Day (WCD) to reflect the ministry’s efforts on promoting sustainable cities.

Ms. Mabesa said this in an interview on Monday.

She said this year’s World Cities Day theme is ‘Better Cities Better Lives’ which she noted means imagining better cities and better livelihoods.

The main objectives of the celebration according to Ms. Mabesa include; seeing the work done thus far, implementation of the New Urban Agenda, raising awareness on urbanizing issues in Lesotho and a vision for sustainable cities, promoting international partnership in order to achieve sustainable cities and creating an inclusive cities standard of living.

The Housing Officer, Mrs. Mamorapeli Bookhoolane said they are determined to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, saying they also promote sustainable urban development in cities and human settlements with emphasis on inclusive participation by all stakeholders and urban actors.

She added that they are working on localization of the global Urban Monitoring Framework (UMF) tool to monitor and track the progress of NUA and SDG 11 for the Maseru City

She noted the principles of the new urban agenda are inclusivity thus leaving no one behind, and participation by other frameworks as well as ensuring social, economic, environmental, and spatial sustainability.

The celebration was graced by experts from relevant sectors who engaged in a panel discussion and the public was also given a chance to participate through questions and answers.