Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – The Indonesian East Java province’s capital of Surabaya and the UN-Habitat will jointly host the World Habitat Day commemoration on October 5, 2020, according to a statement from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry received by Indonesia Window here on Wednesday.

The upcoming event was confirmed by a memorandum of understanding signed by Indonesia’s Public Works and Housing Minister Basoeki Hadimuljono and the UN-Habitat’s Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif in different locations on Tuesday (Sep 29), the statement said.

The minister and the UN-Habitat’s Executive Director signed the document in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta and Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur respectively.

The UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development.

“We must take pride in many of our heads of regional government who have received international recognitions for their innovations and inclusive policies in sustainable urban development, such as Mrs. Risma (Surabaya’s mayor), as well as Mr. Ridwan Kamil (West Java governor) who was specifically requested to be the Thought Leader at the opening of the UN-Habitat Assembly last year," Indonesia's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN-Habitat, Jedut Sutoyo, said.

Surabaya was chosen among a number of nominations to host the event, in acknowledgement of the accomplishments of Mayor Tri Rismaharini on issues of urbanization and human settlement, he said.

During the 2018 World Habitat Day in Nairobi, the mayor was granted the prestigious Scroll of Honour Award by the UN-Habitat for implementing people-centered and inclusive city regeneration and development initiatives prioritizing low income residents to ensure that they are not left behind.

Among her many achievements that received global attention was the mayor's initiatives on solid waste management and her success in mobilizing communities to reduce and recycle household waste.

The World Habitat Day is observed globally on the first Monday of October every year.

It was first initiated in 1986 upon the adoption of the UN General Assembly Resolution 40/202, the ministry said.

Some major cities in the world have hosted the event, including New York City (the United States), Brussels (Belgium), Dubai (the United Arab Emirates), and Jakarta.

Reporting by Indonesia Window