Executive Director’s speech to the Global Chemical Giant BASF signing of the letter of Intent Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen UN-HABITAT’s mandate to achieve ‘Adequate shelter for all’ and ‘Sustainable human settlements’ presents a formidable but often forgotten challenge for the international community. In the context of the effective implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the Millennium Development Goals, UN-HABITAT is asked to strengthen local authorities, community organizations and non-governmental organizations so they may be more effective in the spheres of education, health, poverty eradication, human rights, social integration, and infrastructure. More generally, the task is to improve the livability and quality of city life. Nowhere is this mission more urgent than in locations suffering the effects of recent conflict and disaster. As recovery and development occurs, urban populations increase. In pursuit of the goal of finding innovative solutions in support of shelter and sustainable development, one of the opportunities is the encouragement of business enterprises to pursue investment and other policies, including non-commercial activities that will contribute to human settlements development, especially in relation to the generation of work opportunities, basic services, access to productive resources and construction of infrastructure. After the Tsunami of 26 December 2004 an opportunity for private sector engagement presented itself. Several corporations expressed interest in providing humanitarian assistance within a well-coordinated strategic action plan to recover from this disaster. In February 2005 BASF Corporation of Germany fielded a technical expert to join a UN-HABITAT Office of the Executive Director - Disaster Management Programme joint assessment mission to Sri Lanka. The added-value of BASF participation was the provision of technologies and capacities, including those of their partners, in support of UN-HABITAT’s integrated approach to sustainable relief, reconstruction and longer-term urban development. As a direct result of that mission, I am pleased to formalize the first private sector partnership with BASF. The two activities that will be the focus of their support will address technical and financial capacity of local authorities and communities in Galle and Matara, Sri Lanka, allowing them to better assert their roles in the recovery and reconstruction process. These activities we believe will truly benefit both the current and future generations of Sri Lankans, and this collaboration between BASF and UN-HABITAT is most welcome. When I visited Germany two years ago I was impressed by the work that BASF and the Municipality of Ludwigshafen were doing. This has given me the confidence to move forward quickly with the proposed activities in Sri Lanka. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, There is a silent tsunami affecting Africa: widespread poverty, the AIDS pandemic, the crises in Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, unchecked growth of slums, among others. We now have a model for working with the private sector, which has time and again shown that it can rise to the occasion in support of human settlements in crises. I am pleased, therefore, to announce the launch of this major private sector cooperation initiative and to invite those of you here today to follow our joint progress with an eye to emulate and disseminate successful implementation of this innovative model of collaboration. Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to conclude my statement by recalling and reinforcing the words of Dr. Bluethner in yesterday’s thematic dialogue on disasters, where he stated “Ultimately, this partnership walks the talk of the Secretary-General’s call ‘to unite the creative forces of entrepreneurship with the needs of the disadvantaged’ and thereby demonstrates to what extent the Global Compact can facilitate positive change”. Thank you all very much for your attention.