Nairobi/Washington, 9 November 2002: The Executive Director and the head of United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the President of the Inter-American Development Bank today signed a memorandum of understanding to promote cooperation between their agencies to support the improvement of housing, urban infrastructure and services in Latin America and the Caribbean.
UN-HABITAT Executive Director Mrs. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka and IDB President Mr. Enrique V. Iglesias signed the document in a ceremony held at the Bank's headquarters in Washington, DC.

Under the memorandum of understanding, the IDB and UN-HABITAT will explore opportunities to collaborate on projects and programmess on housing and urban development issues, with an emphasis on improving the living conditions of the poor.
The IDB, as the leading source of multilateral financing for Latin America and the Caribbean, helps borrowing countries in their efforts to upgrade cities and neighborhoods as well as to expand low-income people's access to affordable housing and urban services.
As the United Nations lead agency on human settlements, UN-HABITAT promotes sustainable urbanization by providing advisory services and technical assistance to governments, local authorities and communities. It currently runs more than 200 field projects in 80 countries.