The Urban Economy and Finance Branch "The central challenge we face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world's people, instead of leaving billions of them behind in squalor." Kofi Annan, We the Peoples 2000 p 6 The Urban Economy and Finance Branch was established in May 2001 as one of the organizational units of the Research, Monitoring and Coordination Division. The main mandate of the Branch is to provide substantive analytical focus on the urban economy, its relationship with the national and global economy, and focus on policies and strategies aimed at employment generation and creation of opportunities for social mobility. Within these broad mandate the Branch supports the worldwide implementation of the Habitat Agenda, with specific focus on one of its two main goals: "adequate shelter for all" and "sustainable urban development". The activities of the Branch focus on conceptualization, formulation and development of research, capacity-building and on the provision of advisory services on issues f urban economic development and finance, including housing finance. Broadly, it seeks to provide economic analysis perspective to human settlements programmes by focusing attention on the operation of the urban economy, and how these affect or are affected by the quality of local governance and national economic management. The Branch covers four substantive areas, namely: Enhancing productivity and employment in the urban informal sector Financing municipal services in a decentralized environment Impact of macro-economic factors on urban economic development Development and strengthening of housing finance systems and institutions