Dr. Mona Serageldin is currently completing a mission to Baghdad at which she delivered a presentation to the Ministry of Planing as well as the UN Iraq country team on development orientations for four of the southern governorates within Iraq. Working closely with counterparts in the Iraqi Ministry of Planning and the UN Iraq country team, the creation of strategic development orientations for the governorates will be used in conjunction with the National Urban Strategy. During this one week long mission, essential feedback on the workflow and outputs were given which will be incorporated into upcoming iterations of the project. The ongoing analysis combines economic, demographic, physical and cultural information in a cutting edge fashion to create insightful ideas. Creating a balanced working environment which allows for equal and reciprocal input from all stakeholders has been a major driver of success in the process.
As the conflict in the northern reaches of the country progresses, the opportunities for collaborative discussion and orientation development in the south have been quick to develop. Using an interactive and online platform, stakeholders within each of the states comprised of government officials, international organization representatives, local business interests, and community members have been able to communicate with each other to share ideas and information. Combining inputs from members across at all levels of society with data from technical and progressive sources continues to forge forward thinking, and exciting new ideas.
Photos from mission of October, 2016. Provided by UN Habitat