Prime Minister Raila Odinga will lead a high powered delegation to china on Saturday evening to attend the fourth session event of the World Urban Forum conference in China.
The event under the patronage of UN-HABITAT office based in Nairobi is in partnership with the government of the People's Republic of China.
The Prime Minister is expected to deliver a statement on "Challenges of low-income housing in Africa with Special Emphasis on Kenya".
The conference will also discuss territorial balance in urban development, promoting social equity and inclusiveness.
One of the major objectives of the conference will be the achievement of equity in world cities.
The meeting will discuss land ownership, women and harmonious cities , and will be preceded by the UN Youth and Sports forum.
Six cabinet ministers, two Permanent Secretaries and two Members of Parliament, alongside other high ranking government officials will make up the Kenyan delegation.
Dignitaries enlisted in the trip include Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local Government Musalia Mudavadi, Ministers Soita Shitanda (Housing); James Orengo (Lands); Mutula Kilonzo (Nairobi Metropolitan Development); Fred Gumo (Regional Development Authorities), and Attorney General, Amos Wako.
Others are MP's Peter Kenneth and Kiprono Magerer, Permanent Secretaries Tirop Kosgey and Philip Sika, Prime Minister's Private Secretary Caroli Omondi, Deputy Permanent Representative of Kenya to UN-HABITAT Yvonne Khamati and Mayors of Nairobi Goeffrey Majiwa, Ahmed Mondhar Mombasa, Sam Okello of Kisumu and Samuel Ruto of Eldoret.
The conference to be held at the historic city of Nanjing, a former capital of China and is expected to host ministers from across the globe, mayors, parliamentarians and urban researchers in a landmark international arena intended for the improvement of life, housing and shelter in cities and networking.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is expected to grace the conference which ostensibly deliberates on ever emerging challenges the world faces due to rapid growth of urban settlements.
Kenya's ambassador to China Mrs. Ruth Solitei is expected to receive the Kenyan delegation upon arrival at China's capital Beijing where UN Under Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN-HABITAT Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka,would lead the team to the venue of the conference.
Mr. Odinga will deliver a statement on challenges of low income housing in Africa, with special emphasis on Kenya problem in the wake of government efforts to up grade major slums in the city.
The forum, whose theme is: "Harmonious Urbanization: The challenges of balanced territorial development", would involve comprises a series of Plenary sessions and round table talks.
Some of the side events will include an exhibition which wills show-case UN-HABITAT'S long success story in transforming Nanjing's town to the present state to give a projection of the envisaged modern urban centre.
The World Youth Forum 2008 will also be held on the eve of the Forum so that youth leaders from around the world can meet to exchange views and prepare recommendations for official presentation to delegates at the main event.
The conference comes after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited the sprawling Kibera slums in Nairobi where the UN body has incepted a multi million project to uplift the lives of the poor masses.
During the visit the Ban Ki Moon regretted that "there are many billions of people suffering for lack of affordable housing to make their life decent. We must work together and generate the political will to have a smooth implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and I will work very closely and harder than before".
And while addressing the third session of the Forum in Vancouver, Canada in 2006, Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka said: "The 100 years from 1950 to 2050 will be remembered for the greatest social, cultural, economic and environmental transformation in history-the urbanization of humanity. With half of us now occupying urban space, the future of the human species is tied to the city".
Kenya intends to put up about 30,000 housing units in just under three years under its Slum Upgrading programme in its big towns of Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret.
The programme popularized by the Prime Minister has been keen on adopting Malaysian mass housing technology and will use the forum to further explore into faster and cheaper technologies to roll out the on-going slum upgrading programme in Kibera in Nairobi.
Mass housing is expected to have a ready market in Kenyan cities and such singular units are expected to cost between Shs 500,000/- to 750,000/-.
Proposals have been made for long-term monthly payments for purchasers at between shs 3,000 to 4,000.
The Forum ends of Thursday 6th. November.
The PM is expected back in the country on Friday, November 7th.
