Czech Republic has withdrawn from the plan to host a UN summit on housing

Prague - Czech Republic has withdrawn from the plan to strive for hosting the UN Habitat III international conference on housing and urban development, which is to take place in 2016. This is evident from the material presented by the Ministry of Regional Development (MMR) at today's government meeting. According to it, Ecuador is now the only official candidate.
     "Ecuador, as the only official candidate, has gained the support of the majority of UN member states through the G77 group of developing countries representing 132 out of a total of 193 UN member states," states the MMR material available to ČTK. The venue for the event will be definitively confirmed by the UN General Assembly by the end of this year.
     The week-long conference, held once every 20 years, is a prestigious event. In two years, it is expected to attract around 15,000 to 20,000 participants, including the UN Secretary-General and heads or members of the governments of nearly two hundred UN member states. The MMR estimated that the state budget for the organization of the event would amount to 90 million crowns. According to the ministry, these costs would be richly compensated by advertising for the Czech Republic and in support of congress tourism.
     The 1976 conference was hosted by Vancouver, and then Istanbul in 1996. The main theme of the planned third summit is expected to be issues related to living conditions in cities. At the conclusion, a document on the ever-growing share of the world's population living in urban areas is anticipated to be approved.