Housing Minister, UN-Habitat to hold joint technical workshop

DAMASCUS, Feb.14, (ST)- Today, the Minister of Housing, Eng. Suhail Abdel Latif, discussed with the Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Program [UN-Habitat] Hiroshi Takabayashi the joint cooperation between the two sides.

Abdul Latif briefed Takabayashi on the ministry’s action plan and the government’s emergency response to address the effects of the devastating earthquake that hit Syria recently, especially with regard to the issue of evaluating damaged buildings and work teams working on technical evaluation.

He stressed the need for the UN organization to seek to demand the lifting of the unjust sanctions imposed on Syria as soon as possible due to the catastrophic effects of these sanctions over the past years that are equivalent in severity to the effects of the devastating earthquake that hit the country.

For his part, Takabayashi confirmed that the organization provides technical assistance, such as studies and expertise in assessing the damaged buildings, referring to the importance of lifting sanctions in light of the current circumstances.

During the meeting, it was agreed on holding a joint technical workshop for technicians to develop a plan for cooperation between the technical authorities in the ministry and the organization.

Basma Qaddour