UN-Habitat chief says Azerbaijan faces major challenges in Karabakh

Anaclaudia Rossbach, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), stated that large-scale infrastructure development must be paired with strong community investment, pointing to Azerbaijan’s reconstruction efforts in Karabakh and East Zangezur as a key example of post-conflict recovery challenges.

Speaking at the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Rossbach emphasised that the development of transport corridors should be accompanied by investments in communities located along these routes, including housing, infrastructure, markets, and sources of income, Caliber.Az reports per local media.

“This approach is particularly relevant in the context of post-conflict recovery,” she said

Rossbach also emphasised that millions of people worldwide are forced to leave their homes due to conflicts and climate change, noting that around 2.8 billion people still lack access to safe and adequate housing.

“The world is more interconnected than ever, but without inclusivity and a broad socio-economic vision, connectivity becomes merely infrastructure that benefits only a small number of people. Multimodal corridors not only ensure efficient movement of goods and people, but also reshape the economic geography of entire regions,” she stressed.

By Jeyhun Aghazada