The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Rita Naa Odoley Sowah, has described the nation’s mounting 1.8 million housing deficit alongside swift urban expansion as pressing issues demanding immediate intervention as Ghana ramps up its commitment to the New Urban Agenda.
Addressing delegates at the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Political Forum in New York, the Deputy Minister emphasised that the administration is concentrating efforts on low-cost housing schemes, structured town planning, resilient infrastructure, and robust municipal governance to ease the strains of rapid city growth.
She highlighted that approximately 37 per cent of Ghana’s city dwellers currently reside in informal settlements, underscoring why slum regeneration and accessible shelter form the backbone of the national urban strategy.
“Housing remains our most pressing challenge. Ghana faces a housing deficit of more than 1.8 million units while up to 37% of the urban population live in informal settlements,” she said.
Mrs Sowah further indicated that government initiatives will focus on boosting local authority funding, empowering municipal administration, embedding climate adaptability into public works, and modernising urban data collection frameworks.
She urged global stakeholders to provide enhanced, reliable international funding, enable direct access to climate funds for municipal authorities, and deepen technical partnerships to drive Ghana’s urban development agenda forward.
“Ghana reaffirms its commitment to accelerating implementation. We will scale up affordable housing and slum upgrading, strengthen local government fiscal capacity, expand sustainable urban financing, integrate climate resilience into planning and infrastructure and enhance data systems and digital governance.
“These efforts will be pursued in partnership with our development partners, the private sector and local communities,” she said.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana