KIGALI - Rwandans and especially Kigalians have more reason to celebrate as Kigali City will today be granted what is currently the most prestigious human settlements accolade in the world - the Habitat Scroll of Honor award.

According to a City Council press release seen yesterday, the award will be presented to Dr. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, the Mayor of Kigali City, during the global celebration of the World Habitat Day in Angola’s capital, Luanda.

Kacyira has travelled to Luanda to receive this year’s award on behalf of Kigali City, as duly confirmed by an upbeat Bruno Rangira, Kigali City’s Director of Media and Communication yesterday.

"To receive such a prestigious award is a very big accomplishment and it is indeed gratifying for all the different stakeholders who have been working hard to develop our city,” Rangira told The New Times.

He was referring to the Central Government, city and district authorities, different cleaning associations and the entire population as the stakeholders.

"We are preparing ourselves to celebrate this award and show it to the population when the mayor arrives,” he said, adding that he couldn’t point out Dr. Kacyira’s exact arrival time.

The theme of this year’s World Habitat Day is: "Harmonious cities”, and the award means that Kigali is not only a very clean city, but has also impressed many visitors for its peacefulness and security.

Even more remarkable is the fact that Kigali is the first city to win this prestigious award – a plaque engraved with the name of the winner and their achievement – in Africa.

Other cities that have previously won this award include Nanning in China and Stavropol in Russia.

As pointed out on the UN-HABITAT website, the Habitat Scroll of Honor award was launched by the UN’s Human Settlements Programme in 1989.

Also revealed is that it aims at acknowledging initiatives which have made outstanding contributions in various fields such as shelter provision, highlighting the plight of the homeless, leadership in post conflict reconstruction, and developing and improving the human settlements and the quality of urban life.
Accordingly, the aim of the award is to honor individuals and

institutions that have been instrumental in improving the living conditions in urban centers around the world.   Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General and Anna Tibaijuka, the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, are expected to officiate at the World Habitat Day celebrations.

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