Mohammed Bin Rashid Housing Establishment (MBRHE) held a ceremony in Dubai to celebrate the 'UN World Habitat Day 2009' on Monday (October 5).

The ceremony held at Mushrif Park, was attended by top executives from MBRHE and other government entities. Addressing the gathering, Sami Gargash, CEO of MRHE, highlighted the UAE housing program’s major accomplishments last year and the establishment’s goals for 2010.

“MBRHE admires the deep commitment that organizations like the UN have shown in encouraging housing as a fundamental human right.  As we celebrate the progress that MBRHE has made in 2009, we must reaffirm our commitment to bringing the highest international standards in community development to the UAE,” he added.

The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all to adequate shelter.

It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat. The UN chose the theme 'Planning our urban future' to raise awareness of the need to improve urban planning to deal with new major challenges of the 21st century.

Though a number of community events were held to mark the Habitat Day, it was the MRHE workshop that drew maximum attention. Dedicated to raising awareness of housing challenges in the UAE, the workshops focused on agricultural sustainability, the importance of comprehensive infrastructure planning, and community-building from a social-behaviour perspective.-TradeArabia News Service