Accra, Sept. 30, GNA - The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) on Friday directed all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to organise activities in their respective areas to commemorate this year's World Habitat Day, which falls on October 3. An official statement signed by Mr Abraham Dwuma Odoom, a Deputy Minister, said these activities might include lectures, debates, football matches, floats, durbars and messages to be read at churches and other public gatherings.

It said a durbar would be held at Kojokrom in the Shama Ahanta East Metropolitan Assembly, Sekondi-Takoradi, to mark the day. The United Nations has declared the first Monday of October every year as World Habitat Day and the global theme for this year's celebration is: "Millennium Development Goals and the City." Activities planned for the celebration in Ghana on the theme: "Achieving Improvement in the Lives of Slum Dwellers in Ghana and Reducing the Proportion of People Without Sustainable Access to Safe Drinking Water", include round tables and floats.

This year's occasion would be jointly celebrated by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ministry of Works and Housing, Ministry of Environment and Science, Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs and Ministry of Tourism and Modernisation of the Capital City, UN-Habitat, UNDP, as well as other collaborating nongovernmental organisations.