19/10/2016 (Agence Europe) – Eight multilateral development banks (the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the Islamic Development Bank and the World Bank Group) signed a joint statement on Wednesday 19 October expressing their commitment to “promote equitable, sustainable, and productive urbanization and urban communities”. The eight banks pledged to support the implementation of the UN’s New Urban Agenda through direct financing, catalysing other resources and domestic resource mobilisation. They acknowledged that “harnessing the transformative forces of urbanization” for positive outcomes will require trillions of dollars of investment and they stress the importance of public-private partnerships. In addition, the banks devote a paragraph to tackling fraud and corruption and will require fair and open competition in the procurement processes related to the activities they support. (PH)