Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Administrator Mohammad Azaz has urged developed countries and international organisations to provide financial grants-rather than loans-to help address the city's challenges.
He made the call at a global conference called Partnership for Healthy Cities (PHC) Summit 2025 held in Paris between March 18-21, a DNCC statement said on Saturday.
A total of 330 representatives, including 12 mayors from 61 cities, participated in this conference organised by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the World Health Organization, Vital Strategies, and the Paris City Authority.
Beginning in 2017, the PHC is now a global network of 74 cities. It is working globally to build healthy cities by sharing experiences relating to models and activities of different cities to address public health issues and prevent non-communicable diseases.
Talking to the journalists, the DNCC administrator said air pollution is a major problem in Dhaka.
"Since pollution has no boundaries, we are constantly affected by pollution caused by industrialisation in neighbouring cities and the country," he said.
"This international network can provide technical and financial support to affected cities like Dhaka to address the challenges," he said, adding that as a result, it will be possible to achieve the goals of the PHC Network.
Responding to a query, Mr Azaz said, "We are not interested in receiving loan assistance from developed countries and international development organisations to address the challenges of our city. Since industrialised countries are obligated to provide financial assistance to affected countries through the Loss and Damage Fund according to the climate agreement, we are calling on them to provide financial assistance instead of loans."
Stating that they are working to make Dhaka a 'fair city', he said, "It is not enough to just call Dhaka a healthy or green city."
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