Kathmandu, November 25 The private sector’s involvement in different aspects of urban development in Nepal has spurred enormous resource mobilisation, states a report. According to the report ‘Inclusive Cities: Resilient Communities’ recently published by the Ministry of Urban Development, the private sector, whether as a community or a group of individuals, has significantly contributed resource for housing development by participating in the process, providing loans for building shelter, or investing in the production of building materials and housing stock. “The role of the private sector, in the form of brokers and later real estate companies, in land development is noteworthy. In Kathmandu and Lalitpur alone, over 1,500 hectares of land were developed through private initiatives over the past decade. The rapid expansion of urban areas with a huge growth in organised housing has clearly shown the potential of the private sector in the financing of urban development,” it said. The private sector has also made contributions to other urban functions including public transport service. It has made an important contribution to intra-city public transport service. Composition of transport fleet by ownership suggests a strong presence of the private sector, the report stated. Similarly, it reported that people, families and community groups had played a dominant role in partnership formation and NGOs had been working as enablers, mediators and advisors and play a major role in creating citizen groups. It is important to ensure their participation in decision-making ensuring equitable access to resource and information. “Citizen pressure groups help release community-bound resources and urge government and local governments to enhance social good. For resource mobilisation, it is necessary to ensure convergence through the articulation of interests of different groups. Through the encouragement of community organisations and local enabling programmes including technical assistance, human rights should be legitimised to safeguard interests of the poor,” it added. As in many developing countries, urbanisation in Nepal has also resulted in formation of more slums with less security of tenure, leading to increased disparities, inequalities and discrimination. Urbanisation without ensuring human rights is not sustainable and is also against the spirit of the statute, it warned. The fundamental rights and duties stated in the constitution include, among others, right to live with dignity, to move and reside in any part of Nepal, to equal protection of law, to own and utilise property and to live in a healthy and clean environment.