International Activities

PD&R's Office of International Affairs coordinates HUD's involvement in international conferences and issues (a recent example would be OIA's efforts in organizing HUD support to help implement the White House Partnership for Prosperity Initiative with Mexico). The Office identifies international conferences that can strengthen transnational collaboration on major policy research issues in housing and urban development (OIA recently took part in the World Urban Forum in Barcelona) and regularly works with other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in shaping U.S. participation in their proceedings. A primary mission of the OIA is to design and manage cooperative information exchange programs in housing and urban policy issues, both bilaterally (e.g., Russia and Spain) and multilaterally (e.g., the United Nations and the Inter-American Development Bank). In carrying out these activities, the Office of International Affairs works in close cooperation with the State Department and with American Embassies and Missions abroad.

OIA also sponsors international research and forums on such topics as housing finance, building technology, urban reinvestment, and community development. For example, a U.S.-South Africa forum on central city redevelopment policies took place in Johannesburg in August 2004. Research projects include the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to assist in land use planning efforts in the United States-Mexico border region and joint workshops with the UN-Habitat office on a global monitoring program to study socio-economic and environmental conditions in urban areas. Government officials and technical experts from countries around the world visit HUD each year for briefings on HUD policies and program management issues that are arranged through the International Office.