individual has a right to the recognition of his culture, his identity on condition that he respects that of others. 239. The Nigerien cultural policy meets the challenge of going farther still with the limited human and financial resources and consolidating the role of heritage in all aspects of our national life and the potential prospects it holds for our development strategy. This challenge concerns all stakeholders and not only the Ministry of Culture but also all stakeholders and all our partners: individuals, associations, business leaders and investors, the private sector and government agencies. F. Right to Shelter: Article 16 240. In Niger, the right to shelter is a worrisome issue for the authorities due to its vital importance; it is a decisive right for the economic and social development of the country. For this reason and from the semantic point of view, the notion of shelter as initially established, has been replaced by that of shelter in the broadest possible sense. The legal framework and institutional organization for the effective implementation of the housing policy have ensued. 241. Indeed, Law No.2018-28 of 27 August 2018, laying down the fundamental principles for construction and housing was enacted after the change of name of the relevant Ministry pursuant to Decree No. 2018-255/PRN of 12 April 2018. Furthermore, it must be noted that substantial financial resources have been allocated. As a result, the new Ministry of Lands, Urban Development and Housing was vested with the key mandate to design and implement the national housing policy with a fundamental strategy of establishing an Annual Performance Plan which will be an annual advocacy, steering and information document aimed at outlining the performance plan with the financial resources. 242. Its objective is to ensure social modernization by improving the conditions and livelihoods of the population through better access to decent and secure housing provided with all the basic social amenities and more importantly by providing low-cost housing and a decent livelihood to as many Nigerien nationals as possible. 243. The Annual Performance Plan is sub-divided into programmes and the 2020 one is sub-divided into four (4), namely, steering and administration of the ministry’s policy, improving livelihoods, modernizing the cadaster and coverage of the territorial mapping. 244. Niger has taken a major step towards addressing the housing problem with the establishment of a bank for housing which was inaugurated on 14 December 2018 by the President of the Republic. The new establishment has been provided with a capital of 10 billion CFA francs and its key mission is to finance real estate development, the production and improvement of social housing schemes in the country. The bank also makes available to businesses and individuals a range of innovative products and services. Its mandate is to ensure coverage of as many middle-class beneficiaries as possible in the country by providing access to decent houses at relatively moderate prices for the active population. 245. A partnership agreement between the Government represented by the Ministry of Lands, Urban Development and Housing and two private entities, Africa Tech and Global Gate, was signed in May 2019 for the construction of social housing units in the capital Niamey for the middle class employees among the population. According to the specifications, the two real estate developers are expected to build 550 housing units at a cost of 5.3 billion CFA francs covering a work implementation period of 30 months and 1 000 housing units for a total amount of about 12.2 billion CFA francs within a delivery timeframe of 24 months. 54