Later this year, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) will gather stakeholders from around the world to identify and address new and emerging challenges in an urbanizing world. Habitat III will be the first United Nations conference since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in late 2015.
Under the leadership of Vice President Mona Serageldin, I2UD has been working with UN-ESCWA* and UN-Habitat ROAS** to prepare the Habitat III Regional Report for Arab States. This report reviews and takes stock of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda since Habitat II in 1996 and identifies new issues affecting sustainable urban development in 22 countries in the region.
Last week, Mona Serageldin and Maren Larsen travelled to Cairo to present a draft version of the report and received valuable inputs from invited experts. The Habitat III Regional Report for Arab States seeks to inform the preparation of the outcome document to be endorsed by member states at the conference in October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador.
I2UD has also contributed to the preparation of the Habitat III National Urban Policy Unit’s review of NUPs in Arab States and facilitated a Habitat III Youth Consultation at Boston University in November 2015.
*Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
** Regional Office for Arab States