New York/Geneva, 21 April 2022 – The President of the General Assembly, Abdulla Shahid, will convene a one-day high-level meeting, in collaboration with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), to assess progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, on Thursday 28 April 2022, at the UN headquarters in New York.
Cities are facing unprecedented demographic, environmental, economic, social, and spatial challenges. Six out of every ten people in the world are expected to reside in urban areas by 2030, rising to nearly 68 per cent by 2050, according to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The mega-trend of rapid urbanization has global implications. In many places around the world, the effects can already be felt, with lack of proper housing and growth of slums, inadequate and outdated infrastructure, escalating poverty and unemployment, exacerbating safety and crime problems, pollution, and health issues, as well as poorly managed natural or man-made disasters and other catastrophes due to climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened inequalities in urban areas, where almost 90 percent of cases were reported, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data.
The New Urban Agenda was developed to address urban challenges and promote sustainable urbanization for sustainable development. Adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urbanisation (HABITAT III) held in Quito, Ecuador on 20 October 2016, it is a document that sets global standards for sustainable urban development. The New Urban Agenda offers a new way of looking at how to build, manage, and live, in cities. However, six years after its adoption, few countries have in place the multilevel governance, national policies, inclusive urban planning, capacity, technology, and financing necessary to ensure sustainable urbanization.
The high-level meeting aims to position the New Urban Agenda as a road map for accelerating the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, notably Sustainable Development Goal 11 in conjunction with climate action, women’s empowerment, local engagement at city levels, urban resilience, and with building peaceful, inclusive, and participatory societies for livable cities.
The high-level meeting will include opening, plenary and closing segments, with participation from President Abdulla Shahid, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, and UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif.
There will also be multi-stakeholder spotlights and a fireside chat organized around the themes of 1) Best practices on leading locally; 2) Mobilizing millions for our urban future; 3) Inclusive urban action for COVID recoveries; 4) Equitable cities and resilient communities.
Results-oriented discussions at the high-level meeting will be captured through a summary of the PGA, with the aim of helping the international community chart the way forward. The summary will contain an annex that consolidates the current actions and future commitments towards implementing the New Urban Agenda as expressed at the high-level meeting by Member State delegations and participating local and non-State actors.
The high-level meeting will be available on UN WebTV at https://media.un.org/en/webtv.
The concept note is available at https://www.un.org/pga/76/high-level-meeting-on-the-implementation-of-the-new-urban-agenda/.
For more information, please contact:
- Paulina Kubiak Greer, Spokesperson, Office of the President of the General Assembly, [email protected]
- Katerina Bezgachina, Chief of Communications, UN-Habitat, [email protected]