The Geneva Cities Hub (GCH) raised awareness about the important upcoming urban meetings planned in the first half of 2022 at a joint briefing for UN Member States co-organized by UNECE and UN-Habitat. As moderator, the GCH emphasized the need for contribution by all stakeholders, including States, local and regional governments, international organizations and civil society. Upcoming urban meetings include: the UNECE Forum of Mayors, the GA High Level Meeting on the New Urban Agenda and the World Urban Forum.
1. UNECE introduced the Forum of Mayors (Geneva, 4-5 April) that will to enable city leaders to exchange experiences, present their efforts to tackle urban challenges, and discuss how to work together in the context of the UN.
2. The team of the President of the UN General Assembly (PGA) referred to the High Level Meeting on the New Urban Agenda (mandated by GA resolution 75/224, OP17) (New York, 28 April) to take stock of the progress made in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. An Advisory Committee on sustainable urbanization has been set up by the PGA to advise on the planning for that High-Level Meeting and UN Regional Economic Commissions will contribute substantively to that meeting, based on their work in support of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.
3. Finally, UN-Habitat introduced the World Urban Forum (Katowice, 26-30 June 2022). This gathering constitutes the largest convening of sustainable urbanization stakeholders, thought leaders and policy actors who will explore innovations, solutions and policy opportunities on the urban transformation agenda as part of the decade of action to achieve the SDGs.
The Geneva Cities Hub hopes that States, local and regional governments, international organizations, civil society and other stakeholders will mobilize ahead of these three meetings to push forward the agenda for sustainable urbanization which stands at the heart of the pandemic resilience and recovery.
