Egypt will host the 12th round of the World Urban Forum (WUF) in November 2024, according to Egyptian Ambassador to Kenya and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) Wael Nasr El-Din Attia.
The decision was made during the first session of the Executive Board of the UN-Habitat Programme of 2023, which took place in Nairobi, Kenya 28-29 March, according to a statement released by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.
Egypt is keen to ensure that the 12th WUF highlights developing countries’ priorities in the field of urban development in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said Attia.
He added that the 12th WUF will build on the results of its predecessor as well on the outcomes of the UN’s 27th Climate Change Conference in 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh which discussed topics of urban development and climate change.
According to its website, the WUF, convened under UN-Habitat, aims to address the subject of rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change, and policies and tackles the challenges of sustainable urbanization.
Tens of thousands of representatives of the state, private sector, regional and international financing institutions, and civil society are expected to participate at the WUF next year in Egypt. Established in 2001, the forum assembles every two years in a different city.