The World Urban Forum adopts the Cairo Call to Action, calling for “sustaining a systemic representation of local actors at all levels”

The 12th World Urban Forum (WUF12)  came to an end with the adoption of the Cairo Call to Action, the outcome document of WUF12, with 10 calls to develop sustainable urbanization.

Building on the six dialogues of the WUF on issues such as housing, the climate emergency, a renewed multilateralism, renewed financial architecture, building people-centred smart cities, and displacement and migration; the WUF Call to Action recalled the critical importance of the New Urban Agenda to achieve the goals, including by strengthening the role of local and regional governments within the international system -in line with the adoption of the Pact for the Future and its clause on local and regional governments- and recalling the importance of engaging local and regional governments in the UN System.

Beyond the callback to the importance of the New Urban Agenda, the Cairo Call to Action issued a clear call for the “systemic representation of local actors at all levels”, building on the calls issued at the World Assembly of Local and Regional Governments, and the statement of the organised constituency gathered within the Global Taskforce. The call highlighted the importance of engaging with local and regional governments, and the communities they represent, as political actors which need to be represented at national and international spheres so as to ensure that localization is wholly understood as a political process, and goes beyond implementation on the ground.

The Call placed importance in ensuring access to all populations to basic services, including housing, infrastructure and public spaces, and called for the development of “caring cities” in which all populations including women, children, youth, persons with disabilities, indigenous groups and marginalised populations. Urban planning and “unlocking finance” were also identified as essential to empower local and regional governments and other local stakeholders to contribute to the goal.

Ending with a segment on the importance of collaboration, the outcome document highlighted the need to build coalitions and partnerships between all stakeholders to empower local and regional governments and accelerate progress to the localization of the SDGs.

Mayor of Cobija and UCLG Copresident Ana Lucía Reis, together with Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development of Egypt, and Evans Aggrey-Darkoy, Head of the Civil Service, Ghana, read the outcome document of the World Urban Forum at the closing segment, with UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach pledging that the outcomes of WUF12 would continue to inform discussions and the work plan of UN-Habitat