Eng. Sherif El-Sherbiny, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Dr. Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development, and Dr. Rania Hedeya, Regional Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), held an expanded meeting to follow up on the preparations for Egypt to host the 12th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12) next November in cooperation with UN-Habitat, in the presence of Dr. Abdel Khaleq Ibrahim, Assistant Minister of Housing for Technical Affairs, Ambassador Atef Salem, General Coordinator of the Forum, and a number of officials from the Ministries of Housing, Local Development and Finance. Eng. Sherif El-Sherbiny stressed that the World Urban Forum is the second largest event on the United Nations agenda, after the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which Egypt successfully hosted in its 27th edition "COP27" in Sharm El-Sheikh, noting that winning the bid to host the forum is a new testament to the success of the Egyptian state in organizing and hosting international conferences, and an opportunity to showcase the pioneering Egyptian experience in achieving comprehensive urban renaissance in various parts of Egypt during the past few years, and since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi took office.

 

The minister pointed out that Egypt will be the first African country to host the World Urban Forum since the inaugural session in Nairobi, Kenya, and the second Arab country after Abu Dhabi hosted the tenth session. The forum is the first global platform on the international agenda, which is concerned with addressing all aspects, sectors and fields of sustainable urban development, stressing that Egypt's organization of the forum is a great addition to its cultural and urban heritage locally, regionally and globally.

 

The Minister of Housing added that one of the most important reasons that qualified Egypt to win the bid to host the 12th session of the World Urban Forum is that the New Urban Communities Authority received the appreciation award granted by the United Nations Human Settlements Program 2021 in the field of sustainable urban development, unanimously by the committee, and among more than 170 nominations from many countries, due to its role in providing adequate housing, creating integrated urban communities with services, and connectivity by roads.

 

For her part, Dr. Manal Awad pointed out the government's keenness to provide all means for the success of the forum and its emergence in an honorable manner for the Egyptian state in terms of organization, events, activities, sessions, topics to be discussed, and cultural and tourism aspects, noting that the urban forum is an opportunity to showcase the successes achieved by Egypt in the field of urban and urban development, solving the problem of slums, city planning, and working to localize urban development goals.

 

The Minister of Local Development directed all the technical teams concerned in the committee formed to organize the forum to quickly make the necessary and required coordination and communications with all ministries and concerned parties, stressing that we do not have the luxury of time, especially in light of the approaching date of hosting the World Urban Forum next November.

 

During the meeting, the General Coordinator of the World Urban Forum presented all the coordination that took place between the Ministries of Housing and Local Development with the ministries and parties involved in the organization process and the results of the meetings that took place with delegations from the United Nations Human Settlements Program.

 

Dr. Rania Hedeya referred to the steps and procedures taken by the United Nations Human Settlements Program "Habitat" regarding Egypt's hosting of the next session of the World Urban Forum, praising the efforts made by the government represented by the Ministries of Housing and Local Development regarding the ongoing preparations and coordination between the two sides to host the forum.

 

The Regional Director of "Habitat" expressed the confidence of the United Nations Human Settlements Program in the capabilities and potential of the Egyptian state to organize the next session of the World Urban Forum in a manner befitting Egypt and the United Nations, especially after the great success achieved by the Egyptian state in hosting the Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh.

 

The meeting also witnessed a review of the ongoing preparations for the World Cities Day event, which will be organized by the Ministry of Local Development in Alexandria Governorate on October 31st in cooperation with the United Nations Human Settlements Program, before the World Urban Forum.

 

It was agreed to continue coordination between the Ministries of Housing and Local Development and the United Nations Human Settlements Program, to provide all means for the success of the forum and its honorable exit for the Egyptian state in light of the continuous follow-up by the political leadership and the Prime Minister of all developments related to Egypt hosting the next forum.