Cairo: The twelfth edition of the World Urban Forum wrapped up on Friday with the adoption of the Cairo Call to Action, after intense discussions focused on the global housing crisis and financing urbanization, all under the theme ‘It All Starts at Home.’ Ahead of the closing ceremony, UN-Habitat Executive Director, Anaclaudia Rossbach, emphasized the Forum’s timely emphasis on local action. ‘Over half of the world’s population now resides in urban areas,’ she said, as she highlighted the pivotal role of local governments in shaping cities and human settlements. WUF12 was ‘a turning point in the journey of the World Urban Forum,’ she declared.
According to Emirates News Agency, over the past five days, WUF12, convened biennially by UN-Habitat, explored urbanization through six main dialogues, roundtables, assemblies, and partner-led events. ‘We have broken many records and scaled new heights at this World Forum,’ Ms. Rossbach stated, citing impressive metrics, including the attendance of over 24,000 particip
ants from 182 countries. In addition, four heads of state, 60 ministers, 45 deputy ministers, and 96 mayors, attended more than 700 events from 1,500 organizers. In total, over 63,000 people, in person or online, attended dialogues, sessions, and discussions.
On the final day, delegations adopted the Cairo Call to Action, pledging to act with urgency to address the global housing crisis as well as leveraging local action to achieve global goals and targets. The Cairo Call to Action also emphasized, among other points, the need for sustaining a systemic representation of local actors at all levels, sharing urban spaces and opportunities inclusively, urban planning to deliver better local outcomes, and unlocking finance for cities and communities.
Delegations also committed to ensuring equity and justice for sustainable cities, leveraging local and grassroots data for decision-making, harnessing culture and heritage as an asset for sustainability, and building coalitions and alliances to scale local impact.