The days are ticking down until the ninth World Urban Forum (WUF9) begins, and IHC Global is eagerly anticipating a week’s worth of diplomatic exchanges, dialogues and events focusing on urban development and the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. The World Urban Forum is the next in a series of global conferences on urban issues. It will focus on the theme “Cities 2030 – Cities for All: Implementing the New Urban Agenda,” and take on three facets of this theme: sustainable urban development for social inclusion and ending poverty, sustainable and inclusive urban prosperity and opportunities for all, and environmentally sustainable and resilient urban development. The conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from February 7-13.
Over 20,000 people are expected to attend the conference, and hundreds of national and local governments, members of the private sector and civil society organizations will be traveling to Kuala Lumpur to host and participate in events discussing every and any aspect of urban life. The goals of the conference are to raise awareness of sustainable urbanization among stakeholders and constituencies, including the general public; improve the collective knowledge of sustainable urban development through inclusive open debates, sharing of lessons learned and the exchange of best practices and good policies; and increase coordination and cooperation between different stakeholders and constituencies for the advancement and implementation of sustainable urbanization. IHC Global is looking forward to helping achieve these goals.
IHC Global at WUF
IHC Global will be attending WUF with a jam-packed schedule highlighting the core issues at the heart of our policy and action agenda. IHC Global will be hosting three events: From Theory to Reality: Using Data to Move the Bar on Property Rights for Women and the Most Vulnerable; No Time To Waste: Housing Policy and Advancing the New Urban Agenda; and Smart City, Just City: Working Towards a New Paradigm, an event that will unveil our new campaign to develop a policy framework to advance urban development that embraces technology of many sorts to make cities more equitable.
IHC Global will also be participating in a number of events and panels for WUF9. Ahead of the conference, IHC Global Director for Global Programs Karly Kiefer will be speaking at a pre-WUF urban policy breakfast hosted by the University of Chicago. During the conference, IHC Global President and CEO Judith Hermanson will be speaking at an event hosted by the University of Chicago, discussing how to use data to promote the inclusion and empowerment of people living in slums and informal settlements. Hermanson will also be speaking at an event for FIABCI, discussing how to turn urban density into prosperity. Many of our members and partners will also be hosting or participating in events, including the Land Alliance, the Affordable Housing Institute, Habitat for Humanity International, the International City/County Management Association, the World Urban Campaign and more. IHC Global will be engaged in these and many other activities and we look forward to seeing many of our members and broader network there!
For more about the World Urban forum, including a full schedule of IHC Global, our partner organizations, and other U.S.-based organizations’ events, visit our website page here. For more information about what to expect from the World Urban Forum, click here.