Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) - Multi-stakeholder Panel 3 and Panel 4 and Closing Segment, General Assembly, 80th session

Today, cities are on the front lines of a changing climate. Floods are more frequent. Heat waves More intense, disasters more unpredictable. Environmental degradation is accelerating pressure on urban systems. What was once occasional disruption is becoming a constant reality. Over the past years, cities have made great strides in building urban resilience, improving urban infrastructure, and adapting to the changing climate. Many places these days have integrated climate adaptation into national plans. Cities and regional governments are gaining a place at the climate negotiation table. Cities are also places of innovation and solutions. Integrated, people-centered, and place-based approaches are emerging. From nature-based solutions to resilient housing and early warning systems. From community-driven planning to climate-smart infrastructure. The opportunity lies in scaling what works and aligning action across all levels and sectors. The question is, can we respond together? How do we build inclusive, resilient cities that protect lives and safeguard livelihoods?

Okay, good afternoon, dear Excellencies and distinguished delegates and colleagues. My name is Sahar Atiyah and I am a parliamentarian in the House of Representatives in Egypt. I am also a professor at Cairo University, Faculty of Engineering, so it's really a great honor to be here with you this afternoon. Well, I'm welcoming you on this important panel, which is Delivering Urban Resilience in an Era of Climate Disaster and Environmental Risk. So therefore, I call to order the 3rd multi-stakeholder panel discussion, which comes at a very important moment. As we undertake the midterm review of the New Urban Agenda, we have an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come and, perhaps more importantly, how far we still have to go. Over the past decade, the international community has developed an impressive set of global frameworks with agendas, targets, indicators, from the Paris Agreement going through Sendai Framework to Sustainable Development Goals to the Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Together, all these agendas have provided a strong vision and common direction. Yet a massive gap remains between these high-level international commitments and the integrated, localized action needed to protect lives and livelihoods on the ground. Urban adaptation remains underfinanced, and our efforts are too often fragmented. Despite these commitments, cities around the world continue to experience increasingly severe climate-related crisis. The gap today is not in our understanding of the challenges, but in translating global commitments into integrated, coordinated actions on the ground. That is why today's discussion is so timely. It is an opportunity to move beyond discussing what needs to be done and instead focus on how governments, international organizations, local authorities, private sector, academia, parliamentarians, communities can work together to accelerate implementation. I hope today's discussion will provide practical insights, inspiring examples, and concrete actions that can help us move from commitments to implementation and from fragmented initiatives to integrated solutions. We shall hear first our panelists. Thereafter, the floor will intervene, of course, and it will be open for comments and questions for delegations wishing to speak. After the presentations, you are requested please to push the button of the microphone if you need to take the floor, and you can do that starting from now. I think also you all agree with me that we are moving past the why and focusing entirely on the how. So how do we break down the silos? How do we scale up inclusive place-based actions? So many questions, and to answer those questions today, we have the privilege of hearing from a distinguished panel of global leaders and experts who bring perspectives from the United Nations, from the national and local government, regional organizations, and international practice. Together, they represent the different actors whose collaboration is essential if we are to build more resilient cities. So first, I would like to welcome the panelists, so you know who is on this panel. We have first Mr. Kamel Kishore, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. We have also Honorable Matthew Samuda— welcome— President of the United Nations Environment Assembly and Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change in Jamaica. We have with us also Elizabeth Hi, nice to meet you. And she is the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme. And Ms. Fatimethou Abdelmalek is the President of the Nouakchott Region in Mauritania and President of the Mauritanian Association of Regions. And finally, we will have our 5th Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hi, Mr. Kit Miyamoto. He is the CEO of Miyamoto International and he leads with a singular mission to make the world a better and safer place. We hope— we're looking for that. So I would like, of course, to ask our speakers to keep to the allocated time, please, so we can reserve good enough time for questions and interventions afterwards. I will address now my first speaker, Mr. Kamal Kishore. You know that the UN system has played, of course, a central role in developing the global policy frameworks that guide climate action and disaster risk reduction. The next challenge is helping countries translate these frameworks into practical, coordinated actions at national and local level. So how can the UN system accelerate integrated approaches to climate change and disaster risk reduction by addressing growing risks such as extreme heat, flooding, sea level rise, and especially in vulnerable and rapidly urbanizing contexts. You have 4 minutes.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Madam Moderator, for giving me the opportunity to take the floor in the beginning and address a very important question on how the UN system can bring about integration across work on climate change, climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, and look at specific risks such as extreme heat, flooding, sea level rise, and so on. At the outset, I want to say that it's clear that urban risk, urban areas, disaster and climate risk is increasing. rapidly. It is increasing faster than our ability to actually reduce that risk, manage that risk. The rate at which the economic outputs— output of cities is increasing is not as fast as the rate at which the risk is increasing. So it's really important that if you want to achieve sustainable urban development where human flourishing is possible, that we take a comprehensive look at how do we manage risk through integrated approaches, wherever those risks may be arising from. So here, the task that you have given me, Honourable Chair, is to talk about what is it that the UN should do. Of course, we can say many things that the city governments can do, but what is it that UN can do? That's my question. So I have 3 propositions before you. The first is that while we advocate for integrated approaches at the national level, subnational level, at city level, that all sectors must come together, provide an integrated, coherent package of support, it is equally important that the UN system's support to member states mirrors that. We must be preaching what we— we must be practicing what we preach. And in that regard, I think the instrument that we have, which is the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, when we apply that to urban context or rapidly urbanizing context, it's really important that our work on nature— if you are not doing a good job of preserving urban wetlands, you cannot address urban floods. You know, if you're not taking care of green cover in a city, you cannot take care of urban heat. So our work on nature, our work on inequality, income generation has to be an integral part of this. You know, if the poor people are inherently more vulnerable, so how do we infuse the discussion on inequality with risk considerations as well? When we provide support for municipal finance, when we provide support for city planning, physical planning, All of that should be integrated. So we have to come up with an integrated package of support within the broader frame of the Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, rather than each part of the system doing what is its own favorite. You know, you cannot look at building regulation in isolation from preservation of urban ecosystems in urban areas. So that's my first point. My second point is about money, and it is assisting cities, assisting urban areas in coming up with innovative ways of mobilizing resources. During the last few days, we've seen many interesting examples of how cities are mobilizing resources. You know, in developing countries, there are instances where the revenue of the cities is so small They're spending 80 to 90% of their money on just giving out salaries, so they do not have fiscal space. How do we come up with good metrics of resilience so that you can say that if you invest this much, this is what you get, and attract private investment in that? How do we have other funds which can come and invest in urban resilience? So I think on financing, particularly urban resilience financing, we require new imagination. My third point is that at the UN, I mean, what we've seen in the last week, we need to do more of that, which is giving voice to the local. It is really important that the local voice is not intermediated through 100 intermediaries. It is really important that we hear directly from mayors, regional governments, as to how they plan to address disaster and climate-related risk. That's extremely important, and I think we have seen that it can be done. This whole week has been a demonstration of that.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Kamal, for your insightful intervention, and actually I noted the 3 main points, and the first one is the most important one, that UN support should be doing what they are preaching for, so I hope they will do that. And of course, finance. And actually, the previous session, the previous, let's say, panel was on finance, and it was a very interesting one. And I think you support what was mentioned during this panel. And of course, the third thing, voice to local, which is really important. Okay, let me I will move now to Honourable Matthew Samuda. We know that global frameworks only become meaningful when they are implemented through effective governance. And while I know that national governments are always negotiating international agreements, establishing policies, and are accountable for them, but local governments are the first to respond when a disaster happens. So when a disaster strikes, the first to rebuild communities is the local government. Therefore, success depends on effective collaboration across the levels of the— different levels of government. So can you share with us good practices of multilevel actions from your home country, Jamaica, either in the Caribbean, of course, or if you want to talk globally, it's fine.

Yes.

Please, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Moderator. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, and of course colleagues on the platform. We live in an age where crisis is a regularly used word. We live in an age where the term resilience is bandied about often loosely. In the environmental context, UNEP, and to my right, Ms. Elizabeth Mrema, will tell you about the triple planetary crisis. And the triple planetary crisis is more evident in urban environments than other spaces. The reality is that more than half the world has moved into urban centers. In the developing world, in many countries like Jamaica, my home, over 70% of the country lives within in decades to come. But it means also that, yes, you put pressure on the system, but the factors outside of your control are more evident in urban environments, and the risk to citizens in many ways is far greater. Just yesterday, many of us, like myself who is asthmatic, would have felt the impact of wildfires in Canada with deteriorating air quality, in New York City. Well, this is just one such example. With cities housing millions of citizens, when infrastructure does not meet the climatic risk that we face, you have serious problems and serious amounts of your population are indeed at risk. And that is why your response has to be completely integrated, from central government and ministries of finance making the appropriate financing available and making the headroom and fiscal space available to cities to build in resilient infrastructure, but also in working systematically with local authorities to ensure that the appropriate early warning systems are in place. The important— or rather, the urgent need and the emergency response mechanisms are indeed built right through local government and central government systems. In our context, we would have just had to put this to the test in both Hurricane Melissa and in the year before, Hurricane Beryl, and we would have seen the impact of best practices being followed, and we'd have seen areas where we had gaps. We'd have seen where the Central Defence Force worked very well with municipalities— lives were saved. We'd have seen where there wasn't sufficient coordination with central infrastructure funds and municipal municipalities, some drains that were not properly maintained would have led to far greater flooding. So I think it's incumbent on us this afternoon to acknowledge that, yes, urbanization creates great economic opportunity, but in many ways it centralizes risk, and the triple planetary crisis plays out there more than anywhere else. But where there is great risk, there is indeed great opportunity. So with the right investment, the right coordination, and the right partnerships between central and local government, we can indeed build resilient cities that create the possibility for economic expansion in a way that benefits all citizens. I thank you.

Thank you very much. I think— oh, sorry. Yeah. Thank you. I think it was very knowledgeable, at least for me, to hear little things about that great risk is a great opportunity. This is a very important statement, I think. Okay, I will move now to Ms. Elizabeth Maruma, and she is the Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. So we are moving now to the climate risks. As climate risks, they become more frequent and more complex, Resilience cannot be longer relying only on emergency response, like we just have heard now. Authorities at national, regional, and local levels must work together on prevention, adaptation, and long-term urban planning. My question for you: how can national, subnational, and local authorities accelerate integrated approaches while addressing growing risks such as extreme heat, droughts, flooding, sea level rise, especially in vulnerable and rapidly urbanizing contexts, like what we've heard now, that urbanization is taking— and cities are growing, and we have now more of the world are in urban areas. So the floor is yours. Let us hear you, please.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, moderator. Dear panelists also with me, distinguished delegates in the room. Thanks also for this invitation. Indeed, the question is pertinent. We need urbanization, we can't avoid it, and as the minister has indicated, it comes with its own risks. And we know national and subnational governments can and must therefore work together in the face of these crises, Particularly if we look at climate and other planetary crises, because our cities and communities are already facing more frequent and severe extreme weather events. And if we look just at the last decade, which had been the hottest on record, last year the world experienced its warmest year ever measured, and recent heat waves. suggests that 2026 is continuing that alarming trend, and what we have ourselves observed in the last 2 days here again explains that. So extreme heat is actually now the deadliest, deadliest climate hazard, causing over 490,000 deaths annually. A systemic and growing urban risk that cities are not yet then being governing effectively. And cities, we already see that they are over 10 degrees centigrade warmer than the surrounding areas because of the urban heat island effect. And by 2050, the number of urban poor exposed to dangerous heat could increase by 700%, particularly in the continent of Africa and Asia. In cities, heat is felt street by street. The suffering is local, but the causes are global, and the solutions therefore depend on every level of government working together. First, national and subnational governments must move from working in parallel to working in partnerships, because more than 70% of the actions needed to address climate change, for instance, fall within the jurisdiction and influence of the local and regional governments, but too often National strategies, local plans, and sectorial policies are developed separately rather than part of the same shared integrated approach. Therefore, aligning nationally determined contributions, the national adaptation plans, and the national biodiversity strategies and action plans with municipal and regional planning creates that common direction, strengthens accountability, and helps to unlock climate finance. It also gives the local governments that clarity and resources they need to deliver that ambitious action. This collaboration must also be inclusive because by bringing together local authorities, with indigenous peoples, the youth, the women, the local communities that will lead to policies that are more effective, more equitable, and more durable. Secondly, governments must stop treating mitigation, adaptation, or nature as separate agendas or separate entities. There is no adaptation-only pathway. There's no mitigation-only pathway. We must reduce emissions while also preparing for the impacts that are already unavoidable. Therefore, national and subnational governments need to embed climate mitigation, climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, and urban development within the same planning, the same investment, and the same policy frameworks. This integrated approach is what will help us avoid duplication, maximize investments, and deliver benefits across multiple sectors. We in UNEP, we support and work with countries, cities, and regions to translate global climate ambition into practical actions by bringing together these agenda items. Thirdly, governments should place nature at the center of urban resilience. Nature-based solutions, and the video indicated that, are amongst the most cost-effective investments available. They cool our cities, they reduce flood risks, improve air and water quality, strengthen biodiversity, and contributes to food and water security. On a sunny day, a single mature tree can provide a cooling effect comparable to 2 domestic air conditioners operating continuously for 24 hours. As one architect, Stefanos Boeri, once said, who champions the ideas of vertical forests, puts it, and I quote, multiply the number of trees and other plants in the cities of the world if we want our cities to become protagonists of a challenge that every day becomes more difficult, end of quote.

Thank you.

Therefore, investing in nature is a win-win for both people and planet. Protecting forests and mangroves will prevent hundreds of billions of dollars in annual climate-related losses by mid-century. Yet urban nature-based solutions remain, unfortunately, underfunded. Only $200 billion are invested annually on urban nature-based solutions, while $7 trillion is needed to support— is used to support nature-negative activities. Investments need to reach at least over $540 billion by 2030. And we need to move beyond isolated pilot projects and build investments-ready pipelines capable of attracting public, private, and blended finance. And UNEP's Urban Nature-Based Solutions Framework will help cities to do exactly this. National governments provide the vision, enabling policies and finance, Subnational governments bring implementation, innovations, and knowledge to local realities. When these strengths are aligned through effective multilevel governance, they create the integrated climate-nature-urban resilience policies that are greater than the sum of their parts. As climate risks continue to grow, this partnership will become one of the most important tools for protecting people, strengthening nature, and building resilient economies, because every fraction of a degree avoided matters, and every investment in resilience matters. Thank you.

Thank you. That was longer than— but interesting. Of course, with scary numbers. I mean, like when you say 700%, that's very scary. Also the $450 billion. I mean, you are telling, but actually I have to admit a little bit that you gave us some recommendations that are very important and very interesting. Thank you very much. We move now to Ms. Fatimatu Abdelmalik, the Champion of Regional and Local Government Cooperation. One of the lessons emerging globally is that resilience is increasingly regional. We have floods, river basins, coastal systems, ecosystems, transportation, networks, even heat islands like we've just heard, do not respect administrative boundaries. As you see, what happened in Canada affected New York today, so therefore we cannot build resilience in isolation. Regional cooperation and metropolitan governance, coordinated territorial planning, are becoming really essential components of of climate adaptation. So how can— my question to you is, how can regional and local authorities accelerate integrated approaches while addressing growing risks such as extreme heat, flooding, sea level rise, and particularly in vulnerable and rapidly urbanizing contexts? Thank you. The floor is yours. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Thank you very much, Madam Moderator. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished participants, unfortunately we're living in a world which is facing multiple crises. They're often interconnected ones too. Local and regional authorities, and I'm one of them, are legitimate representatives of their people. We know perfectly well all the local challenges our people are facing. We also know about existing networks, and so we're on the front line for a response. And that means that we need to be constantly thinking about how to innovate, to participate, to anticipate, to manage and reduce the risk of disasters and crises, as well as coordinate emergency responses. And ensure that continuity of essential services and support people and allow them to adapt, maintain social cohesion, as well as supporting resistance on local territories and many other things too. The cities that we represent are often on the front line, faced with different challenges— climate ones, environmental risks of disasters, floods, droughts, landslides, etc. All of these more and more frequent risks jeopardize essential services and infrastructure, particularly those that support the most vulnerable people. The challenges created by rapid urbanization, particularly in Africa, and urbanization which is itself a challenge but also a major opportunity to transform our territories and adapt them, for example, to climate change, disaster risk reduction too, for example, thanks to resilient, sustainable urban transformation. We see— we're seeing this in Rabat, my city. It's a city where the desert meets the sea, but the desert is also near where we don't have sanitation. We're seeing demographic growth, vast numbers of population but with also exponential horizontal challenges. It's a city with— experiencing pressure in terms of service provision. This experience has taught us that resilience isn't simply built with national strategies or global agreements. It's also built primarily much more closer to where people live. And with this great responsibility that local authorities bear, it's therefore— they don't necessarily have sufficient financial resources for this responsibility, nor do they have the technical skills in order to carry out their missions. This varies from country to country. It depends on the country. It is therefore high time to take a new step forward. Crucially, And I think, and I think you agree with me, we're all aware of this, we should consider local and regional authorities as strategic partners for the implementation of global agendas, because if we marginalize them, then governance is made more fragile and instability increases, and there's no development without stability. We should also increase direct financing to cities and regions. Local and regional governments are the first to respond often, and they have a large number of responsibilities and very little means to honor them. So therefore, this is necessary to support them and create mechanisms and reformulate financial mechanisms and national architectures, opting for making funding more local. In Nouakchott, we have an example here. We created a forum for climate change adaptation with governance on many levels. We should also foster cooperation between territories. Sharing experiences here is crucial tool— a crucial tool for accelerating resilience. We should also build the capacity of different actors Particularly local and regional authorities. Thus, then this of course we should bring on include management strategies for risk in urban planning, risk assessment, preparation for crises, and creation of emergency intervention tools. All of these conditions need to be met so that resilient, that vulnerable cities can become more resilient. Take into account social, environmental, economic issues as well. That means that they can become livable, viable, and that they can also respect their own environment, these cities. Some examples: planning and urban management to improve environmental impact. Here we can imagine nature-based solutions for cities as well, particularly in the context of desertification in Nouakchott. Planting thousands of trees around the city, for example. We're also trying to reduce the cost of transport. We have developed a sustainable urban mobility plan in Rakchot using renewable energy, and this leads to reducing the cost of fuel. And in Rakchot, we have 40% is solar energy for us. Also managing water. In terms— we are under water stress. particularly in outer boroughs. And we've already carried out— projects have also covered 10% of our water in Nouakchott. And this is thanks to parties, partners, particularly the city of Lausanne. And French cities have helped us in this too. Nouakchott has created jobs, and this contributes to supporting food security too. In conclusion, I'd like to reiterate that no single strategy will be sustainable if it doesn't bring together all actors, funds, young people, women, civil society. We, as local governments, are the ones who are able to mobilize this and create synergies between the different actors so that then they can address different problems and challenges, particularly those related to resilience. The New Urban Agenda reminds us that cities are an essential part of the solution, and to translate this ambition into concrete action, we need to give cities the means to act, which means investing in local and regional governance, and that then means investing in people's security and climate justice and sustainable development, leaving no territory behind. Global challenges can only be met if local and regional challenges are met at the same time. These local leaders are in fact global leaders and we are indeed the co-creators of global solutions. We are those who are creating social transformation. Often we say that cities are where the most people live and that means that they should be This is where the future will be played out. I apologize, I do have to leave before the end, but if you do have any question, but I if you have any questions, I'll be very happy to answer them remotely. Thank you very much.

Merci beaucoup. Thank you, dear Miss Fatimito. Thank you very much for your intervention, and I think. You explained quite well the role of the government, of the local government, and the challenges that may face you and some solutions. Of course, I have to recall what you said, that we build resilience at the ground and not through international agreements or policies, so I support this. You talked about finance, capacity, local governments. So thank you very much for your insightful intervention. Now, I think our final discussion today, our final presenter will bring us from policy to practice a little bit, and I'm sure you agree with me, Mr. Miyamoto, that every emergency response provides valuable lessons. not only about what worked, but also about where institutions and communities and partnerships can become stronger. Increasingly, resilience depends on collaboration well beyond government. The private sector and financial institutions have a critical role in reducing disaster risks and accelerating recovery. I understand you just returned from Venezuela?

Yes.

We would welcome your reflections on lessons learned as your work is unfolding. As a follow-up, it would be good to hear about your ideas of best practices for public and private collaboration for disaster resilience. The floor is yours.

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I just returned this morning, so I'm a little bit sleepy, but hopefully I can— I'm okay. So that earthquake, 7.2, 7.5 magnitude, hit back to It killed somewhere between 5,000 to up to 10,000 people and destroyed about 10,000 mid-rise buildings, plus it affected probably 3 times more buildings, maybe 30,000 to 40,000 buildings more being damaged. And also affected about 400,000 people, their jobs, and just well-being, you know. So it's a— it was a big, big shock to the country, affecting almost 10-15% of our population, essentially. And now, what happened there? Because the country has a good building code, pretty much international standard, and also do have really good engineers, you know, educations and everything is just fine. But however, why so much damage? I'm talking a certain area, it's probably over 80% of buildings collapsed. I'm talking about they're like 5, 8, 10-story buildings, you know, no little ones, very sophisticated buildings. There's some certain common thing I can see throughout the world, not only Venezuela. One is the obviously Any older buildings, obviously speaking, in the world, about before 1990 or 1995, before that, anything built especially made of concrete, they are really dangerous because there's no seismic protection system there. So just naturally it collapses and people die. Just, just well-known fact, you know. Doesn't matter, could be Apartments, could it be schools, could it be anything. And new construction, one thing I noticed that is the little things missing it. I mean, little thing, but it's critical things like how the— this steel, there's a— we call rebar in a concrete, how it actually tied into it. Little just details, you know, it's missing it because there is no inspection is required. for body engineers, you know. So just like, and I saw the same thing in Turkey in 2023. It's almost the exact same, you know. I don't see any difference between. So this is actually a global phenomenon about the inspection and also the quality of contractors, you know, their knowledge level. And also the, just, that's 2 things that to me, like, really distinctly see it. So what can we do? What can we do, you know? What can we do now? Not like 5 years from now, do you know, it's now what we can do. I think 3 things we can do, actually 4. Number 1, it's really actually pretty simple. Not only the public buildings, but private buildings, apartments and houses, need to be inspected by the engineers. I think that makes a big difference. I mean, this— I'm talking about formal sector, okay? That's number one. Number 2, the informal sector, like the informal housing sector, build the capacity of masons and laborers in the places. It's just huge difference. For example, Haiti, you know, 2010 earthquake killed about 300,000 people. And at the time, our organization alone probably trained about 10,000 masons, and other agencies also done, you know, trained probably hundreds of thousands of masons. And today, if you just walk into the jungle of Haiti, you're going to see the masons' construction site. They're actually building schools, which I saw it personally, school buildings are built per the international standard without overseeing it, because that becomes the professional standard, essentially, what professional standard of masons and laborers, you know. So knowledge matters, the capacity matters for the masons, and that will take care of not only formal sector but also informal sector. You know how cost-effective it is, training one mason?

Yes.

They want to do the right thing. They don't want to kill the neighbors, you know. If they know that skipping little details is going to kill the neighbors, they will make sure they do right. That's one thing I know. That's just common throughout the countries. Fourth, address something we can deal with, like public buildings. For example, obviously schools and hospitals. Seismic strengthening, and also the public, the social housings. And that's something I see quite often because they're usually kind of built really quickly and cheaply and very vulnerable, and marginal communities do live there. So addressing that would be something— it's a very small fraction of the built environment but has a very impactful— something public can do. You know, and I think a country like Turkey did a really great job in this sector. You know, they invested billions of dollars in the last 20 years to address the public buildings. So 2023 earthquake, yes, many, many apartment buildings did collapse, but their hospitals, schools, government buildings, bridges performed really well after magnitude 7.6, 7.8 earthquakes. You know, so yes, focus on that. So I think those things, it does not take billions doing it, quite frankly, but those can be acted now. Now, so those are the resiliency components. Again, that one thing though, every country can really learn it, is prepare for disaster response. It's kind of weird to prepare something that they haven't started yet, right? And Venezuela government, in my opinion, Technically speaking, I think they're doing actually a very good job, you know, decent job, very organized and very competent people involved in this response structure, especially debris management sectors and stuff like that. And I mean, the reason we're there is to support the people in a community and also government. That's what we're doing there. But so they can decide something pretty quickly, they're doing it. But if the government thought about it, say, 6 months ago, you know, prepare— just think about for like 1 month how you're going to actually deal with certain disasters and prepare for the damage assessment teams and stuff like that, that will make a huge difference. That will save the 2 to 3 weeks right after the shock happens. That's lives-saving. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much for this intervention. Although I'm really astonished about this inspection thing, informal buildings. So I mean, we can find this in informal areas, it's normal, but in formal areas, this is really— and in a country like Venezuela where you have really all these earthquakes, dangers, and so on. Thank you anyway for your intervention and wish you always Best of luck in your practices. I think we can now turn to the floor and hear some comments and statements. I'm reminding you, please, that if you need to intervene, just push the button, the microphone button. We don't have a list, a special list of established list of speakers, so we'll take them by order of requiring the floor. Member states will have the privilege to start, then representatives of observers, then United Nations system entities, and after that the stakeholders on rounds. I also remind the delegations that the time limit for the interventions will be 3 minutes for individual statements and 5 minutes for statements on behalf of groups, which will be strictly enforced by means of automatic microphone cutoff. I'm sorry for that, but these are the rules. And to assist delegations in managing their time, you will find the clock displayed on the screen, and the microphone will blink 30 seconds before the cutoff. So just you can watch the screen to make sure that you are on time. I also would ask all speakers to deliver their statements at a reasonable pace to facilitate interpretation into the 6 official languages. Thank you for your collaboration. We can start now. So we have an intervention from Brazil. That will be followed by Peru and then Croatia. So the distinguished our distinguished member state from Brazil, you can start. The floor is yours.

Boa tarde.

Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to greet all the excellencies here and ask for your permission to speak in my native language. I believe this is a great opportunity to discuss. Such important issues that affect us all. Science has already sounded the alarm. Extreme weather events will become increasingly frequent, and this makes it imperative that we take action. We must protect our cities and make them more resilient. After all, 60% of the world's population live in cities. Brazil faces a unique situation. A country of continental dimensions is concentrated in its cities, where 87% of Brazil's 213 million people live. And the government has been paying close attention to our cities since 2023. In addition to reestablishing the Ministry of Cities, the portfolio I represent here, the government has also created a secretariat to address the needs of our outlying areas. We believe these communities should be viewed as spaces for citizenship with social potential and the capacity for collective development of urban solutions. We have contracted projects totaling about approximately $12 billion for sanitation, $2.2 billion for Living Periphery Initiative, and $6.5 billion for drainage and slope stabilization. The world is watching with trepidation as El Niño approaches. Climate event that, according to forecasts, is expected to be the worst in recent times. We're also supporting cities in their risk reduction. There will be no development policy that is successful with governments that treat inequalities as something natural or that postpone implementation of actions that, as we know, cannot be promises unkept. We need to exchange experiences to pave the way for the future. Urban democracy is a way for public policies to reflect the challenges that the cities face. Thank you very much. We are at your disposal to continue the dialogue in spaces that are more just and resilient. Thank you.

Thank you. I thank the distinguished representative of Brazil, and now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Peru.

Madam Moderator, first of all, I would like to thank the panelists for their very interesting remarks, and share many of them. In this regard, Peru wishes to share the following thoughts. For Peru, urban resilience must be addressed through comprehensive, inclusive, and human-centered approaches that combine housing, land planning, critical infrastructure, mobility, water management, and basic services. We wish to highlight the importance of incorporating adaptation to climate change and disaster risk reduction in a more effective and systematic way into our national housing policies, land use ordinances, and urban planning. For Peru, a key priority is translating the commitments we have already undertaken, including those deriving from the Rio and Sendai frameworks, and it's especially important for countries like Peru whose cities are increasingly more at risk of drought and pollution, landslides and damage to infrastructure, including for instance the El Niño phenomenon. Because of this, the connection between urban planning and management of water resources is absolutely crucial for effectively addressing these risks. Similarly, there should be a strengthening of investment in resilient infrastructure, and this includes housing, schools, healthcare establishment, transport, and early warning systems, with priority care given to those people in situations of vulnerability, including women and girls. Very often these groups are disproportionately impacted by the consequences of climate change and other disasters, and we know that the impact of climate change is not gender neutral. And finally, Madam Moderator, one key challenge that persists is the underfinancing of funding of resilience and funding resilient housing. For this reason, partnerships and alliances should also be focused on land, housing, and basic services rather than being limited exclusively to the traditional services that typically get priority. Finally, there will not be effective urban resilience without means— adequate means for implementation, especially for developing countries and without better coordination across the national, regional, and global scale. Thank you.

Thank you, distinguished representative of Peru. And now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Croatia.

Thank you, Madam Chair, distinguished representatives, excellencies. Croatia regulatory and strategic framework already provides a strong foundation for strengthening urban resilience, promote climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, sustainable urban development, environmental protection, and stronger multilevel governance. To accelerate integrated approaches to urban resilience, national, regional, and local authorities should systematically integrate climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction into spatial planning, urban development, and investment decision-making, and should be recognized as key cross-sectoral priorities supporting climate-resilient and balanced territorial development. Priority actions should include restricting development in flood-prone flood-prone and coastal risk areas, expanding nature-based solutions, strengthening local resilience planning, risk mapping, and early warning systems, and prioritizing the needs of vulnerable groups. The implementation of the New Urban Agenda and our other global commitments should be mainstreamed across housing, transport, energy infrastructure, environmental and territorial policies. Croatia's strategic framework already provides a solid basis for pursuing this integrated approach. Key priorities include integrated climate resilience and energy efficiency, using territorial planning to guide sustainable urban growth, promoting sustainable mobility, climate-proofing, advancing circular economy principles, waste reduction, and environmental protection, as well as strengthening cooperation among national, regional, and local authorities through formal multi-level governance mechanisms and shared resilience indicators. Achieving resilient and inclusive cities requires increased investment in housing, land management, and essential public services. In conclusion, urban resilience should be advanced through an integrated, people-centered, and place-based approach, and strong multi-level governments, nature-based solutions, and targeted climate financing will be essential to protect lives and livelihoods while ensuring that no person and no place is left behind.

Thank you. Thank you, distinguished representative of Croatia. And now I call for stakeholder 1. Please introduce yourself.

My name is Nelson Solly Jr. I am from the Global Platform Right to the City. It's a global network. We are working since the Habitat III process to build the vision of human rights in the New Urban Agenda. In special, we have the vision of the right to the city in the New Urban Agenda. It is why you are here. It is why we are celebrating the new political declaration for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda for the next 10 years. We want to bring some points here for this dialogue about the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, sure, to connect the perspective of human rights, right to the city, with climate justice. This is the the main dialogue here now. For this, I think one point is to have strategic actions to implement together the call for actions of Baku in the last year. In Baku, there's many commitments also for stakeholders and governments with the new political declaration of the New Urban Agenda. This, I think, is one point I want to bring here. The other is about technology and dissemination of the New Urban Agenda. I think we need to concern— it's important for our cities, the inhabitants, the people living in the cities, to understand the main— the principal commitments we need to implement in our cities regarding the situation of emergency climate with the human rights, especially the right to the city. For this, I think we need to think more what's the function of the city, in special to bring a perspective, what's mean the climate function of the city in this time? What's mean another kind of partnership Public with social partnership, especially for to deal with these situations with vulnerable groups, are usually impacted with the emergency climate in your cities. Like in Brazil, in different regions, we have this situation. I think this is the point I would like to bring here for this dialogue. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bahamas, will be followed by Tanzania and then Nepal. So please, you have the floor, Bahamas.

You are correct, Chair. Strong vision, a common direction. The Bahamas welcomes this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to implementing the New Urban Agenda. For us, urban resilience is not simply about responding to disasters. It is about ensuring that resilience is integrated into every aspect of national development before disasters occur. As a Small Island Developing State, the Bahamas continues to face severe threats from rising sea levels, increasingly intense hurricanes, strong surges, and other climate-related hazards, despite contributing the least to global greenhouse and gas emissions. Our geography, fragmentation, dispersed island communities, and limited infrastructure means that a single road dock or utility failure can isolate and cripple entire communities. Hurricane-related damages have reached as much as 25% of GDP in a single event, while reconstruction costs following major storms frequently exceed 10 to 15% of GDP. Placing enormous pressure on national development and public finances. These realities require integrated action across all levels of government. The Bahamas has embraced the principles of the New Urban Agenda through climate-resilient construction standards, improved zoning, renewable energy integration, water-efficient systems, and sustainable community planning. We recognize that resilience cannot be treated as a standalone objective. It must be embedded in housing policy, territorial planning, infrastructural development, and environmental management. The Bahamas also supports stronger regional cooperation. Caribbean countries face many of the same hazards, and we therefore see value in developing a regional framework to strengthen the resilience of existing housing through housing— good housing quality assessments, resilient housing retrofits, practical policy guidance, and capacity building. We value our collaboration with UN-Habitat, CARICOM, and IDB as we continue translating global commitments into practical action for Small Island Development States.

Thank you. Thank you, distinguished representative from Bahamas. Now I invite Distinguished representative of the United Republic of Tanzania, the floor is yours.

Honorable Chairman, urbanization creates opportunity for economic growth, innovation, improved livelihood. However, it also increases pressure to climate and developmental risk when growth is not adequately planned and managed today. Our cities face multiple integrated challenges. We witness more frequent flooding, prolonged droughts, extreme heat, coastal erosion and sea level rise, environmental degradation, waste management challenges, and the pressure on infrastructure and basic services. These are risks further intensified by population growth, informal settlements, and inadequate urban infrastructure. Tanzania recognizes that climate change, environmental degradation, and disaster risk are increasingly affecting urban development and management risk. As urban populations continue to grow, building resilient cities has become one of their key priorities, implementing new Albany Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals, and Paris Agreement, and the Sendai Framework. Tanzania adopted the multiple-level approach to urban resilience since 2016. Tanzania implemented several resilience-building initiatives including the Dar es Salaam Metropolitan Development Project 2016-2023, which construction about 75-kilometer stormwater drainage infrastructure and the detention pond in Simbazi River Basin as a strategy for reducing flood risk vulnerable community and improving urban mobility. Early warning system through Tanzania Meteorological Agency continue to strengthen weather increasement and the early warning service to improve preparedness of flood, drought, and the Environment Management Council sector institution in the implementing watershed presentation, information ecosystem information initiative that support climate adoption and urban water That protect people, safeguard environment, and support prosperity in the present and the future.

Thank you, distinguished representative of Tanzania. And now I call the distinguished representative from Nepal. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To begin with, I thank distinguished speakers and panelists for their thoughtful reflections. For climate-vulnerable countries like Nepal, where fragile mountains, growing urbanization, and disaster risk converge, building urban resilience is not a choice but an urgent development imperative. Although Nepal contributes only around 0.04% of global carbon emissions, we remain among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Between 2018 and 2024, 91% of recorded disasters in Nepal were climate-related. Causing unprecedented human and economic losses. As our cities continue to grow, these risks are becoming increasingly urban. Today, over 27% of the population lives in urban areas, while 40% resides in rapidly expanding peri-urban settlements. Urbanization has not only created new opportunities but also placed enormous pressures on housing, infrastructure, water resources, land management, and basic services. Building resilient cities is therefore critical to protecting lives, supporting livelihoods and fostering inclusive sustainable development. To strengthen urban resilience, Nepal has embedded climate action across national and local policies. The National Urban Policy, the National Adaptation Plan, and NDC 3.0 aim to build balanced, green, inclusive, and climate-resilient urban systems through integrated spatial planning, resilient infrastructure, sustainable mobility, nature-based solutions, and stronger rural-urban connectivity. Through our federal system, 753 local governments are increasingly incorporating climate and disaster risk into local development planning and are partnering with the local communities to implement locally-led adaptation solutions. Our experience shows that resilience is most effective when it is locally-led, integrated across sectors, and supported by robust multi-level governance. However, the scale of challenge far exceeds our capacity and resources. Partnership with development partners, financial institutions, communities, academia, and the private sector have demonstrated what is possible, but these efforts must now be scaled up. We therefore call for greater access to predictable concessional and climate finance, innovative financing mechanisms including blended finance and public-private partnership for resilient urban infrastructures and housing, strengthened international support for countries and communities at the frontline of climate change for technology transfer, investment in human capital, agile data system, risk-informed and participatory urban planning, and enhance global solidarity and partnership to ensure that global commitments under New Urban Agenda, Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda translate into resilient cities and communities on the ground.

I thank you.

Thank you very much for keeping the time. Distinguished representative of New Thank you, Nepal. And now I give the floor to Stakeholder 2, and please introduce yourself.

Thank you, Chair.

My name is Shirley Price. I'm the General Secretary of the Jamaica Household Workers Union. I'm also representing WIRO Commission Which is a network of grassroots women organizations. As climate change intensifies, we must fundamentally rethink what we mean by climate adaptation. Too often, housing is treated as a social policy, care as a welfare issue, and climate adaptation as an environmental or infrastructural challenge. Yet for millions of women and families living in informal settlements, climate-vulnerable communities, these realities are inseparable. If climate change is experienced where people live, then climate adaptation must begin where people live. Resilient communities depend on care infrastructure. During climate disaster, it is the women who disproportionately shoulder the responsibility of caring for children, older persons, persons with disabilities, sick, often while securing water, food, and shelter increasingly in difficult conditions. Investing in care infrastructure is therefore not simply a social policy, It is a climate resilience strategy. It strengthens household capacity to prepare for, to respond, and to recover from crises, while enabling women to participate in livelihood, communities, leadership, and local decision-making. These investments are among the most effective climate adaptation measures we can make. Every dollar invested in resilient housing, secure lanterns, neighborhood upgrading, and care infrastructure reduce future disaster loss, protect livelihoods, strengthen public health, and build more resilient local economies. Domestic workers organization and grassroots women organization are already demonstrating the integrated approach. So this shows us that resilience is not built after disaster, it is built every day. through organized community. We are therefore calling for a new generation of climate finance, recognizing resilience, housing, land security, neighborhood upgrading, and care infrastructure. Today, I'm saying, when you're designing intervention, it must be inclusive. Exclusion can be very expensive. Let us leave no one behind. Thank you.

Thank you. Our last 3 interventions will be from Indonesia, Malawi, Azerbaijan, and I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Indonesia.

Thank you, Madam Moderator. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Indonesia has carried one consistent message. that global commitments must be visible in local delivery. Today, on urban resilience, that test is even sharper. For an archipelagic country on the Pacific Ring of Fire, climate, disaster, and environmental risks cannot be addressed separately. Resilience determines whether homes remain safe, water and sanitation continue to function, roads stay open, and communities recover without falling deeper into poverty. Indonesia has the 3 Million Homes Program that carries a wider national purpose. Its legacy must be safer, better-connected communities whose essential services can withstand climate and disaster shocks. Indonesia is advancing this direction through risk-informed planning, Stronger building standards and climate-responsive infrastructure. Indonesia Disaster Risk Index and mapping provides local hazard information for planning. Updated seismic maps and national standards guide safer construction. Green housing, integrated transport, and stronger water, sanitation, and waste services reduce exposure pollution, and disruption. However, data standards and technology matter only when they change investment decisions. Indonesia therefore proposed 3 actions. First, place risk information at the start of land use planning, permitting, and project preparation before location and design are fixed. Second, embed resilience as a core criterion in public investment. Buildings and infrastructure should be designed, maintained, and retrofitted to protect lives and keep essential services operating. Third, turn local risk assessment into funded projects. UN-Habitat, development banks, the private sector, cities, and communities can support this by strengthening local capacity and aligning finance with national system, and the needs of the highest-risk areas. National ownership gives direction. Local knowledge makes resilience work. Resilience is not measured by how quickly we rebuild after each disaster. It is measured by how much loss we prevent before it occurs. By 2036, the New Urban Agenda must be judged by safer, home, stronger services, and fewer lives lost and livelihoods destroyed. I thank you.

Thank you, distinguished representative of Indonesia. And now I invite a distinguished representative from Malawi to give his intervention, or her.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson, Excellencies, distinguished delegates. Disasters, be it cyclones, floods, droughts, and storms, have hit Malawi before. As such, Malawi understands the cost of inaction. Our cities and our towns are on the front lines of all these crises. We therefore made a choice. We chose to plan, to enforce, and to invest. in the resilience. Firstly, we planned, and we planned with a purpose. Malawi is rolling out both structural plans, local physical development plans, and land use plans in all our urban areas. It is just as simple as guide orderly growth, protect wetlands and riverbanks, and keep the people and infrastructure out of harm's way. Secondly, we are enforcing those plans. Planning without enforcement is just a paper exercise. This is why Malawi is establishing the Metropolitan Police within the local authorities. The mandate is clear: stop illegal development, protect public spaces, and ensure that buildings are built within the laws. Thirdly, we are building with risk disasters— no guesswork. When science meets policy, then order begins to follow. We have integrated multiple hazard risk assessments into the urban investments. Before we build a road, a market, or a school, a home, or anything, we ask, is this location safe? We are shifting from disaster responses to disaster prevention. Fourthly, we are rewarding results. Resilience must be funded. Malawi is introducing performance-based initiatives for local authorities. Councils that mainstream disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, and green infrastructure into budgets will get resources. Those that don't will not get anything. Madam Chairperson, resilient cities are not built by chance. They're built by strong institutions, evidence, enforcement, and local leadership. Malawi is doing its part. but we cannot do it alone. We call on partners to finance us technology transfer and capacity building. Together, we can build resilient cities. Thank you.

Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Malawi and call for the distinguished representative of Azerbaijan. Please, the floor is yours. Microphone.

Thank you, Madam Chair, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. Over the past 2 days, our discussions have reaffirmed one important message: the future of sustainable urbanization depends on our ability to build cities that are resilient to climate change, disaster, and environmental risks. As the world becomes increasingly urban, the climate and urban agendas must be integrated into the way that we plan and develop our cities. The New Urban Agenda, the Paris Agreement, and the SDGs provide us with a strong global framework. The challenge is now to translate these commitments into practical, integrated, and place-based actions through the multi-level governance. In Azerbaijan, we see integrated spatial planning as one of the most effective tools for achieving this objective. Today, 86% of our cities are covered with renewed master plans, bringing together land use, housing, mobility, green infrastructure, and public services within a single spatial framework. Climate resilience must contribute to climate mitigation, and Azerbaijan has submitted its 3rd nationally determined contribution, setting a conditional target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2035. Environmental protection and green growth are included in our national priorities for social economic development for Azerbaijan 2030. Just last week, government approved new regulations on the energy efficiency of buildings, translating climate commitments into practical standards for the built environment. I want to refer to our experience that comes from COP29 back in 2024. One of the key lessons for us from COP29 and WFSU 13 this May is that climate action and sustainable urbanization must be brought together, closer together, and not only through policies but also through continuous dialogue and partnerships. At COP29, together with UN-Habitat and partners from Brazil, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, we launched the Multisectoral Action Pathways for Resilient and Healthy Cities. Looking at the climate urban agenda from the perspectives of different sectors and multilevel governance. We also launched Baku 2020 Coalition for Urban Climate Action to strengthen connection between these 2 agendas, and at WUF13, we extended it to the Global Urban Agenda, and then more— with more countries joining this coalition. Clean Air Initiative was another topic that we introduced at WUF13, realizing that air quality is a shared urban climate and public health priority. We see Baku-Continuing Coalition as a platform of the countries to connect urban and climate agendas. Therefore, we encourage more countries and cities to join this dialogue and talk between these.

Thank you, distinguished representative of Azerbaijan. I'm sorry, we are out of time. So before we conclude, I would like to invite each of our panelists to leave us with a final thought or comment, so I will start with the— or takeaway, whatever you want to mention. I will start with Mr. Kamal Kishore. One minute.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. There are many, many takeaways from this very rich I think there's a lot of discussion, but I will revert back to what Dr. Kit Miyamoto said in his presentation on Venezuela. 2 things: one is the importance of local capacity, even down to the level of masons, and the second thing, creating social demand for resilience. We want to come to a situation where, even without oversight, there is so much demand that people build housing, build cities that are resilient. Thank you.

Thank you very much for keeping the time. Now, we hear from Ms. Elizabeth. 1 minute, please.

Yes.

Thank you very much. Indeed, many takeaways, but clearly, there was a major, I would say, agreement that urbanization is important. There is a crisis there we need to deal with, but local authorities, local governments need to be empowered, and this is where the issue of capacity finance comes in.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. And to our first speaker, please, Dr. Miyamoto, 1 minute.

Yes, I think 2 things come to my mind. One is just do little things today, it matters actually. You don't have to be perfect, just do little by little. I think that's a really critical piece. Second is the— this is not only just the public sector. I think private sector really, really has to be part of it, you know, and then we have a much more wholesome approach. That's very important.

Thank you. Thank you very much. I would like also to thank all distinguished representatives from different states who shared their vision and valuable insights. I want I would like also to thank our speakers, and of course, I would like to thank all the team of UN and the team of UN-Habitat who contributed to the organization of these high-level meetings panels. They did great work. They are behind the scenes, but we have to appreciate what they are doing. And of course, we have to thank our interpreters there who are doing a great job. In translating and ensuring that discussions are inclusive and accessible. My final word, if I want to deliver a message myself, if I may, of course, that above all, resilience must remain human-centered. I mean, we don't want to talk only about infrastructure, but we have to talk about people, their dignity, their quality of life. So I hope that we will always consider that during our solutions and our interventions. Thank you all for joining us today, and I hope that this discussion will not stop there and we will collaborate and do some actions toward really creating cities that are not only resilient but also more inclusive, sustainable, and better places to live in. Now I invite the moderators and panelists of Panel Discussion 4 to take the seat on the podium, please, you can join us here. And please, members, you are requested to remain seated during this change of teams. Thank you very much. Panel 3 is now concluded. Thank you very much.

We are entering an— We are entering a new era of transformation, an era defined by rapid urbanization, technological disruption, and increasing complexity. Cities are expected to adapt, respond, and lead in this environment, to integrate their surrounding areas and connect to other cities. Delivering the New Urban Agenda can help cities be ready for the future. Future-ready cities are built on strong foundations: effective multi-level governance, empowered local and subnational authorities, institutions capable of turning policy into delivery, and connections to the communities. Yet many cities continue to face capacity gaps, fragmented systems, and limited access to reliable interoperable data. Without integrated governance and trusted data systems, planning and service delivery remain reactive rather than strategic. Digital transformation is reshaping the urban landscape. Data-driven decision-making is enabling more efficient. Efficient planning and service delivery. Emerging technologies are expanding opportunities for innovation in housing, mobility, resilience, and governance, including citizens and communities in decision-making processes. But these opportunities must be matched with safeguards to ensure that innovation is inclusive, ethical, and people-centered. How can we embrace transformation to create Inclusive, resilient, and truly future-ready cities.

Now we're good.

Hello, everyone. I call to order the 4th multi-stakeholder panel discussion of the High-Level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda. The panel discussion will address the theme, Activating Future-Ready Cities Through Governance Capacity, Data Innovation, and Digital Transformation. I want to take this opportunity to welcome all of you and congratulate you for staying through to this last session on a summer Friday. I'm very impressed with all of you.

Thank you.

and I know that you deeply care about it as a result. I'm Andrew Solinger. I'm the CEO, publisher of Foreign Policy magazine, and I'll be serving as moderator for this session. I think you hopefully just saw a few minutes of the short video that set the scene for today's conversation, so thank you for paying attention to that. And I just wanted to explain why I'm here. As CEO of Foreign Policy, I spend my days analyzing how global shifts from economic shocks to the digital frontier, play out on the ground. And nowhere does that play out more critically than in our cities and local regions. We are currently navigating a reality where the future of sustainable development is no longer just being debated in conference halls like this. It is being forged on the streets of our cities. So today, as we review the new urban agenda, we face a paradox. Our urban centers are tasked with solving the most complex challenges of our time— climate, housing, inequality, and the digital divide— yet they are often restricted by outdated governance and fragmented data. We are here to move beyond that fragmentation. We are here to discuss localization as a system. This means bridging the gap between national mandates and local reality. It means treating data not just as a statistic, but as a safeguard for the vulnerable. And it means recognizing that an AI-ready city is meaningless if it is not an equity-ready city. Today, we will hear how we can build this coherent system, one that connects institutional capacity with communities that need it most. Because cities and communities today are navigating an increasingly complex landscape: climate pressures, demographic shifts, housing challenges, technological disruption, fiscal constraints, and growing inequalities. These are testing the capacity of institutions at every level, and responding to these challenges require more than technological innovation or policy reform in isolation. It requires localization to be approached as a system, one that connects stronger multilevel governance, institutional and human capacity, reliable data, and partnerships capable of mobilizing knowledge and resources around local priorities. This also means empowering local and regional governments and strengthening the mechanisms through which national and local institutions work together. This lasting impact depends on integrated, place-based approaches that align policy, planning, implementation, and investment, while enabling meaningful participation by communities, civil society, the private sector, academia, and other stakeholders. And this is increasingly reflected in the work of the Local 230 Coalition and in practical frameworks such as the SDG Localization Blueprint. This emphasizes that accelerating sustainable development locally requires these enabling conditions to work together rather than in silos. At the same time, rapid advances in digital technologies, including AI, are creating unprecedented opportunities to improve urban planning, service delivery, participation, and accountability. These opportunities must be accompanied by safeguards that ensure inclusion, equity, transparency, and respect for human rights. Technology and data must ultimately serve locally defined priorities and strengthen, rather than replace, accountable and inclusive governance. So we're going to consider today a broader question: How can these different capabilities and partnerships come together as a coherent localization system that delivers results at scale? We are first going to hear presentations by the panelists, and thereafter the floor will be open to comments, observations, and questions. As there's no established list of speakers, delegations wishing to speak after the presentation by the panelists are requested to press the microphone button starting now. So, introductions. We are fortunate to be joined by 4 distinguished panelists representing the UN system, academia, local and regional governments, and civil society. To my right, your left, is Ms. Helena Fraser, Director, Policy and Programming Branch, United Nations Development Coordination Office. Welcome. To Ms. Fraser's right, Francisco Legnani, Mayor of Canalones, Uruguay.

Mucho gusto.

To the Mayor's right, Professor Esther Fuchs, Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, who also importantly played a role in Mike Bloomberg's mayoral administration right here in New York. And also, to my left, your right, Ms. Rose Molokoane, South African SDI National Coordinator and co-founder of the SDI Network— that's Slum Dwellers International. Thank you so much for joining us, Rose. I thank each of our panelists, actually, for joining us today and for sharing their expertise and experience. And with that, let's begin the discussion. So, our first speaker is Helena Fraser, as mentioned, from the UN Development Coordination Office. Director Fraser, as Director of Policy and Programming Branch of the UNDCO, you oversee efforts across the UN system to support countries in implementing sustainable development priorities through integrated and coordinated approaches, so very relevant for this conversation. The implementation of the New Urban Agenda depends on effective coordination across levels of government, institutions, and sectors, as we've discussed, but many countries continue to face challenges related to fragmentation and overlapping mandates and uneven institutional capacity. So the question for you is, how can multilevel governance be strengthened to ensure effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda and support more coherent, accountable, and inclusive action that delivers for all beyond 2030.

Thank you so much, and Excellencies, distinguished delegates, it's a real pleasure to be here on this panel with such fantastic co-panelists today, here in one of the major urban metropolises of our host country, to discuss the New Urban Agenda, and I want to start by framing my remarks around the Secretary-General, the UN Secretary-General's report on progress in implementing the New Urban Agenda, which was published just a couple of months ago. And he, in this report, he delivered a really clear message: cities and local governments are at the forefront of delivering housing, basic services, climate action, and economic opportunity. Yet they are often asked to do so— too often asked to do so, in fact— without the resources, capacities, or influence needed to match those responsibilities. And so that's why, for the UN, strengthening multilevel governance means recognizing local and regional governments as genuine development partners, helping to shape, implement, and finance development solutions. And it also means equipping them to harness digital transformation in ways that improve services, strengthen accountability, and expand opportunities for all. The Secretary-General's report also shows that when national and local priorities are aligned, results follow. And that's what I'm going to talk to you about today— some of the experience of our United Nations Resident coordinators and UN country teams on the ground, and I want to highlight 3 lessons in particular. The first lesson, colleagues, is that when localization works best— when local governments are empowered to shape development decisions. In Honduras, for example, municipalities supported by the United Nations integrated Sustainable Development Goal priorities into local planning and budgeting, helping to mobilize additional resources for education and social services. While in Nepal, United Nations support connected national climate commitments with local planning and financing mechanisms, enabling municipalities to lead resilience efforts. These experiences, and many others that I could cite but won't for want of time, show that local authorities are indeed essential development partners, bringing solutions closer to people. As urban areas grow and become more complex, empowering local governments with better data and digital tools will be increasingly important to effective planning, service delivery, and of course citizen engagement. This also means investment in digital public infrastructure that can help local governments to manage growth, enhance resilience, and of course provide better services. The second lesson from our teams on the ground is that decentralization must be matched with capacity and financing. Across many countries, devolution to the local level has not been accompanied sufficiently by corresponding resources. Through the Joint SDG Fund, the flagship UN fund for Sustainable Development, the United Nations is supporting local institutions to strengthen public finance systems and develop investment-ready territorial programs. The Fund's localization portfolio is now expanding to 20 countries, with a total budget of $60 million, now supporting a new generation of local financing solutions, and we're really grateful to those countries around the table today that are donors to the Joint SDG Fund. With these resources, in Thailand, a local finance accelerator is strengthening investment readiness for climate-resilient infrastructure, and in Kenya, a blended finance facility is supporting climate resilience services and affordable housing through partnerships among local government, development finance institutions and private investors. The third lesson that I want to share, and my last, and I'll be very brief here, is that inclusive governance is essential for trust and accountability. And I'm sure that my colleagues at the table today will speak more on this, so I'll be brief. From our experience on the ground as the UN, the most successful localization efforts bring together government, communities, civil society, academia, and the private sector around shared priorities. And here, the neutral and convening role that a UN Resident Coordinator can play can be very helpful to local partners with this effort. This can strengthen accountability and help ensure that policies reflect local realities and needs. Dear colleagues, distinguished delegates, dear friends, The overarching lesson of all of these— this work is simple: national and local governments, communities, investors, and partners align around common goals, and creating that alignment is often the hardest task, and ensuring that the resources and investment follow is very hard as well. But this is where the United Nations strives to add value under national leadership and in line with local government priorities. We reflect on— as we reflect on the first decade of the New Urban Agenda, one lesson stands out: the Global Goals are delivered first and foremost locally, and I'm sure that's been a theme throughout the entire discussions here, but it's something that we really strongly believe in, in the United Nations. Stronger multilevel governance, sustainable financing, inclusive participation, and people-centered digital transformation will be essential to building more resilient, connected, and equitable cities. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Ms. Fraser, for those valuable insights. Let me now turn to Mayor Francisco Legnani of Canalones, Uruguay. As mayor of Canalones, Uruguay, you bring valuable experience in local government governance, so can bring that perspective and territorial development, and the practical realities of translating national commitments into tangible improvements for communities and territories. Through the leadership of local and regional governments, including their engagement in global processes through the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments, cities and regions are also helping shape the policies, partnerships, and governance approaches needed to deliver the New Urban Agenda and SDGs. So, Mayor, from the perspective of local and regional governments, what capacities, partnerships, and governance innovations are most needed to translate national commitments into effective local action and build more resilient, inclusive, and future-ready cities and communities?

Please.

Muy buenas tardes para todos.

Very good afternoon to all of you. I'm here not just as the mayor of Canalones, Uruguay, but also as a representative of a community that believes strongly in the transformative potential of what we adopted in Quito, Ecuador. This has provided a framework for building communities and human settlements that are inclusive, secure, resilient, and sustainable. The New Urban Agenda reminds us that the challenge of Sustainable development is played out in our cities. For us in Canelones, this is a daily reality. We are a department that combines growing metropolitan areas and the capital, Montevideo, with municipalities that are facing urban integration challenges. This is a laboratory and this is our commitment. We have taken up the new urban agenda with a concrete focus. Firstly, the perspective of inclusive cities and the principle of leaving no one behind. This is the driver of our policies. The new agenda emphasizes the need for adequate housing, access to basic services, and public spaces for all. In Catalonia, we have made progress in the regularization of informal settlement, ensuring legal status for millions of families, and promoting social housing with an integrative approach. of our management strategy. Climate change requires action, and this is why we have a departmental plan for risk management. We're working on our coasts and wetlands to ensure sustainability. A clear example of this is our support for family agriculture and being closer to our resources and urban-rural connections. This is absolutely crucial for a department such as ours. Thirdly, we are promoting prosperous and innovative cities. The new agenda calls on us to promote local economic development, to ensure that we have technological progress centers, and we believe that a prosperous city generates employment, quality employment, and we need to be also in balance with our productive economy so that growth is inclusive and benefits all sectors. Allow me now to share a little bit about the vision that we have for expanding our network. Since the 1st of December this year, Constanța is going to be chairing this network of more than 450 local cities across Latin America and the Caribbean. This is a strategic opportunity for scaling up our local initiatives and to the regional level and to ensure the New Urban Agenda is implemented from the territories. This covers 3 axes. Firstly, cross-cutting cooperation. As we said, the summits of the networks in each of our municipalities is a drop in the ocean, but at the same time, this allows us to work all together. We have close connections with other neighboring countries such as Argentina, Argentina and Brazil to ensure sustainable urban development. We are going to ensure that these ties are multiplied because if we can make progress together, this is the most effective multiplier. Thirdly, we have shared principles with regards to the environment. Together with Rosario and Argentina, we are supporting the Mercosur Cities Initiative and we are sharing our experience here in waste management and other areas. And we have a composting and recycling plan for homes. We're also learning from the good practices of other cities, and this allows us to scale up solutions that no local government would be able to do alone. We're also coordinating with national and supranational level. Canal+ has worked to build bridges across MERCOSUR cities and MERCOSUR. Uruguay will also chair the regional bloc in the future, and these fundamental synergies are crucial. We must have frameworks for implementing the new urban agenda, and from our network we are able to have an impact. We hope that hundreds more Latin American cities will be able to join us with a solidarity network. We know that the path is long and the challenges are complex, the implementation of the New Urban Agenda is not just a formal act but a continuous process. This requires resources, political will, and above all, the active participation of our people. And this is why I call on the Assembly to strengthen the mechanisms that allow local governments to be the key actors in the implementation and follow-up of this agenda. We need international cooperation and direct financing that meets our reality so that we can continue transforming our communities. Uruguay has a tradition of social dialogue and inclusive public policies, and this is an example of how the principles underpinning the new agenda can actually be translated into results. Canalones is an example of this, and from our example of MERCOSUR cities, we stand ready to share our path with the entire region. We invite you to come and see our experience and to continue working together. The future of humanity is in the cities, and this— the success of the future will depend on our ability to develop The future of humanity is most definitely in the cities.

Thank you very much, Mayor. Our next speaker is Esther Fuchs. Professor Fuchs is Professor of International Public Affairs at Columbia University here in New York City. Professor Fuchs, cities are increasingly expected not only to respond to current challenges, but also to anticipate future risks and opportunities. What investments and partnerships are needed to strengthen national, regional, and local institutional capacity, urban data systems, and strategic foresight? And how can research evidence and innovation better support policymakers in anticipating and responding to future housing and urban challenges? Please, Professor Fuchs.

Well, thank you for that question. I want to begin by recognizing the importance of the fact that the UN is seeing global problems as best being addressed by local governments. I've been in this racket for about 40 years now, and I can't say how delighted I am to be here today because of what I believe is a correct focus on cities as part of the solution and the desire to build the capacity of local governments to deliver policy solutions to the most pressing global problems identified in the SDGs. It's well established, however, that most city governments fall short in their legal authority, meaning they are not legally empowered to do this work in most instances, their operational capacity, as was pointed out, they simply don't have the expertise, and of course the financial resources to either directly deliver the services their populations need or to form the partnerships with NGOs, the academy, and the business community to provide significantly oversight on contracted-out services, because it's not enough to create partnerships if the public sector does not have the capacity to do the oversight. So there's no question that new technologies and the systematic collection of data data can help us solve the real problems urban populations are experiencing globally. However, we do need policymaking and implementation systems in place where government officials have the ability to evaluate what is the right data or the right technology needed to solve their city-specific version of what we've identified as global urban problems. They can't simply rely on outsiders. We need that capacity in government. And while I have spent most of my life in the academy, I did, as was mentioned, spend 4 years as special advisor for governance and strategic planning in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's first term. And so I am going to do an unusual thing. Rather than speak in generalities, I'm going to provide 2 examples, 2 very specific examples coming from New York City where we use technology and data to achieve SDG goals. And, you know, sometimes people think about New York City as sui generis. You can't learn anything from the large developed cities when you're in a developing country. I would suggest to you that there's just a tremendous amount we can learn by looking at how New York and other large cities and developed cities are tackling these problems. There's no one-size-fits-all solution, but there is an identification of a process and of a set of needs that is really relevant to, I believe, every city across the globe. The 2 cases I'll highlight very quickly are Access New York which I developed with a whole lot of other people during Bloomberg's administration. And by the way, you can download it on your app right now if you want to take a look. And Community Speak, which is also available online, which I'm currently working on as a project at Columbia University SIPA funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and in partnership with community-based organizations in New York City. City and with New York City government. Very quickly, Access New York was a— what we like to call a radical restructuring of New York City's social service operating system by using data and technology to create efficiencies, that's save money, because every city needs to do that because we never have enough money, and improve access to services in order to create some form of equity. And the impetus for this transformation was Mayor Bloomberg's election after September 11th, 2001 terrorist attack in New York. There was a $6.4 billion revenue shortfall in New York City's budget, and also the advances in technology had already happened, so this was like an important moment. I can't emphasize enough how it is you have to capitalize on the opportunities when they present themselves, and crisis creates extraordinary opportunities. And what we did essentially was, as I said, a restructuring and consolidation of social services. And just to give you a little bit of background here, and then I'll move quickly into the solutions. So in— New York City has 13 human services agencies administering over 100 public benefit programs that supported millions of children and families and single adults. Okay, you got that? 13 agencies, 100 different programs. Every program had its own access point and Every program had its own, whether it had technology or not. Some of them were still doing needs assessment with paper at that time. So, these agencies were using 100 different software programs. 17 programs used screening and eligibility. 80 used them for case management and 6 for contract management. And 6 agencies had no electronic contract management at all. So this was an extraordinary mess and created not only problems for providing the service but problems for the people who needed the service. And that became really obvious after 9/11 when a large number of people who never accessed social services before became displaced and needed those services. So what we did essentially was begin a planning process focusing on everything: screening and eligibility, case management, contract management, policy development, and planning. And as I said, it's very important to identify the challenges as you begin a planning process and bring all the right partners to the table, including internal to city government as well as the external partners, and of course in our case the state government and the national government who had control over most of the resources in this space. And finally, in this planning process, what we were able to do was convene over a 1-year time period to develop content for a screening tool and to develop the technology for this screening tool, and then begin implementing a pilot and begin citywide implementation of the screening tool. And we launched it in 2004, and I just have to share with you one very important part of this process. When I was at City Hall trying to do this and I went over to the head of the Department of Information Technology, he said, sure, I'll help you, but you need to understand this is a This is a policy problem, not a technology problem. We can get you the technology if you just identify the specifications and do all the work that is required to get it right beforehand. And that is what we did, and in the end, we were able to develop the app that you see that's pretty much the same as it was on the screen. I'll very quickly mention this last project because it's current. And any of you who are interested can engage with us. The project is called Community Speak, and it was developed during COVID with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies because we had no real-time data to figure out what was going on in communities across the city, and they were willing to help me use New York City as a pilot for potentially doing work in other cities. And the idea was very simple, which is to say we needed to collect data in real time, engage community organizations to assess needs, especially in high-needs communities, so we could target resources to the communities with the highest needs. So we developed this survey, which is actually— it's live now and it's online. We're doing it in a whole range of policy areas. So we address needs in food insecurity, housing insecurity, health, transportation, and childcare. And we have a program that we provide to cities now across the United States, but potentially globally, which Bloomberg Philanthropy is willing to fund for free, which includes a 16-month training program to build capacity in those cities to collect this data and to use their community organizations in their own cities. And we welcome anybody who's interested in using this model. There's so much more I could say. I'll stop there.

Thank you, Professor. That was very tangible examples that you relayed. And yes, thank you for— the quote of that anecdote for me is this is not a policy problem— this is not a technology problem, it's a policy problem. And those are words to live by. Our final speaker is Ms. Rose Molokwane. Ms. Molokwane, to remind you, is the South African SDI National Coordinator and co-founder of the SDI Network. Ms. Molokwane, as cities embrace digital transformation and increasingly rely on data-driven approaches, there is a risk that the voices of the most vulnerable communities may be overlooked. How can communities, particularly those living in informal settlements, be meaningfully engaged in urban governance, data generation, and decision-making to ensure that digital transformation and urban innovation leave no one and no place behind?

Thank you very much, moderator. I'm the last speaker for the day?

We're going to have some interventions from the floor, but you're the last formal speaker from our panel today.

I wish I was the first one.

Maybe—

thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to represent the millions of people who are vulnerable, who are underprivileged, who are who are poor, who can't afford what they want to achieve for their lives. The first thing that I wanted to say was that to celebrate the member states and the local governments who adopted the political declaration for the coming 10 years, and my question is, will it be a document Or will it be a process to implement the document? That's my question that I'm asking to everyone. When I talk on the issue that you have raised, I wanted to say all the governments, let's embrace the local wisdom. So that we can build better global solutions to our problems. Since yesterday, I was listening attentively to the discussions and to the inputs of different member states, different cities, highlighting problems that are affecting the running of their departments. And I'm asking myself a question, who's now going to help me as a community person if the government that is supposed to help me has got problems? And the discussion was around the creation of partnership, the issue of funding, the issue of including communities. And then I'm trying to wonder, how am I going to be included if the very same people who has to include me has got problems? When we talk about digital, I wanted to explain that SDI is operating in very active countries. 22 of them. We were having 33, but because of COVID-19, most of the federation got weakened. But for now, we are celebrating 30 years of existence of SDI with the main agenda of addressing the issues of housing, land, informal settlement upgrading, and financial muscle that we want to build on our own. When I was listening to everyone talking about inclusive development or including communities in development, I'm looking at the countries where we are working whereby many national governments have opened their doors. for us. Many local governments have opened their doors for us. We have created a very strong relationship, but with a very, very weak partnership. So my question is, what kind of institutional framework is going to be done to create the inclusive development that we are talking about? What kind of financial framework we are going to build as government and cities so that we can achieve the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. SDI has participated in the drafting of the New Urban Agenda, and SDI has continued to lobby and advocate for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, but minimal results has come out of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. Now we are agreeing that for 2036, we have to accelerate the implementation again for the New Urban Agenda. I'm asking myself, in which phrase Is the cities and the national government going to put the communities? Are you going to do it for them or are you going to do it with them? I am here to represent those communities to say time is running out of our hands. If we are not practicing what we are preaching, We will come back together again and say, how do we review the New Urban Agenda? When we talk about the digital transformation, SDI has got a program that is called Know Your City. We have come up with a Know Your City campaign where we do this approach by profiling our communities, profiling our informal settlements, using the new technology. We started by using the GPS, using the youth, empowering our youth in our communities, empowering our women to understand how to use technology, and now we are learning again how to use the drone. They are using this technology called the drone, whatever. We are using that. to plan our communities. We are using that to replan our informal settlements. The only thing that is needed is the partnership that we are talking about. Come together. That's why I'm saying embrace the local wisdom so that you can have a better global solution. The implementation of this new urban agenda, should not be one-sided. It should not be done by national government alone. It should not be done by municipalities or cities alone. It should really practically include communities, because as I'm telling you, we do have information, we do have capacity, we do have communities that we have transformed because of our Know Your City campaign. When we look at South Africa, We have forged the relationship with the Department of Human Settlement where we said we want to have a policy that is people-centered. We are going to have a meeting next week with the Department of Human Settlement in South Africa where we want them to concretize the partnership that they are talking about. We have worked a lot in Zambia, we have worked a lot Namibia is one of the examples where we have done changing the way government is working, changing the way the policies are drafted. We have included also the universities that are working with us to make sure that our own people's-driven policies are recognized by the municipalities, are recognized by national government. We are respecting all your policies, but what we realize, your policies are so beautiful, they are like women who want to get married, being so beautiful but no husband proposing love. So those are the policies that we have realized you are having. I'm worried that this declaration, will it end up in your files or are you going to use it? when we come and knock at your door and say, you said in New York at the United Nations headquarters you want to create the partnership, are you really going to be the people of their word? We wanted you guys to listen to us. We wanted you to understand what we are doing on the ground. We are looking at access to land. We are building our own houses. We are collecting our rich information about ourselves. We are collecting money amongst ourselves to drive our own community-driven development. We only need your support. We only need your relationship turned into partnership. We want you to say, if we are saying we've got million rents in South Africa, we want the government of South Africa to say we will match your million rent with another million. That's how we can make money. So let's join hands together and walk the same path together. This informal settlement upgrading, it's ours. Finally, I want to say SDI will continue to pledge and to commit in mobilizing and organizing communities towards advocating and lobbying our different government departments in order for us to address the issues of land, housing, economic development, financial bringing together and then creating the real practical and implementable partnership. That's what we need to see happening. Come 2036, we want to see practical examples on the ground. We want to see that partnership working practically. We want you to listen to us and we listen to you. and we create the real partnership. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Rose Malakouane. Don't let your policies be unmarried and alone.

Partner.

And a great call to action. Thank you very much, Rose Malakouane. Please join me in thanking all of the panelists for their excellent comments. We will now open the floor for comments and statements. I'd like to— we're running out of time, and I would like to remind delegations there is a limited amount of time, so please do respect that. And in giving the floor, member states will be interspersed with stakeholders as well. It will be a 3-minute time limit for individual statements, 5 minutes for a group. This will be enforced by means of automatic microphone cutoff, and there will be a countdown clock displayed on the screen, and the microphone will blink 30 seconds before cutoff. Having said this, I would appeal to all speakers to deliver statements at a reasonable pace. We have interpretation in 6 official languages, of course, and we welcome, as our panelists did, practical experiences, innovative approaches, and concrete recommendations related to governance, institutional capacity, data systems, digital transformation, and partnerships that can accelerate implementation of the New Urban Agenda, as Rose has called for. So, I thank you for your cooperation. So I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of El Salvador, the Minister of El Salvador, please.

Gracias.

Thank you. Good afternoon. We've heard a lot about resilient cities, and the Ministry of Housing of El Salvador, we are convinced that this does not depend only on infrastructure if it is not based on people and how we manage people. Human capacity. This is also important. We want to share about cooperatives for mutual support. We are helping to build homes and participating families are part of the whole process. They are providing labor, organizations, and commitment. But this is just one part of the process. The real value goes far beyond this. This involves building capacity, technical. Skill and leadership as well, promoting community organization to generate a sense of belonging that contributes to the sustainability of projects and strengthening the social fabric. In other words, we're not just building houses and homes, we are building communities that are better prepared for the challenges of the future, and this is what being more resilient means. At the same time, we know that the decisions that we take as a state must be underpinned by quality information. And this is why we are driving the digital transformation in the housing sector by strengthening our Housing Observatory and Habitat Observatory. We are using new technologies, geospatial technologies, and data visualization tools, and we've created a platform that allows us to integrate and present strategic information on these services, programs, and projects from our housing system. Digital innovation also opens up opportunities for identifying territorial gaps so that we can get ahead of habitat needs and optimize public investment and better coordinate inter-institutional work. In this regard, data is not just information, it is a strategic asset. However, technology on its own does not transform cities The real potential of cities can be achieved when cities have the support of strategic partnerships such as the public sector, private investment, and international cooperation, and above all, active participation from the communities themselves, taking into account the specific reality of the territory and aligning with programs that allow us to bring direct solutions such as offers of financing, legalization programs, and renting programs. Preparing our cities for the future means changing. We need innovation and decisions with a human development perspective, and this is what we're driving from the Ministry of Housing in El Salvador— solutions that improve the quality of lives of our people, to strengthen our institutions, and build cities that are more resilient, more sustainable, and more inclusive. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of El Salvador. And I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Republic of Korea.

Thank you, Chair.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, the Republic of Korea achieved rapid urbanization and economic growth through sound national urban policies and systematic urban planning. Building on this experience, Korea is now responding to emerging urban challenges through digital transformation and small city policies. From the U-City and Smart City policies to the recent K-AI City initiatives, Korea has continuously integrated digital technologies and artificial intelligence into its urban policies. Today, Korea is expanding its national digital twin framework to support decision-making in areas such as disaster management, public safety, climate, and in the environment. We're also promoting urban management systems that combine digital twins and AI while helping AI-based to urban services move beyond research and development into everyday use. In 2024, the Republic of Korea submitted its National Progress Report on the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda to UN-Habitat, sharing its key policy experience and implementation achievement with the international community. Korea is also working closely with UN-Habitat through the Korea-funded National Urban Policy Program to support other countries in formulating national urban policies, and strengthening their capacity. We also shared these cooperation experiences at the networking event held during World Urban Forum 13. Digital transformation should not be an end in itself. It must be a people-centered transformation that improves citizens' lives while ensuring digital accessibility, personal data protection, sound data governance, and meaningful public participation. The Republic of Korea will continue to harness digital technologies and AI to build safer, more inclusive, and more sustainable cities while sharing its experience with the international community. Thank you.

Thank you very much, this distinguished representative of the Republic of Korea. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of India.

Thank you, moderator. India's experience demonstrates that technology is most transformative when it is built upon strong public institutions and implemented across— implemented according to national priorities. Digital public infrastructure has fundamentally changed the way public services are delivered in India by making governance more transparent, efficient, and inclusive. Building on this foundation, the National Urban Digital Mission is creating interoperable digital architecture for urban governance, while the India Urban Data Exchange and integrated command and control centers are enabling cities to use real-time data for planning, mobility, public utilities, and disaster response. These experiences demonstrate how data-driven governance can improve service delivery while supporting evidence-based policymaking. Emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, present unprecedented opportunities to make cities more resilient, efficient, and responsive. However, the deployment must remain human-centric, inclusive, and responsible, while safeguarding privacy, security, and equitable access. India believes that digital transformation should narrow rather than widen existing development divides. The UN system has an important role in supporting Member States through technical cooperation, capacity building, and knowledge sharing, while respecting national ownership and priorities. Partnerships should facilitate access to digital tools, strengthen institutional capacities, and promote the exchange of scalable solutions, particularly through South-South cooperation, as also highlighted in the political declaration that the High-Level Meeting adopted just yesterday, India reaffirms the importance of innovation, DPI, strengthened local capacities, and international cooperation in building resilient, inclusive, and future-ready cities that leave no one behind. I thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of India, and I now give the floor to the International Telecommunication Union, ITU.

Thank you, Chair. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, 10 years after the adoption of the New Urban Agenda, our shared ambition remains clear: cities must become more inclusive, resilient, safe, and sustainable for all. As we look towards 2036, one lesson stands out: we won't achieve the New Urban Agenda without digital transformation, but neither will digital transformation succeed without trust, inclusion, and international cooperation. The ITU, the UN specialized agency for digital technologies, is committed to working with UN-Habitat and partners across the United Nations system to help translate the New Urban Agenda into measurable results for cities and communities. The New Urban Agenda calls for stronger data, integrated urban planning, and evidence-based policymaking. To support this, the United for Smart Sustainable Cities initiative, coordinated by ITU and UN-Habitat, together with 20 UN entities, has developed a comprehensive set of key performance indicators aligned with the Global Urban Monitoring Framework. Today, these internationally recognized indicators are helping more than 300 cities measure progress identify priorities, and accelerate the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. This New Urban Agenda also calls for integrated and connected urban systems, which requires trusted digital foundations. Through ITU Study Group 20, ITU has developed more than 200 international standards on the Internet of Things, digital twins, and smart sustainable cities and communities, enabling cities to build secure, interoperable, and scalable digital infrastructure that supports better public services and sustainable urban development. As AI reshapes our cities, we have an equally important responsibility to ensure that innovation advances human well-being. Last week, at the Global Dialogue on AI Governance, ITU and UN-Habitat launched a new U4SSC working group on guiding principles and frameworks for people-centered smart cities in the AI era, helping cities harness artificial intelligence responsibly and inclusively. The New Urban Agenda is our roadmap. International standards provide the foundation. Digital cooperation enables scale. Together, they can build cities that are more resilient, more inclusive, and more human. We stand ready to continue our work across the UN system. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Representative from the ITU. I now give the floor to Stakeholder 1. If you would introduce yourself, please.

Yeah, okay. Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Excellencies, distinguished representatives, thank you for this very valuable discussion. My name is Lily Zhang, and I am honored to address you in my capacity as World President of FIAPSI, the International Real Estate Federation. From the perspective of FIAPSI, representing real estate professionals across more than 80 countries, Future-ready cities cannot be built without strong governance, reliable data, innovations, and meaningful cooperation between the public and private sectors. Urban transformation is not only a matter of technology; it is a matter of trust, capacity, and implementation. Cities need transparent governance, accountable decision-making, and reliable data systems that allow all stakeholders to plan together, measure progress, and act with confidence. Innovative data collection, artificial intelligence, and advanced technology can play a powerful role in this process. They can help identify housing needs, assess affordable gaps, map investment risks, monitor urban transformations, and support better decision-making at all levels. But data and technology must be connected to real actions. This is why FIAPCI also believes in action learning approach, bringing together governors, local authorities, professionals, financial institutions, and communities to test practical solutions, learn from implementations, and scale what works. For our built environmental environment innovations is about using data technology and professional expertise to design projects that are financially visible, valuable, socially responsible, environmentally sustainable, and capable of improving quality of life. VFC stands ready to contribute to implement expectations of the new urban agendas and help activate future-ready cities. Thank you.

Thank you, Fiobsi. I now give the floor to Uruguay.

Gracias.

Thank you. The quality of the territorial information is essential for taking better decisions about planning, housing, risk management, and urban development. Having updated data that is interoperable allows us to design more efficient, equitable, and evidence-based policies. In the framework of the Forum of Ministries for Urban Development in Latin America and the Caribbean that we will be chairing this year, we are seeking to advance towards a new agenda of open cities data that will strengthen planning and cooperation between countries. As the outcome, we hope that by the end of 2026 we will have a regional diagnosis and a framework of standards as well as a regional roadmap. We also want to highlight a crucial challenge that we believe is structural, the problem of the scale of information. National statistics systems are designed to produce data at a country level or perhaps at a departmental or municipal level in the best case. However, the integration policies require much more precise and accurate information. In Uruguay, we are looking at microdata from the most recent census, and this represented a major step forward. But at the same time, we've noticed that in order to implement regional integration programs, we need specific tools because the national information does not give us the granularity that we need. And this is not just a specific case of Uruguay. Challenge is faced across the region. And this is why having a regional data network can be a very useful tool in terms of moving towards a common goal, developing measurement tools that at the same time are comparable between countries and sufficiently disaggregated to support the decisions that are taken in the territories. Ultimately, this is where public policy generates impact. Ultimately, and lastly, we know that the challenge is not just having more data, but strengthening institutional capacity to interpret this data, incorporate it into the design and monitoring of public policies, and to translate this into concrete results. The value chain for data begins with the production of data, but it really becomes valuable when it leads to better policies for people. I don't have time, unfortunately, to share the different examples of progress that we have in Uruguay, but I do want to say that I share the idea that public policy must be designed for people and with people.

Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative from Uruguay. We're running short on time. We're only going to be able to take 2 more representatives, and I'd like to give the floor to the distinguished representative of Czechia.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Czechia believes that future-ready cities require strong institutions, effective multilevel governance, and the capacity to anticipate and respond to rapidly evolving challenges. Effective multilevel governance is built on genuine partnership among national, regional, and local levels of government. Each level has a distinct but complementary role. National governments provide a strategic and regulatory framework, while regional and local authorities translate policies into tangible results for communities. To fulfill this role, local and regional authorities need strong institutional capacity, predictable financing, and responsibilities matched with adequate resources. Digital transformation can help improve housing policies, urban planning, public service delivery, and citizen engagement. Reliable and interoperable data are essential for evidence-based policymaking and for measuring progress towards the new urban agenda. Investments in digital infrastructure, data systems, and digital skills can make cities more efficient, resilient, and inclusive. At the same time, digital innovation, including AI, must be human-centered, transparent, and accessible. It must protect fundamental rights safeguard data, and strengthen public trust. Looking ahead, we need greater investment in urban data, institutional capacity, and strategic foresight. Strong partnerships among governments, academia, private sector, international organizations, and local authorities are essential to anticipate future challenges and develop effective solutions. The United Nations system has an important role to play in supporting knowledge sharing, capacity development, and cooperation that helps turn innovation into practical results for sustainable urban development. Thank you.

I thank the representative from Czechia, and our final intervention, I would like to welcome The representative of the Bahamas.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

For the Bahamas, building future-ready cities is simply about adopting newest technology. It is about strengthening the government system, partners— partnerships, and data capabilities that help us better understand our communities and respond effectively to their needs. One significant step in this direction has been the establishment of the Urban Renewal Authority. This reflects more an integrated approach to community development. Rather than treating urban blight, crime, youth vulnerability, housing challenges, and social exclusion as separate issues, we are bringing together governments, communities, civil society, law enforcement, faith-based organizations, and the private sector in a coordinated response. This work is supported by the Department of Urban Renewal and Community Relations, under the leadership of the Honourable Lisa Raming, which provides a platform for stronger whole-of-government coordination. Our objective is to reduce fragmentation, improve communication among agencies, and ensure that communities' needs are matched with appropriate government responses. We are also strengthening how we use community-level information. Our urban renewal centers are located within communities they serve to provide direct link between residents and government. Digital tools can help us collect, share, and analyze information more effectively. However, technology must support good governance, not replace it. Our aim is to build stronger systems for identifying needs, tracking interventions, measuring outcomes, and ensuring that limited public resources are directed where they can have the greatest impact. The Bahamas is also strengthening national coordination through the Ministry of Innovation and National Development, creating opportunities to better align innovation planning, digital transformation, and national development priorities with a broader strategic framework. For us, a future-ready city is defined not only by technology, but by better governance, better data, stronger partnerships and more responsive public services. Our ambition is simple: to ensure that every community, regardless of size, location, is understood, included and served. That is what future-ready urban development means for the Bahamas— using innovation to strengthen institutions, using data to improve decision-making and placing people at the center of development. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the Bahamas and all the delegations who participated. Those delegations who were not able to deliver their statements are kindly requested to submit their statements to estatements@un.org, and they will be posted on the United Nations Journal.

So thank you.

I wanted to come back to our panelists for final thoughts. I'm going to— if we could keep it very tight, of course— I'm going to invite each of you to offer one brief closing reflection. And Rose Malakwane, if we could start with you, but it'll be the same question for everyone: What is the single most important action, partnership, or investment that should be prioritized over the next 5 years to support resilient, inclusive, and future-ready cities and communities? If you could try and keep it to 1 minute, that would be great.

Thank you very much again. It was interesting to listen to all the government people who have attended this forum since yesterday, and then you can listen that there's a lot of seriousness in the discussion and then a lot of willingness to do the right things at the end of the day. But what I can say is that the creation of the practical framework, the practical structures that will include communities in addressing development issues, that will create practical, implementable partnership, is a very important outcome of what I have seen and have listened to the discussions. The issue of funding, I think we should all go back home and strive seriously on getting funding so that we can address development practically on the ground, because without funding, there's nothing that we can achieve. The final thing, the issue of the AI technology, Yes, it's very important, but it should not overpower the coming together and the thinking of the people. It should not close our minds to think broader on what we want to achieve. So let's join all the issues together, but finally, let's join hands together with the communities. Let's work together so that we can build a better world for all of us. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Rose Malakouane. Professor Fuchs, to you the same question: what is the single most important action, partnership, or investment that should be prioritized over the next 5 years? And again, please, if you could keep it brief to 1 minute.

Yes, Rose, you were so articulate about that, and I just want to stress 2 points. One is that In order to successfully engage communities, governments need operational capacity. They have to be able to get the work done. They have to be able to respond to the community needs that are articulated, and they have to work collaboratively with communities. So my emphasis here would be to ensure that there's sufficient investment. I don't mean to say it all comes down to money, but without it, nothing gets done. And government is the only place that this— these programs can be brought to scale and these problems can be solved, and it needs to be done at the local level in cooperation with communities. And so it's the responsibility of the private sector and of national governments to invest in local communities to get this work done.

Thank you, Professor Fuchs. Mayor Lignani, same question for you.

Well, a few concrete visions for strategic planning. Governments must look far beyond our term. We have 5 years and actually we need to think far beyond that, 20, 30 years in the future. But at the same time be rooted in the daily lives of our community. Secondly, citizens' participation. We govern for our people, as we just heard, and we must govern together with them. We should involve them in everything that we do and manage with them. And thirdly, capacity building. We need a strong state that can help small and medium-sized companies catch up so that they don't fall behind. In the Cayman Islands, we are working with 2 technology companies for SMEs to include AI and programming and to improve capacity there, and also links with other local governments. MECO Cities is one example for us in Latin America. No one is left alone. We work all together to achieve our goals of greater efficiency. Thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Mayor Lignani. Ms. Fraser, the floor is yours. One focused area.

Thank you, colleagues. One practical suggestion, very much from a UN perspective, is to strengthen the Local 2030 Coalition, and I hope that that's also a gesture towards what you were saying, my fellow panelists, very passionately. We need platforms that— and networks that elevate practical solutions that focus on exclusion and changing that to inclusion, and that source the financing. And I think coming out of the severe commitment on financing for development, the integrated financing frameworks at local level that the UN is working with local governments on is a critical offer from the Local 2030 Coalition— practical, but also seeking to bring this national-level financing down to the local level through integrated local financing frameworks.

Thank you.

Great, thank you very much, Ms Fraser. I want to thank all of our distinguished panellists for their leadership expertise and thoughtful contributions, compelling contributions, and I also want to thank all the member states, United Nations entities, and local and regional governments, civil society organisations, academics, and stakeholders who participated in the discussion. If there is one thread that connected our conversation today, it's that future-ready cities are not built by technology alone. They're built by the relationships between the people who govern, the people who provide data, the people who live in these communities, all of them. And my takeaway is that we— and especially listening to Rose— we must move from a model of waiting for national policy to driving that local innovation. So I hope that we can do that. So as I leave you today, I urge you to think about how you can do that in your sphere of influence and take Rose's call to action together and make sure that the New Urban Agenda and digital transformation is not an abstract target for 2030, but an urgent priority for today. So I would like to thank the panelists again and all of you for participating and for your active engagement. And that brings this portion to a conclusion. And we're going to pause the meeting briefly for a podium change for the closing segment. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, I warmly welcome all of you to the closing segment of the High-Level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda. I now give the floor to Ms. Ana Claudia Rosbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, to deliver some closing remarks.

Thank you, Excellency Vice President of the General Assembly. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen. So over the past 2 days, we had member states, we had local and regional governments, entities of the United Nations, the civil society the private sector, the academia, many other partners coming together here in New York to take stock of the 10 years of the New Urban Agenda. And together we reflected on the progress that we have achieved, but also the challenges that remain, and most importantly, the actions that we really need to move forward, as it has been said in the previous panel, to keep the vision we embraced in Quito and make it a reality by 2036. I would like to express my most sincere appreciation to all the member states, all the partners, all the stakeholders that contributed to this process, the preparation of the national voluntary reports, all the interactive discussions that we had these 2 days, the process and the adoption of the political declaration. So your efforts, your collective spirit have really reaffirmed that the urban agenda the Sustainable Urbanization Agenda is actually one of the most important, relevant, powerful pathways for us to achieve sustainable development. I also wish to thank the President of the General Assembly for convening this very, very important meeting and all those who worked tirelessly to facilitate a successful successful outcome. The teams, the co-facilitators, we are here because the spirit of teamwork, collective work was there. So thank you, thank you very much. And this review has confirmed that the New Urban Agenda is today perhaps even more relevant than it was when it was adopted 10 years ago. The world is not the same world that we had back in 2016. It changed. So today, the speed and the impact of climate change is clearer and more intense. We see inequalities deepening, conflicts We went through a pandemic throughout this period, and when it comes to the basic, which is housing, affordability became a global crisis affecting all of us. So we have one message: the New Urban Agenda, its implementation, we have no time to lose. We really have to act. With urgency. And the choices that we make about how we address housing, how we address the land that we have, infrastructure, public space, governance, finance, all the indicators of SDG 11 will determine whether our cities become an engine of opportunity or resilience and peace, or places where inequalities and crises intensify. Over these 2 days, your messages have been very consistent. So you have recognized that we have progress. This is a reality. Many countries have actually adopted national urban policies. Housing became central and political agendas, and when it refers to the climate agenda, we realize that the urban issues are really firmly embedded across this discussion, but also the SDGs and the national development strategies. We improved our understanding of how important it is to address cities and housing right to get there with the global agendas. But also, you have been clear that progress has not kept pace with the scale of the challenges, as the DSG was just yesterday saying. Housing affordability has deteriorated, informality continues to grow, climate impacts are accelerating, and inequalities. Local governments are still constrained by the limitation of finance, capacity, autonomy, and on the other hand, there are more expectations from local governments. They are on the frontline, and this message came clearly across these days. We also understood that incremental change is not enough. We need to accelerate the pace for the second decade of the New Urban Agenda. We have to accelerate the pace and we have to do scale. So this high-level meeting has highlighted some priorities to guide us until 2036. I think the first priority, it was a common denominator throughout all these discussions is that we really need to place adequate housing at the center of sustainable development. We all understood that housing is much more than bricks. It's a social policy, but also economic policy, climate policy, health policy, and so on. And so really making sure that we all have access to adequate housing needs to be a priority for the next decade. The second message is that we really need to unlock finance for sustainable urbanization. Cities are generating the majority of global economic activities. They are responsible for 80% of the GDPs, but still the finance is not getting there. So we really need to work as one UN to make sure that member states are supported in leveraging domestic resources, local governments are resourced to increase their revenues, their local finance, but also working, as it has been said, with the private sector, leveraging private investments and the IFIs, the development resources and climate funding and the international resources that are out there. So there are resources, but we still need to channel the resources with the priority that cities, urban dwellers deserve. The third message is that we really need to strengthen multi-level governance and empower local and regional authorities. This was a central aspect of the New Urban Agenda, also of the work of UN-Habitat. We were just talking about the local toolkits. 2030, the coalition that brings 15 UN agencies. So localization of the SDGs for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda depends on strong institutions at the local level and resources at the local level. We cannot deliver the results by one level of government alone. The 4th message is that we must build cities that are resilient, that are inclusive, and that are future-ready. I really enjoyed the statement of the Mayor. We need to think ahead many, many years from now and have that in consideration. Finally, to conclude, this midterm review does not begin from scratch, these 2 days. We came from a 13th Urban Forum World Urban Forum in Baku, Azerbaijan, where we had strong outcomes, the Baku Call to Action by stakeholders, but also the summary of the first ministerial meeting on the New Urban Agenda. These have been pillars for this process and both reaffirmed the issues that we all discussed today, these days, and demonstrated a growing international consensus. Consensus around the need to accelerate implementation through stronger multilevel governance, increased investment, localization, innovation, and partnerships. We're all working together. Excellencies, together, all these outcomes complement the political declaration. They provide us with a roadmap for implementation. They help us to How the global commitments they they they they they take action on the ground, they reflect into practice. We have clear what's the responsibility before us. We don't we no longer have to define and agree on on challenges. We know how we have the solutions. We have the technology. We have enough pilots. We have enough commitments. So we have to really move. To systems, to investments, and from fragmentation to really integrated urban transformation. The ambition is there. We could see this these 2 days, and we are ready to support you, member states, local and regional governments, and work with all the stakeholders to get there. Partnerships are in place. Evidence is in place. So let's navigate after this strong political momentum here in New York, and let's make sure that by 2036, all cities, all communities can really contribute to a more inclusive, more resilient, more sustainable, more peaceful world. Thank you.

I thank the Executive Director of UN-Habitat. On behalf of the President of the General Assembly, I would like to thank all delegations for participating in this high-level meeting. Over 100 Member States inscribed to speak at the plenary segment, including 60 ministers, vice ministers, and high-level officials. About 300 stakeholders participated in the 4 multi-stakeholder panels, and the Political Declaration was adopted by Member States. The 2-day midterm review has given us a clearer picture of both our achievements and our shortcomings, and the Political Declaration has provided us with new opportunities— opportunities to build cities that are more resilient, more inclusive and more sustainable; opportunity to demonstrate that multilateralism can deliver practical results; and opportunity to be better together and ensure that no one is left behind. As the President of the General Assembly emphasized in her opening remarks, the only thing we are lacking is the will to scale up what works. I encourage all Member States to deliver the New Urban Agenda and the Political Declaration with concrete actions to every city, to everyone. The High-Level Meeting on the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda is now concluded. The meeting is adjourned.