Cities are in a unique position to be able to connect, bring communities together, celebrate diversity and inclusion. Interfaith Dialogues will offer delegates the opportunity meet, explore similjarities, challenge stereotypes and build relationships for healthier and sustainable communities.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations will host the Climate Action Summit in New York in September 2019 with the objective of boosting ambition and rapidly accelerate action to implement the Paris Agreement. The Secretary-General aims to demonstrate a leap in collective ambition with new commitments that have transformational impact, have sustainable development co-benefits, replicable and scalable, measurable and implementable, and innovative and visible.

With the adoption of the New Urban Agenda in 2016, sustainable urbanisation is now recognised as both a need and an opportunity for improved equality, prosperity, climate change action and resilience. Implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals requires collaborative action by all actors in urban development, and UN-Habitat is responding to this by ensuring high-level engagement with business, industry and investors in line with its new strategic plan.

The streetscape design envisages Luthuli avenue as a safe, inclusive and vibrant retail corridor that not only provides a unique and quality environment for Nairobians and visitors but also provides creative features that promote the street as a public space and a driver for urban transformation.

The Forum provides an opportunity for stakeholders to address their role in fostering innovation for sustainable, inclusive and livable cities and communities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda. The Forum will also provide an opportunity for stakeholders to identify ways to strengthen multi-stakeholder collaboration in implementing the New Urban Agenda and the SDGs in partnership with UN-Habitat as a focal point for sustainable urban development and human settlements within the United Nations System. The Stakeholders’ Collaborative Implementation Framework for the New Urban Agenda, which was discussed during the ninth World Urban Forum will provide a basis for consensus on a more coherent approach to partnership to achieve accelerated and sustainable results.

As the first country to launch a national implementation plan for the New Urban Agenda (NUA) during the sidelines of the 26th UNHABITAT Governing Council, Kenya is fully committed to the realization of the NUA shared vision of inclusive and sustainable cities and human settlements. Significant efforts have been directed towards the establishment and strengthening of the governance and management institutions at the urban levels as part of implementation of devolution.

Over 250 youth met with representatives of the private sector, government and the UN to explore ways to boost young people’s employment in the Blue Economy at the second conference on Youth and the Blue Economy.

Mobility is an enabler of economic growth and social development. Rapid urbanisation and motorization are increasing traffic congestion in African cities leading to economic losses, air pollution and increasing fatalities and injuries from road traffic crashes. Public Transport in most cities is largely informal and tend to be both unreliable and unaffordable, while majority of urban dwellers are compelled to walk long distances in unsafe conditions to reach their destinations.

The link between gender equality and sustainable urban development is undeniable. Sustainable Development Goal 11 issues a clarion call for humanity to work together to ensure that cities and human settlements are inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This goal cannot be accomplished without addressing the specific need for safe, inclusive and affordable housing, transportation, public spaces and services for women and girls. Women and girls must also be empowered to deliver on their potential, to be full and equal participants in shaping the way cities are designed and function, from policy, to planning, and implementation.

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN- Habitat) will hold its first ever Assembly from 27 to 31 May 2019 in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme of the UN-Habitat Assembly is “Innovation for a Better Quality of Life in Cities and Communities – Accelerated Implementation of the New Urban Agenda towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”.