Sherif El Sherbini, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities; Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development; and Rania Hedeya, the Regional Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), have convened an extensive meeting to oversee the arrangements for Egypt’s hosting of the 12th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12) this coming November in collaboration with UN-Habitat, Invest-Gate reports.

Present at the meeting were Abdel Khaleq Ibrahim, Assistant Minister of Housing for Technical Affairs; Ambassador Atef Salem, General Coordinator of WUF12; and several officials from the Ministries of Housing, Local Development, and Finance.

El Sherbini underscored that WUF12 stands as the second-largest event on the United Nations agenda, following the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which Egypt successfully hosted in its 27th edition “COP27” in Sharm El-Sheikh.

He highlighted that securing the bid to host the forum is a testament to Egypt’s adeptness in organizing and hosting international conferences, providing an opportunity to showcase Egypt’s leading experience in achieving comprehensive urban revitalization across various regions in recent years, particularly since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi assumed office.

Furthermore, El Sherbini noted that Egypt will be the first African nation to host the World Urban Forum since its inception in Nairobi, Kenya, and the second Arab country after Abu Dhabi hosted the tenth session. The forum serves as the primary global platform on the international agenda dedicated to addressing all facets, sectors, and domains of sustainable urban development. Hosting the forum in Egypt is poised to significantly enhance the country’s cultural and urban heritage on local, regional, and global scales.

Awad emphasized the government’s dedication to ensuring the forum’s success and projecting a dignified image of the Egyptian state in terms of organization, events, activities, sessions, discussed topics, and cultural and tourism aspects. She highlighted that WUF12 provides an opportunity to spotlight Egypt’s accomplishments in urban development, addressing slum issues, urban planning, and localizing urban development objectives.

The meeting also featured a presentation by the General Coordinator of WUF12 detailing the coordination between the Ministries of Housing and Local Development and the involved entities in the organizational process, including outcomes from meetings with delegations from UN-Habitat.

Additionally, ongoing preparations for the World Cities Day event, scheduled to be held by the Ministry of Local Development in Alexandria Governorate on October 31 in collaboration with UN-Habitat ahead of WUF12, were reviewed during the meeting.