The Eleventh Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF11) took place in Katowice, Poland from 26 to 30 June. Iran Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Rostam Ghasemi, and his accompanying delegation participated in this forum as the head of the National Habitat Committee (NHC).
On the sidelines of the summit, Ghasemi met with Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and they signed an MoU for the implementation of joint projects by Iran and the UN-Habitat.
Iran's Minister pointed to the compilation of the National Urban Policy (NUP) and smart city strategies in Iran in a partnership between UN-Habitat and the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development and added, Iran as one of the three pioneering countries in compiling the NUP, will soon finalize the compilation.
He expressed hope for achieving the goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA).
The theme of WUF11 is 'Transforming Our Cities for a Better Urban Future' stressing informed preparedness to 'illuminate the ways that policy, strategies, and actions can promote desirable futures' in response to the rapid urbanization and its impact on communities and cities.
The World Urban Forum (WUF) is the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
The first WUF was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002, and the WUF11 is co-organized by UN-Habitat, Poland’s Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy, and the Municipal Office of Katowice.