The theme for this year’s Forum is “The Right to the City – Bridging the Urban Divide” to coincide with UN-HABITAT’s flagship State of the World’s Cities Report for 2010-2011.
Opening ceremonies for the Forum will be held 22 March, followed by special sessions and networking days with discussion devoted to a variety of urban-related themes.
The Cities Alliance will participate in a range of WUF activities. We are hosting a booth where visitors can learn more about Alliance activities and how to access our grant funding, or obtain copies of our recent publications.
In cooperation with partners, the Cities Alliance is also organising discussions at side and networking events around issues such as slum upgrading, access to land, local governance, south-south cooperation, city indicators and city management. Partners for these events include the Ministry of Cities and CAIXA (Brazil); the World Bank and the World Bank Institute; BMZ and GTZ (Germany); the Agence Française de Developpement (AFD); UN-HABITAT; the Governments of India and South Africa; the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI); and the Global City Indicators Facility (GCIF).
In addition, the Alliance will launch two new publications at WUF in partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Cities: The City Statute of Brazil: A Commentary, a collection of essays analysing Brazil’s groundbreaking City Statute (Federal Law 10.257); and an English translation of Distance Learning Course on Integrated Slum Upgrading Actions, a comprehensive overview of the key ideas drawn from an award-winning distance learning course on slum upgrading supported by the Alliance. Both new publications will be available in English and Portuguese.
Also scheduled to be launched in Rio is the World Urban Campaign, a platform for public, private and civil society actors to elevate policies and share practical tools for sustainable urbanisation. The Cities Alliance has provided start-up costs for the campaign, which is being implemented by UN-HABITAT.
About WUF
The world’s premier conference on cities, the World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations in 2002 to examine the issue of rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies.
It brings together government leaders, ministers, mayors, diplomats, members of national, regional and international associations of local governments, non-governmental and community organizations, professionals, academics, grassroots women's organisations, youth and slum dwellers groups as partners working for better cities.
For more about WUF5, please visit www.unhabitat.org
