World Vision at the World Urban Forum 11
Recent disasters like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut Port Explosion and the Ukraine conflict have all put urban contexts front of mind. Between 26-30 June, the 11th World Urban Forum meets in Poland to consider “Transforming our Cities for a Better Urban Future”. It promises rich discussions, debates and insights on how cities can address future pandemics and other shocks.
For the first time in the history of WUF, a special track is allocated for events focusing on urban crises. It is about time that urban crisis response and recovery is prioritised, not least because by 2030, 80 per cent of people experiencing extreme poverty will be living in fragile/conflict-affected contexts, and projections are that 23 of the 31 most fragile and conflict-affected countries today will soon be significantly urbanised.
Tragically, it is children and youth who are the first casualty of urban fragility. Which is why World Vision is attending the World Urban Forum and why, together with our partners, we are asking the 15,000 registered participants to put vulnerable children and youth at the heart of urban planning and urban development.
Find out more about our asks at the World Urban Forum by reading our Position Paper for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Urban Development.
And why not join us!
...at the events we are co-organising / featured in at the World Urban Forum 11 in Katowice, Poland (June 26-30, 2022):
- Monday June 27, 1:30 – 3 PM: Networking Event: “Want to build a Cities4Children Alliance in your city or country? Come find out how” with Global Alliance Cities4Children (Multifunction Hall Room 19)
- Wednesday June 29, 2:30 – 4 PM “Inter-generational dialogue on urban fragility and resilience – evidence from the city” with Plan International, Dreamtown and Slum Dwellers International (Multifunctional Hall Room 2; and livestreamed)
- Tuesday June 28, 4 – 6 PM Special Session “The City We Need Now!” with UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign (The HUB: Special Session Room A; and livestreamed)
We are bringing a host of World Vision’s urban champions including
- Marco Villela, strategic initiatives director, Central America
- Rima Ghanem, Beirut area manager, Lebanon
- Sopheap Chea, Senior Manager for Urban Programme, Cambodia
- Geeta Dongol, urban program manager, Nepal
- Thiago Machado, operations director, Brazil
For more info please do get in touch with Aline Rahbany or Rami Zoueini at aline_rahbany@wvi.org or rami_zoueini@wvi.org
To learn more about World Vision’s organizational-wide focus on urban programming, our approach, key achievements in the past two years and investments for the future, look at our urban programming capacity overview.
Also read some case studies on World Vision’s work navigating the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding nexus in fragile cities in Iraq, Lebanon and Central America below and this case study showcasing the outcomes to date of programming differently in one of the most violent cities in the world San Pedro Sula, Honduras.