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Minister of Local Development Manal Awad, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Sherif El-Sherbiny, and Governor of Cairo Ibrahim Saber held a meeting with Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) Ana Claudia Ross Bach. The meeting took place at the Al Manara International Conference Center to follow up on the preparations for Egypt’s hosting of the 12th World Urban Forum (WUF12) in November, in collaboration with UN-Habitat.

The UN Under-Secretary-General praised the ongoing cooperation with the Egyptian government in various urban-related projects. This includes Egypt’s newly adopted National Urban Policy, which holds great potential for contributing to urbanization and national development.

She also highlighted the long-standing collaboration in advanced urban planning and design tools for cities with unique characteristics, aimed at establishing a new competitive system for Egyptian cities. Additionally, there is close cooperation in improving detailed planning, and land management tools, enhancing land-based financing, and capitalizing on value capture.

Minister Awad highlighted Egypt’s strong commitment to ensuring the upcoming World Urban Forum is held in a manner that reflects the country’s stature, both in terms of the number of events and sessions. Given the significant international presence, including heads of state, regional and global governments, and participating delegations representing companies, local community leaders, urban planners, and civil society, Egypt aims to present a world-class forum.

She underscored that Egypt has adopted a comprehensive strategy from Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the 2022 National Urban Agenda, which are integrated to achieve sustainable and balanced urban development.

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