Cairo Call to Action
March 2025
4–8 November 2024
WUF12
Cairo, Egypt
WUF12
The Twelfth Session of the World Urban Forum WUF12, convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), took place in Cairo, Egypt, from 4 to 8 November 2024, returning to the African continent after more than 20 years after its inception in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2002.
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It All Starts at Home: Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities
WUF12 will focus on localizing the Sustainable Development Goals, shedding light on the local actions and initiatives required to curb the current global challenges affecting the daily life of people, including unaffordable housing, rising living costs, climate change, the lack of basic services, and ongoing conflicts.
It all starts locally.
The concept of localization recognizes the role of subnational governments and calls for a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach, empowering local stakeholders and fostering citizen engagement. It requires aligning actions with community priorities, recognizing the unique conditions of each locality.
It all starts together.
Localizing the SDGs can empower local stakeholders, encourage citizen participation, and make sustainable development more responsive to local needs – positively impacting small communities and sprawling megacities alike.
It all starts now.
WUF12 will take place as calls are made to collectively address global challenges such as rising poverty and inequality, climate change, armed conflict, and the digital divide. The forum will take place shortly after the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024, roughly five years before the deadline to deliver on the SDGs, highlighting the transformative role of sustainable cities and communities within the 2030 Global Sustainable Agenda.
It all starts at home.
The concept of “at home” extends beyond the physical structures that shelter us; it encompasses the cultural, social, economic, and environmental dimensions that define our communities. It is also an invitation to benefit from home values, innovations, solutions, and inspiration and initiate change from home: locally, together, and now.
Our reach
25000
Participants (in-person & online)
182
Countries
WUF12 Dialogues
Dialogues are high-profile events, which will take place at WUF and which set the agenda for policy and action. They provide a platform for global thinkers, practitioners and decision-makers to share insights and solutions on themes of global importance and include active discussion with the audience. Discussions collect key reflections on the status of and way forward for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Each dialogue serves as a crucial lens through which to view connections between the concept of “home” and the multifaceted challenges and opportunities entailed in localization. WUF12 will foster conversations in multiple formats, such as roundtables, assemblies, special sessions, etc., which will create diverse entry points for considering the role of all urban actors, including grass roots, civil society, private sector, academia, all levels of government and international organisations, among many more.
Key Focus Areas
WUF Sessions
Downloads
Materials
Call to Action
Presentation
Presentation
Key messages
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Anacláudia Rossbach
Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
“At the Forum, we will address crucial challenges, such as housing, land use, urban planning, governance and participation. We will listen to diverse stakeholders and tackle key issues: how to ensure affordable housing for all, transform informal settlements, recover and rebuild, and enhance climate resilience. We need to build strong coalitions for better solutions to challenges posed by the global housing crisis.”
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Mostafa Madbouly
Prime Minister of Egypt
“We are proud to be hosting the twelfth session of the World Urban Forum in Cairo in 2024. This is a significant milestone in our partnership with UN-Habitat. We are eager to use this event as a platform to engage in global discussions around urbanization and learn from other countries and stakeholders, and continue to build sustainable and resilient cities for future generations”
Documents
Provisional agenda
HSP-WUF-12-1
Annotation to Provisional Agenda
HSP-WUF-12-1-Add.1
Provisional Agenda for WUF13
HSP-WUF-12-1 Add-2
Resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Governing Council of UN-Habitat relevant to the work of the World Urban Forum: note by the secretariat
HSP-WUF-12-INF-2
List of Advisory Group
HSP-WUF-12-INF-3
Working arrangements for the World Urban Forum
HSP-WUF-12-INF-4
List of documents for the Twelfth Session of the World Urban Forum
HSP-WUF-12-INF-5
WUF Programme
HSP WUF-12-INF-6
Cairo
Cairo will host WUF12 at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in November 2024.
The city's metropolitan area is the largest in Africa, the Middle East and the Arab world, and the fifteenth largest in the world. Cairo is host to the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab world as well as the world’s second oldest institution of higher learning, al-Azhar University.
We are proud to be hosting the Twelfth Session of the World Urban Forum in Cairo in 2024. This is a significant milestone in our partnership with UN-Habitat. We are eager to use this event as a platform to engage in global discussions around urbanization and learn from other countries and stakeholders and continue to build sustainable and resilient cities for future generations.
Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt
As one of the most inclusive international gatherings on urban issues, we invite everyone to join us on the road to WUF12 and to make sustainable, inclusive, and resilient cities a reality!