The first Preparatory Committee meeting (Prepcom I) of Habitat III, the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, will be taking place in New York on 17-18 September, including pre-meetings on 15-16 September.

Prepcom I will be the first step towards the definition of a shared vision of the New Urban Agenda an agenda which many expect to define the implementation mechanisms of the 2015 Summit Resolutions and Sustainable Development Goals.

Members and partners of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments for Post-2015 Development Agenda and towards Habitat III, including members of the UCLG Presidency and Vice-Presidency and political representatives of the networks, will set the expectations of their constituencies on the role to be played in the definition of the agenda and on future governance.

A renewed urban and territorial agenda

Building on membership priorities, expectations and concerns, local and regional leaders and political representatives will pay particular attention to issues surrounding the implementation of Habitat III, the links between the Sustainable Development Goals and Habitat III, the localization of targets and indicators, and the challenges of local and regional authorities for the next two decades.

Activities and events prior to and during Prepcom I

In order to feed the debates of national governments and provide the views of local authorities in the key issues identified, the Global Taskforce will be coordinating events and side events from 15 to 18 September, including:

  • 15 September, morning: The technical meeting of the Global Taskforce will finalise the messages of Local and Regional Governments, their networks and partners, and will allow participants to exchange information on the Prepcom I agenda. 
  • 15 September, afternoon: The Policy Dialogue of Local and Regional Governments, supported by the Spanish Mission, will discuss the development of the Global Agenda of Local and Regional Governments, building on membership priorities, expectations and concerns. The Dialogue will involve representatives from UN missions, governments and agencies such as UN-Habitat, Cities Alliance, UNDP and other urban partners. 
  • 16 September, morning: The Global Taskforce will coordinate the High-Level Event of Local and Regional Governments, which will present views on the implementation of Habitat II, discuss the links between the Sustainable Development Goals and Habitat III and set out their priorities for the Habitat III agenda. High-Level UN officials and political representatives will be present. 
  • 18 September, the side event of local and regional authorities will take place from 1:30pm to 2:30pm and will deal with the “Local and regional governments´ contributions to Habitat III: priorities, expectations, and challenges for sustainable cities and territories”. 

 Spread the message!

In order to raise awareness on the involvement of local and regional authorities in this process, UCLG and the Global Taskforce will be promoting the use of outreach material through social media.

Enclosed: a toolkit and graphics to be used to promote the messages on Facebook and Twitter. Please feel free to share it on social networks.

Further information: Local and Regional Authorities´ Days

Check the related page in UCLG website.