S²Cities at the World Urban Forum 2024
The World Urban Forum is the premier global conference on sustainable urbanisation and cities, convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). The Twelfth Session of the World Urban Forum WUF12, took place in Cairo, Egypt, from 4 to 8 November 2024.
#WUF12Theme
It All Starts at Home: Local Actions for Sustainable Cities and Communities
WUF12 focused 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.
S²Cities Engagement at WUF12
S2Cities attended WUF12 to advocate for youth-inclusive urban policies and showcase the impact of youth engagement on urban development. With over 1.8 billion young people worldwide – mostly in developing countries – their perspectives are vital to shaping sustainable urban futures.
At WUF12, S2Cities shared key learnings and insights from Phase I (2021-2024) at the Child and Youth Roundtable, and the sessions at Voices from Cities, Networking Events, ONE UN, and a special session. These insights highlighted strategies for building trust, empowering youth in urban decision-making, and developing policy frameworks for inclusive public spaces. S2Cities will also spotlight digital tools used for youth leadership and urban wellbeing, the impact of community participation in creating safer public spaces, and feature innovations like resilient urban food and water systems driven by young changemakers.
S2Cities partners and young people spoke at the following formal sessions about empowering youth and shaping the future of our urban environments.
