The UfM Secretariat held today in New York City the High-Level Roundtable “Towards implementing the New Urban Agenda in the Mediterranean Region” following the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the New Urban Agenda and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) The Mediterranean region is characterized by one of the fastest urbanization rates worldwide – almost 60% of its people are already living in urban areas. The UfM Urban Agenda represents an action-oriented roadmap for the future aimed at ensuring urban sustainability and resilience with greater socio-economic impact on the ground, thus improving the quality of life of the peoples… read more
Prague, 23 June 2017. UfM Deputy Secretary General Ihab Fahmy participated as a keynote speaker in the annual European Sustainable Development Network (ESDN) Conference, held in Prague, Czech Republic on 22 and 23 June 2017. The ESDN Conference convened this year under the title “Strategic Governance for Sustainable Development: New developments and approaches in the context of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs”, gathered policy makers and experts from all over Europe to discuss concrete steps to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and also consider new, innovative approaches in planning and policy-making. In previous years, ESDN conferences had,… read more
Vienna, 21 June 2017. On 21 June 2017, UfM Deputy Secretary General Ihab Fahmy participated in the R20 Austrian World Summit, held in Vienna, under the patronage of the Federal President of Austria and with the participation of key stakeholders from national governments, cities, financial institutions and the private sector. The R20 Austrian World Summit is the new initiative of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s organization, which has been designed to become “the premier annual meeting place for sustainable development action heroes” to showcase best practice examples and solutions, as well as to increase partnerships for turning the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)… read more
Leipzig, 2 June 2017. UfM Deputy Secretary General Ihab Fahmy participated in the 10th Annual Summit of the International Transport Forum (ITF) – OECD, held in Leipzig, Germany from 31 May to 2 June 2017. The summit gathered Transport Ministers from around the world, heads of key international organisations, international financial institutions and CEOs of major companies, as well as parliamentarians and academics. It was a good occasion to exchange knowledge, build on existing synergies and explore opportunities for cooperation with potential partners and stakeholders. It also provided the opportunity to present UfM activities towards establishing a UfM Regional Platform… read more
The World Alliance for Efficient Solutions and the UfM Secretariat agree to collaborate on joint activities to support the Euro-Mediterranean region transition toward a sustainable and low-carbon development…. read more
Ministers in charge of housing, municipal affairs and urban development affirmed their commitment to reinforce cooperation and adopted the UfM Urban Agenda, with the aim of promoting and achieving sustainable urban development in the region. The Ministerial Conference witnessed the launch of the UfM-labelled “Imbaba Urban Upgrading Project” positively impacting 2 million inhabitants…. read more
Nairobi (Kenya), 10 May 2017. UfM Deputy Secretary General Ihab Fahmy addressed the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on the occasion of its 26th session held at the United Nations Offices in Nairobi, Kenya on 8 -12 May 2017. This Governing Council (GC26), which takes place a few months after the Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016, was centred on ´Opportunities for the effective implementation of the adopted New Urban Agenda´. The meeting addressed pressing issues such as inclusive, sustainable and adequate housing for a better… read more
• Mayors of Barcelona and Tetouan, Co-President of ARLEM, and UfM Secretary General presided over 25th Anniversary of Euro-Mediterranean municipal network MedCities, and discuss urban development regional co-operation with mayors and other stakeholders from the region. • Participants agreed on the need for an enhanced common urban development agenda for the Mediterranean, developing synergies and closer cooperation amongst the different integration initiatives in the region, especially in light of UN Habitat III New Urban Agenda and the upcoming COP22 in Marrakech and UfM Ministerial on Sustainable Urban Development in Cairo…. read more
The Networking Event “Union for the Mediterranean – Urban Projects Finance Initiative (UPFI)” was a unique opportunity to build on the UPFI success story and discuss the best tools to implement a “New Urban Agenda for the Mediterranean Region”, in view of the next UfM Ministerial Conference on Sustainable Urban Development, to be held in Egypt in the Spring of 2017…. read more
Today, at the Dead Sea in Jordan, Ministers of International Cooperation and Planning from the 43 member countries of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) defined key steps to enhance the impact of regional cooperation…. read more