The Thirteenth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), which will be held on May 17-22, 2026, on the theme “Housing for All: Safe and Sustainable Cities and Settlements,” has been presented at a number of high-level international events.
Elchi.az reports that on January 29, the meeting of the Group of Friends on sustainable urbanization and the New Urban Agenda of the UN-Habitat was held at the UN Headquarters in New York, co-chaired by the Permanent Missions of Poland and the Republic of Zimbabwe to the UN.
The event was organized in preparation for the mid-term review of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and was attended by representatives of the UN member states.
The meeting began with opening remarks by the co-chairs of the Group of Friends. Then, the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Anaklaudia Rossbach, made a presentation on the main framework for action, commitments, priorities and accountability mechanisms for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. Then, the co-rapporteurs on the assessment of the implementation of the document, the Permanent Representatives of Malawi and the Republic of Poland to the UN, shared their views on the current challenges in the field of urbanization and the process of preparing the assessment report.
The UN-Habitat Group of Friends is a platform of 50 states representing all regions of the world, and its main goal is to strengthen dialogue and cooperation between member states to promote the inclusive, safe, sustainable and resilient development of cities.
Within the framework of the meeting, the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan made a presentation on the Thirteenth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), provided information on the topic of the forum, main events and the preparation process for WUF13.
On January 30, 2026, a diplomatic briefing dedicated to WUF13 was held jointly organized by the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and UN-Habitat. The event was attended by heads of more than 100 permanent missions accredited to the UN, observers and members of the diplomatic corps.
Elvin Ashrafzade, Deputy Permanent Representative, Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the UN, who made an opening speech at the briefing, emphasized Azerbaijan’s contributions to the global dialogue in the field of sustainable urban development and noted the importance of WUF13 in terms of forming collective responses to modern challenges.
The UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Anaklaudia Rossbach, said in her speech that WUF13 is an important platform in terms of expanding dialogue, strengthening partnerships and promoting practical solutions to solve the global housing crisis covering 3 billion people in the world. She emphasized that the WUF13 event will contribute to the inclusive, safe, sustainable and resilient development of cities by supporting the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.
Gulshan Rzayeva, Deputy National Coordinator of WUF13, made a speech at the briefing and provided information about the topic, goals of the forum and the preparation processes for the forum. She spoke about the new initiatives put forward by Azerbaijan at WUF13, the organization of the Summit Meeting with the participation of heads of state and government for the first time, the holding of the Ministerial meeting in an interactive and result-oriented format, and the “Urban Expo” exhibition to be organized on an area of 35,000 square meters.
Within the framework of the briefing, Omar Siddique, Head of the UN-Habitat Office in Canada, made a presentation on the WUF13 program, main events and participation opportunities. The event continued with a question-and-answer session. Diplomats from Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Pakistan, El Salvador and other countries expressed their confidence in Azerbaijan that the WUF13 event will be organized at a high level.