The theme of World Cities Day 2020 was Valuing our communities and cities. There were 78 events in 39 countries and 70 cities with the first Global Observance of World Cities Day in Africa hosted by Nakuru, Kenya with live links to China and Malaysia.
Every October, UN-Habitat and partners organize a month of activities, events and discussions on urban sustainability. The year 2020, Urban October activities began with World Habitat Day on 5 October.
The purpose of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. World Habitat Day was established in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 40/202, and was first celebrated in 1986. It takes place on the first Monday of October.
The theme of World Habitat Day 2020 was Housing For All: A better Urban Future, and the Global Observance was hosted by the city of Surabaya, in Indonesia.
PROGRAMME OF THE GLOBAL OBSERVANCE IN SURABAYA, INDONESIA
The Global Observance of World Habitat Day 2020, co-hosted by UN-Habitat and the Government of Indonesia, was a two day hybrid event coming from Surabaya, Indonesia. See below for the full programme.
The second day of the Global Observance comprised of 3 Roundtables on "The launch of the Urban Agenda Platform: Reporting progress and sharing knowledge in the Decade of Action", "Responding to resilient, inclusive, gender-equal and green economic recovery in informal settlements" and "Housing at the centre of the COVID-19 response". See below for the Concept Notes.
Day 2: Roundtable 1 | Day 2: Roundtable 2 |
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This year’s pandemic has had a terrible impact on people in cities, towns, and communities. The World Habitat Day 2020 offers an important opportunity to reflect on the effect of the COVID-19 crisis, and also how we can shape the future of human settlements more resilient. Urban areas accounts for 95 per cent of all confirmed cases and have been at the epicentre of this pandemic. We have seen hospitals overflowing, jobs disappearing, schools closed and movement restricted. But we can, and we will recover, and use our experiences to build back better and greener.