High level conference on Slum Upgrading and Prevention - UN Habitat/ACP/EU

Today, nearly 1 billion people live in slums worldwide. If no action is taken, this number will even increase.

This will have major impact on development prospects, stability and inequality in our partner countries.
COVID-19 has further demonstrated the risks of informal settlements: limited access to basic services leads to further distribution of the virus to the wider community.

The Participatory Slum Upgrading Programming (PSUP) provided support 190 cities in 40 ACP countries. The actions included community-based actions, citywide strategies and national policy frameworks for addressing slums.

The conference, an opportunity to discuss

The conference will take stock of progress made in transforming living conditions in informal settlements and slums in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and around the world. COVID-19 was a wake-up call to all of us. It has demonstrated the impact of spatial inequalities, how divided cities are, and how fundamental human rights are not met for many city dwellers. We have seen what it takes to “leave no one and no space behind”.

The event will bring global, national, city and community leaders together in policy dialogues, practitioners in working sessions, and financing partners in round-tables. They will seek to engage together in the drive to overcoming alarming levels of poverty, inequalities and unmet fundamental human rights. The conference would like to contribute to giving a global direction to fairer, healthier, more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable cities.

The participants will present learning and experiences from around the world following a decade of implementing the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme. Global experts, researchers of sustainable urban development, and champion countries and communities of the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme will share their experiences and expertise.

The conference will assess if we are ‘fit for purpose’ to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) in informal settlements and slums, transforming a billion lives in the Decade of Action and addressing the rapid growth expected to lead to a tripling of slum populations by 2050. Setbacks and impacts of COVID-19 will also be assessed.

Agenda

Tuesday 6th

• Opening Ceremony
• Policy Dialogue 1: Slum Upgrading and Prevention in the Decade of Action
• Working Session 1: Scaling Experiences from Around the World
• Working Session 2: Global data trends on slums and COVID-19: Meeting the new scale
• Regional Consultation for Africa

Wednesday 7th

• Working Session 3: Informal Settlements and Affordable Housing Challenges in the Asia Pacific
• Drafting of the Declaration and the Action Framework
• Working Session 4: Integration for Upgrading and Preventing Informal Settlements and Slums
• Policy Dialogue 2: Communities and Civil Societies Assembly
• Policy Dialogue 3: Policy and Institutional Frameworks for Scaling
• Working Session 5: Equitable Approach for Reducing Inequalities and Poverty
• Regional Consultation for the Caribbean

Thursday 8th

• Drafting of the Declaration and the Action Framework
• Working Session 6: Climate Resilience for the Urban Poor
• Roundtable: Scaling innovative solutions and financing mechanisms for city-wide transformation of slums and informal settlements
• Status Quo of Scaling Slum Upgrading and Prevention
• Closing Cermony
• Partnerships for Transforming People’s Lives in the Decade of Action

Venue

Online