Abu Dhabi, 12 February 2020 - I would like to congratulate the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi along with UN-Habitat for convening the first ever World Urban Forum in the Arab region, The Forum has been widely recognized as an outstanding success where thousands of delegates have shared ideas, best practices and innovative solutions to some of the most challenging problems facing cities today.

We welcome the world visiting Abu Dhabi and the UAE and seeing firsthand the advancements made by an Arab country in the region demonstrating what is possible with vision and leadership.

We also applaud Abu Dhabi’s capacity to host such important events with high quality organization and facilities. By hosting this, the premier meeting on sustainable urbanization, the UAE has shown its strong commitment to a better future for our cities and to join in partnerships.

The United Nations in the United Arab Emirates, led by the Office of the Resident Coordinator and the UN country team will use the outcomes from WUF10 to contribute to its support of sustainable urbanization, including urban and rural planning and social inclusion towards the UAE’s achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We are pleased to support the UAE in knowledge and capacity transfer to other countries. The high participation from the UAE and excellent speakers clearly demonstrates the UAE has rich experience to share and is a true leader in innovation and solutions.

The discussions and exchanges at WUF have again emphasized the central role our cities and towns will play in the future of our planet and they will continue in the upcoming World Exposition - Expo 2020 in Dubai and far beyond.