Gondar 16 May 2017 The 7th Ethiopian Urban Forum brought together 850 participants, including officials from the federal and regional level, city mayors, urban practitioners and the academia, who held insightful debates over the theme: “Sustainable Urban Development and Good Governance for Renaissance”.

As in the previous national Urban Forum held in Dire Dawa in 2014, and in line with the emphasis made in the New Urban Agenda on the importance of multi-stakeholders platforms for policy dialogue and knowledge exchange, , UN-Habitat supported the initiative and mobilized several specialists for high level discussions.
Best practices for sustainable urban development were presented during a half day panel session on May 4 moderated by. Desalegn Mengesha, the President of Gondar University; Mr. Abuye Anley, Chief Advisor to the Minister for Housing and Urban Development; and Mr. Aklilu Fikresilassie Habitat Program Manager. The session was attended by about 250 participants.

Mr. Roi Chiti, UN-Habitat, presented a forward looking view at the implementation of the New Urban Agenda recently adopted at the Habitat III conference in Quito last year, including key elements and new approaches to sustainable urban development as well as linkages to Sustainable Development Goal 11 on making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Philipp Rode, Executive Director and Associate Professorial Research Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science shared interesting findings on urban governance from the global perspective.

. Donatien Beguy, UN-Habitat, in his presentation highlighted the importance of a robust monitoring system for cities with clear indicators, baseline data, targets and goals, focusing on the City Prosperity Initiative as a tool for coordination, implementation and monitoring of SDG 11 and other urban-related SDGs and New Urban Agenda.
The Minister Ambachew, the State Minister and his Advisors appreciated UN-Habitat’s important substantive contribution to the success of the National Urban Forum.