At the Habitat III European Regional Meeting in Prague, representatives of UCLG/the Global Taskforce and the LSE officially handed over the Habitat III Policy Paper produced by Policy Unit 4 to the Secretary-General of the Conference, Joan Clos, and the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee.

UCLG, the Global Taskforce and the LSE co-led Policy Unit 4 on Urban Governance, Capacity and Institutional Development. Local government networks also participated in most of the remaining nine Policy Units, which also handed over their Policy Papers in Prague.

At the ceremony, Joan Clos thanked the co-leading organizations of the Policy Units for their work and support, and commended the experts of all Policy Units for their expertise. He said that the Policy Units' involvement in the Habitat III process “sets a great precedent for future conferences to be informed by independent expert knowledge.”

The Co-chair of the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee, Maryse Gautier, also commended the Policy Unit representatives. She said that the Policy Units would contribute to the next stages of the Habitat III process with their feedback, and that the Policy Papers would resonate throughout the outcome document of the New Urban Agenda at the Habitat III Conference.

The Policy Papers will be officially presented to and discussed with the representatives of Member States of the United Nations in New York at the Open-Ended Consultative Meetings from 25-29 April 2016.

For local governments, this will be followed by the Habitat III Local Authority Hearings on 16-17 May 2016.

More info:

Policy Paper on Urban Governance, Capacity and Institutional Development
Press release of the Policy Unit meeting in Prague.