President of UCLG, Parks Tau, and UCLG Co-President, C40 Chair, AIMF President and Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, join 8 member expert panel to follow up on the outcomes of Habitat III.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has appointed President of UCLG, Parks Tau, and Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, to the high-level panel charged with reporting on the progress of the New Urban Agenda.

The panel will draw up a report making recommendations on enhancing the effectiveness, efficiency, accountability and oversight of UN-Habitat. This report will serve as an input to a two-day High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly to discuss the effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the positioning of UN-Habitat in this regard.

Tau and Hidalgo will represent the broader constituency of local and regional governments, which will provide them with inputs through the mechanism of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments.

Other appointees include the former Mayor of México City and current Secretary of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development of Mexico, Rosario Robles, urban experts, Sheila Patel (representing UCLG civil society partner, SDI) and diplomats. The strong representation of local leaders on the panel is testament to the contributions of UCLG and the Global Taskforce to the Habitat III process, as well as an acknowledgement of the vital role that local and regional governments will play in implementing the New Urban Agenda on the ground.

The high-level panel is expected to hold consultations and workshops with the Governing Council and the Committee of Permanent Representatives of UN-Habitat, Member States, key partners in multilateral international organizations, associations of local authorities, and other relevant stakeholders.

The group will meet twice in New York and once in Nairobi, and conduct two workshops in the first half of 2017.