World Cities Day

Women Transforming Cities works to dismantle intersecting systems of oppression and promote genders and movements that are equitable, in order to transform where we live into places where everyone can belong, participate, and have social, economic, and political equity. In the community, we work with equity-deserving communities, front-line organizations, labour groups, and movements to… Build civic skills and power of those who have been historically excluded from local government processes. Deliver training on intersectional feminism, community organizing, engagement, grassroots campaigning, and understanding local government. Organize and advocate for more equitable policies, programs, and systems at a local level. Develop resources to support civic engagement, democratic participation, and local advocacy. At the systems level, we work with local government decision-makers to… Amplify the priorities of equity-deserving communities at city halls. Challenge policies and decisions tha...

  The environments in our cities and communities are critical for supporting and maintaining health in older age. The WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities helps cities and communities to achieve this aim – by showing what can be done and how it can be done, connecting cities and communities worldwide to facilitate the exchange of information, knowledge, and experience; and supporting cities and communities to find appropriate innovative and evidence-based solutions. The Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities (GNAFCC) was established by the World Health Organization in 2010 to connect cities, communities and organizations worldwide with the common vision of making their communities great places to grow older in. Its 1300 members are from 51 countries. This report reviews the development of the Network over the last decade, celebrates the achievements to date, and outlines strategic shifts for the next decade. These new directions will help en...

The New Urban Agenda, adopted at Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador, on 20 October 2016, presents a paradigm shift based on the science of cities and lays out standards and principles for the planning, construction, development, management and improvement of urban areas. The New Urban Agenda is intended as a resource for different actors in multiple levels of government and for civil society organizations, the private sector and all who reside in urban spaces of the world. The New Urban Agenda highlights linkages between sustainable urbanization and job creation, livelihood opportunities and improved quality of life, and it insists on incorporation of all these sectors in every urban development or renewal policy and strategy. The New Urban Agenda Illustrated handbook serves as the base for the New Urban Agenda online crash course. The self-paced course in two parts is available for free and accessible at any time. Access the course here (part 1) and here (part 2). The course further brea...

The  WHO GLOBAL CITY NETWORK  is part of WHO’s Global Strategic Preparedness Network (GSPN) and helps countries to prepare for national health emergencies such as COVID-19. Through the Strategic Partnership Portal (SPH) , set up in 2015), member States, donors and partners share information on efforts to invest in health security. GCN is managed by the Multisectoral Engagement for IHR and Health Security (MHS) , a unit of WHO’s World Preparedness Emergency programme.

  Of the 45 city health profiles submitted to the WHO European Healthy Cities Network in 2005, 35 used all 500 indicators of inequality.  The WHO European Healthy Cities Network is a network of flagship cities and national networks of cities. Flagship cities interact directly with WHO/Europe, while national networks bring together cities in a given Member State. In both cases WHO provides political, strategic and technical support as well as capacity building What is a healthy city? A healthy city is defined by a process, not an outcome. A healthy city is not one that has achieved a particular health status. It is conscious of health and striving to improve it. Thus any city can be a healthy city, regardless of its current health status. The requirements are: a commitment to health and a process and structure to achieve it. A healthy city is one that continually creates and improves its physical and social environments and expands the community resources that enable people to...

The  UNITED CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMEN TS  (UCLG) is the product of a century-old collaborative movement of local and regional governments. It is the voice of democratic local self-government and, with 250,000 members in over 140 States, it represents 70% of the world’s population through local and regional governments in seven world regions. The major global development agendas can only be achieved if they are integrated in all planning, policymaking, and action. Global solutions need to build on local experiences to ensure a future for our communities . This is localization: the achievement of global agendas from the bottom-up. It is the cornerstone of their strategy. They strive to strengthen and secure a seat at the global table for local and regional governments , to ensure not just that local perspectives and points of view play a part in how universal development agendas are implemented, but that local perspectives are considered from the start. They are committe...

  Open & Agile Smart Cities ( OASC ) is a non-profit organization whose members are cities and communities around the world. Its ambition is to leverage technology to improve the quality of life of citizens. Currently, 155 cities are members, in 31 countries from Argentina to Finland and Japan. The OASC focus on interoperability (technical, semantic, organisational and legal). This facilitates seamless sharing and re-use of digital, data-driven solutions and helps to avoid vendor lock-in, to reduce costs and resources, improve the efficiency and the ability to use technology to solve local and global societal challenges .The OASC offer Advocacy, Access to projects, Knowledge sharing, Capacity building, Tech tools, Member support. Join us in boosting cooperating and connecting communities.