World Urban Forum in Cairo opens with record-breaking attendance and call for local solutions

The twelfth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12) officially opened, welcoming over 37,000 participants from 182 countries to Cairo, Egypt – making it the largest World Urban Forum in history. This year’s Forum underscores the central role of local actions in addressing the challenges of sustainable urban development.

Under the theme “It all starts at home: Local actions for sustainable cities and communities,” WUF12 centres on localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by emphasizing the importance of community-led solutions to address global challenges such as affordable housing, climate adaptation, essential public services, and the impacts of rising living costs.

Grand opening kicks off five days of dialogue and action
The WUF12 opening ceremony marked the start of a week of events co-led by UN-Habitat and its partners. UN-Habitat Executive Director Anáclaudia Rossbach and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, delivered remarks at the ceremony, encouraging participants to take back insights and solutions to their communities. Together, they announced the official opening of the five-day Forum, which will bring local and global perspectives on sustainable urban development.

Amplifying diverse voices for inclusive solutions
Ahead of the official opening, five Assemblies convened to spotlight the perspectives of key stakeholder groups: grassroots organizations, children and youth, local and regional governments, women, and business and foundations. These assemblies gathered diverse voices to shape solutions for urban challenges, ensuring that the policies discussed at WUF12 represent the needs of people from all backgrounds.

Speaking for the Women’s Assembly, Kalpana Viswanath, CEO of Safetipin, reflected on how the WUF theme resonates with women. She emphasized that home is where resilience starts, noting that safe, inclusive homes foster well-being and build stronger, more equitable communities.

Ann Wanjiru Mbuthia, Coordinator of Mathare Legal Aid, who spoke on behalf of the Grassroots Assembly, highlighted the essential role of grassroots women as first responders within their communities. She discussed the importance of housing security, saying: “Housing is more than just a roof.” She explained that addressing housing will also address the issues of provision of basic services, livelihoods, climate change, adaptation, and building resilient communities.

Representing the Business and Foundations Assembly, Nasra Nanda, CEO of the Kenya Green Building Society, underscored the private sector’s power to catalyse sustainable urban change. She encouraged business leaders to support governments in creating long-term solutions, noting that “private-sector investment is essential for helping cities thrive.”

The heart of WUF12
In conjunction with the Forum’s opening, the Urban Expo welcomed visitors to explore over 140 exhibitors showcasing innovative solutions for housing, energy, public spaces, and more. A highlight of the Expo is the UN-Habitat Arena, designed as a heart-shaped layout divided into themed “rooms,” embodying this year’s focus on the meaning of “home.”

The UN-Habitat Executive Director, Anáclaudia Rossbach, toured the Expo alongside Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of the Government of Egypt, Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development of Egypt, and Sherif El-Sherbiny, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities. Together, they experienced firsthand how exhibitors are promoting sustainable urbanization.

Record participation and gender parity
At a well-attended press conference, Executive Director Rossbach detailed the record-breaking participation statistics, with delegates from Africa (74 per cent), Asia (11.3 per cent), Europe (8.3 per cent), the Americas (6 per cent), and Oceania (0.3 per cent). The diverse participant composition includes 21 per cent from academia, 16 per cent from government, 12.8 per cent from the private sector, and significant representation from civil society, international organizations, and media. This year’s Forum also achieved gender parity among speakers in WUF12’s main sessions, with 201 male and 206 female speakers.

Rossbach underscored WUF’s role as a coalition for transformative urban change, bringing together voices from around the world to tackle the housing crisis and other critical issues, from climate adaptation to poverty reduction.

Tomorrow, participants will dive into a programme that includes 37 main sessions and over 700 partner-led events, starting with the WUF Dialogues – a series of high-profile events that set the agenda for policy and action. The first Dialogue, “Housing our future,” will address ways to improve housing access for billions globally, while “Cities and the climate crisis” will focus on local action to secure resilient and environmentally just cities.