On 15, the United Nations, through the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, represented by the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture (SCUPA), officially signed a key agreement that sets out all organizational arrangements for the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13).
The agreement was signed in Geneva by Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat, and Anar Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and WUF13 National Coordinator, The Caspian Post reports, citing local media.
This marks major milestone on the road to WUF13, which Baku will host on 17-22 May 2026 under the theme “Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities.”
WUF13 National Coordinator Anar Guliyev praised the productive cooperation between UN-Habitat and Azerbaijan, emphasizing the successful implementation of joint projects in the field of urban development. In particular, he highlighted organisation of three National Urban Forums in Karabakh and East Zangazur, as well as events in Baku in 2023 to mark World Habitat Day.
He added: “Today, Azerbaijan is actively contributing to the shaping of the global urban agenda by participating in the Expert Working Group on the development of international guidelines for people-centred smart cities and by co-chairing the Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing. We are confident that the consistent development of our partnership with UN-Habitat provides a solid foundation and will contribute to advancing sustainable, inclusive, and people-focused cities.”
UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach, expressed her gratitude to the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan for hosting this important gathering: “Azerbaijan’s leadership and partnership are central to the preparations for the World Urban Forum, WUF13, and we are grateful for their continued engagement. Together, we must address the global housing crisis affecting nearly 3 billion people, including the 1.1 billion people living in informal settlements”.
Following to the announcement of Baku as the host city of WUF13, Azerbaijan and UN-Habitat signed the host agreement in December 2023, which established the legal framework to organize the global conference in the host country and provided the basis for most organizational and planning issues.
Established in 2001 by the United Nations, the World Urban Forum is the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization, designed to examine the impacts of rapid urbanization on cities, communities, economies, and climate change. Since its inception, WUF has been hosted in cities across the world, with the first session held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2002.
