Putting people first: Inclusive cities for all

With the definition of the action field urban development and the publication of a position paper on sustainable urban development in July 2023, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) puts a strong emphasis on supporting the development of “liveable cities for all” by reducing inequalities. The topic of slums and informal settlements have received increased attention within BMZ, as one crucial challenge for sustainable urban development. That is why the BMZ has signed one of the guiding documents to address the issue of slums at informal settlements at a global level, namely the UN Habitat Global Action Plan: Accelerating for Transforming Informal Settlements and Slums by 2030 (GAP). In its guiding principles, the GAP calls for meeting the needs of everyone to respect and promote human rights, including for people with disabilities.

This event “Putting people first: Inclusive cities for all" aims to specifically highlight the intersectional discrimination of people with disabilities, who live in slums and informal settlements. Despite BMZ’s existing experience in sustainable urban development, the topics of urban inequalities, slums, and informality, as well as disability inclusion in urban areas are still relatively niche. That is why BMZ wants to bring together various actors with longstanding experience in this field, such as representatives of international organisations, city networks, local governments, civil society, and representatives of organizations of people with disabilities. The event will showcase some best practices and local experiences from BMZ partners while allowing the entire audience to participate in the conversation. The event will be opened by Heike Litzinger from the BMZ. Joshua Maviti from UN-Habitat will give a keynote and Adrià Duarte from UCLG the closing remarks.