Forum organizers
Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) in partnership with UN-Habitat Palestine and Al- Quds University.
10–11 May 2022
PUFIII
Al-Quds University, East Jerusalem, Palestine
Towards a Sustainable Urban Development, Enabling Sovereignty and Resilience of Palestinian Cities
About
The Third Palestinian Urban Forum (PUFIII) was held from 10 to 11 May 2022
The Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and Al-Quds university held the third Palestinian Urban Forum (PUFIII) after five years of continuous efforts to conceptualize many reforms in the area of spatial planning and following the recommendations in local and international forums.
PUFIII
The PUFIII happened after the noticeable improvement of services made by Palestinian cities to achieve the aspired welfare in spite of the challenges imposed by the political conflicts and prolonged occupation with its control over Palestinian resources and following the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also built on MoLG’s efforts in its sectoral plan for Local Governance (2021-2023), aimed at reforming the local government system towards decentralization whilst empowering local government authorities to respond to their citizens’ needs and aspirations.
The forum discussed Palestinian policies related to spatial planning and development and the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Palestine in light of the geopolitical, socio-economic and environmental challenges. Furthermore, the forum supported the formulation of the Palestinian cities’ trends and the general framework towards achieving sustainable development as articulated in the National Urban Policy for Palestine.
It also supported the preparation for Palestine’s participation in the Eleventh World Urban Forum that take place during June 2022 in Poland.
Forum Objectives
The forum was held under the slogan
”Towards a Sustainable Urban Development, Enabling Sovereignty and Resilience of Palestinian Cities”.
The Palestinian Third Urban Forum aimed at:
- Introducing and examining the resilience of Palestinian cities and communities and development challenges at the local level
- Raising awareness and shedding light on issues of sustainable urbanization among partners, including the general public
- Aggregating information and improving collective knowledge on sustainable urban development through inclusive open debates, sharing lessons learned and exchanging best practices and good policies.
- Incrementing coordination and participation between various partners to advance the achievement of sustainable urbanization.
Themes
The PUF III was divided into dialogue sessions to discuss and present a number of specialized papers. The Forum addressed the following themes and sub-themes:
1
Urban Resilience
2
Urban Planning and Governance
3
Green Urban Future
4
Innovation and Technology
5
Equitable Urban future
Participants
Audience
The forum is expected to host 200 - 300 participants representing Palestinian official institutions, decision-makers and representatives of Palestinian cities and civil society in addition to partners from the private sector, local and international organizations and academic establishments. It will also host experts and researchers in urban development and urbanization.
Sponsors
The forum is organized with financial and technical support from development partners supporting the local government sector in Palestine including the German Agency for International Development (GIZ), the Belgian Development Agency (Enabel), the European Union, and several Palestinian organizations: Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) and Engineering Association.