High-Level event on preparations for WUF13 held at UN Headquarters

A high-level event titled Building Safe, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities in the Era of Migration – Preparations for WUF13 was held at the United Nations Headquarters, the State Migration Service (SMS) of Azerbaijan told Report.

The event was organized to draw attention to the upcoming 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), which will take place in Baku within the framework of the 2nd International Migration Review Forum.

Jointly hosted by Azerbaijan, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and UN-Habitat, the event was one of 18 high-level side events scheduled at the UN headquarters. Its main purpose was to promote WUF13 globally and to discuss the link between migration and urbanization.

Head of the State Migration Service Vusal Huseynov highlighted Azerbaijan's role as both the host country of WUF13 and co-chair of the Champion Countries initiative this year, noting the unique opportunity this creates for aligning discussions between the Migration Review Forum and WUF13. He emphasized the importance of leveraging migration's development potential in urban management and stated that the discussions would continue at WUF13 in Baku.

Speeches were also delivered by IOM Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Arthur Erken and Toni-Shae Freckleton, Director, New York Liaison Office, UN-Habitat.

Following this, a panel discussion and interactive session moderated by Azerbaijan's Permanent Representative to the UN, Tofig Musayev, took place, with contributions from government officials, local authorities, international organizations, academia, and civil society. Topics included migrant integration into urban environments, building inclusive and sustainable cities, social cohesion, and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through the implementation of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

On the second day of the Forum, a general debate was held to summarize the outcomes of roundtable discussions. Vusal Huseynov presented the conclusions of the first roundtable under the chairmanship of the IOM Director General.

He also participated as a panel speaker in the high-level dialogue Migration Solutions: From Intent to Action, sharing Azerbaijan"s experience as a Champion Country in expanding the implementation of the Global Compact on Migration. He stressed the importance of effectively utilizing technical and financial support to achieve these goals.