WeGO and UN-Habitat explore areas of collaboration during the World Cities Summit in Singapore
July 31, 2022
Seoul –While attending the World Cities Summit 2022, the WeGO Secretariat had its first bilateral meeting with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Both the Secretary General of WeGO, Jung Sook Park, and the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, greeted each other in Singapore.
During the meeting, both WeGO and UN-Habitat shared ideas on sustainable development goals. It was promising to discover that both WeGO and UN-Habitat have the same value in promoting people element in smart city development via WeGO’s concept of PPPP (Public-Private-People Partnership) and UN-Habitat’s programme of “People-Centered Smart Cities”.
Prior to her appointment as the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and the Executive Director of the UN-Habitat, Maimunah Mohd Sharif had a memorable journey and partnership with WeGO while serving her term as the President of the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai. For instance, Maimunah Mohd Sharif shared that Seberang Perai was a beneficiary city of WeGO’s feasibility study in 2016. And, as a result, the Smart Street Lamp and Traffic Light Monitoring System was introduced and implemented in Seberang Perai.
Throughout her participation in WeGO’s activities during her term as the President at the Municipal Council of Seberang Perai, Maimunah Mohd Sharif highlighted that she was inspired by the Digital Mayor’s Office in Seoul, which is the President City of WeGO, and thus she introduced the smart technology solution in Seberang Perai.
The Executive Director of UN-Habitat also shared with WeGO about the UN-Habitat Strategic Plan 2021 to 2023. Due to the impact from the pandemic, the Strategic Plan has been extended to 2025. Maimunah Mohd Sharif further shared her vision and importance of “Leaving No One and No Place Behind”. Based on the shared information on the Strategic Plan, topics particularly on human rights, gender, youth, older persons, and people with disabilities have been discussed.
The Secretary General of WeGO briefly shared the updates on WeGO Smart City Champions, which is a youth program initiated by WeGO. This aligns with the element of people in smart city development, particularly to emphasize the importance of nurturing the talent of youth as “youth of today are leaders of tomorrow”.
The direction of having collaboration between WeGO and UN-Habitat has been set during the meeting in Singapore. The UN-Habitat Assembly will be conducted in June next year. Maimunah Mohd Sharif has invited the WeGO Secretariat to work together on smart city development prior to the convention of the UN-Habitat Assembly. The Secretary General of WeGO extended her sincere invitation to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat to deliver a keynote speech at a session to be co-hosted with the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) during the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2022 in September.
Before the meeting was concluded, the Secretary General of WeGO introduced the Seoul Global Smart City Award to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat and discussed next steps for its collaboration.
About WeGO
The World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO), established by 50 founding members in 2010, is an international association of city and other local governments, smart tech solution providers, and national and regional institutions committed to the transformation of cities into smart sustainable cities WeGO’s Secretariat is based in Seoul and supported by regional offices in Africa (Abuja, Nigeria), East Asia (Chengdu, China), Eurasia (Ulyanovsk Region, Russia), the Mediterranean (Beyoğlu, Turkey), and Latin America (Mexico City, Mexico).
WeGO has more than 200 members around the world and serves as their international platform to improve the quality of life, innovate in the delivery of public services, and strengthen regional competitiveness.
Media Contact:
Name: Eunji Park
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