Reviewing the State of Safety in World Cities:
Safer Cities +20
6 - 8 July 2016, Geneva, Switzerland
Habitat III Cross-Cutting Expert Group Meeting on Safer Cities in the New Urban Agenda
Organizers: The meeting is organized by UN-HABITAT and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform in cooperation with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and with logistical assistance from the United Nations Office at Geneva. The meeting has been made possible with the generous support of the Habitat III Secretariat, the City of Geneva, the Safer Cities Programme of UN-Habitat and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform.
Venues: 6 July - Maison de la Paix (Auditorium Ivan Pictet); 7-8 July - Palais des Nations (Room XXIV with break out sessions in Room XXV and the Kazakh Room)
Programme documents
- Event note - Reviewing the State of Safety in World Cities
- CC Expert Group Meeting - Safer Cities - Agenda - 6 - 8 July 2016
- Participants
Background material
- Revised Zero Draft of the New Urban Agenda
- HABITAT III Issue Papers No. 3: Urban Safety
- Background note - Global Expert Meeting Safer Cities
- Safer Cities Programme Executive Summary
Outcome documents
- EGM Safer Cities in the New Urban Agenda - Outcome Document
- Synthesis Report - Urban Safety and Security - Lessons from the Last Two Decades and Emergent Issues
About the meeting
The meeting will offer a global platform to assess the state of safety of cities around the world and to exchange promising practices on achieving safer cities through different event formats (market-places, break-out sessions, etc.). It will discuss approaches to urban safety, crime and conflict prevention as an integral part of city governance. The meeting in Geneva will bring together representatives from national and local governments, local authorities, criminal justice institutions and law enforcers, civil society organizations including women and youth organizations, academic experts and research institutions, the private sector, UN agencies and international organizations.
A major stock-taking prior to HABITAT III
The demand for knowledge and expertise to address the issues of safety in cities is vast. And yet, so is the experience and the results that have been achieved by local authorities and their citizens. It is in the spirit of sharing information, successes and approaches to addressing the complex challenges of urban safety that the meeting takes stock of 20 years of UN-Habitat Safer Cities Programme, and draws together associated networks such as the cities and partners of the Global Network on Safer Cities (GNSC), the Regional Forums for Urban Safety (Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America), as well as several Technical Working Groups on different cross-cutting urban safety issues such as peacebuilding, technology and gender. It also is an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing, and the United Smart Cities Project. It also draws on the comparative advantage of Geneva to access cross-cutting expertise on urban safety available within the various international organizations, diplomatic missions, non-governmental organizations and business networks.
