Dear Urban Journalism Academy Speaker, 

The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) held from 17 to 20 October 2016 in Quito, Ecuador, has successfully concluded with the adoption of the New Urban Agenda.

The Habitat III Conference as a whole was a resounding success: 30,000 people, among them 10,000 international participants from 167 countries were accredited in the Conference. In the span of four days almost 1,000 events took place, including 8 Plenary sessions, 6 High-level Roundtable sessions, 4 Assemblies, 16 Stakeholders Roundtables, 10 Policy Dialogues, 22 Special Sessions, 3 Urban Talks, an Urban Journalism Academy, 59 United Nations events, 157 Exhibition booths, 42 Village projects and over 460 side, networking, training and parallel events were organized by various stakeholders.

The Habitat III Conference ended with the result of 23 Urban Journalism Academies taking place in the five continents, with the participation of over 800 journalists from local and global media. Understanding media as a key actor for global change, we encourage you to be proactive and take a substantive role in the development of cities, at international, national and local levels.

Thank you for your participation at the Habitat III Conference. Our work here is far from over, and we look forward to our continued collaboration in following up on the New Urban Agenda, the commitments made for its implementation, and the legacy of Habitat III.

Sincerely,
The Habitat III Secretariat