Launching of the National Urban Policy Programme: implementing the New Urban Agenda

This high-level event, co-organised by UN-Habitat, OECD and Cities Alliance, convenes national and subnational governments and civil society to launch the National Urban Policy Programme (NUPP): a multi-year, multi-stakeholder global programme to support the design and implementation of National Urban Policy (NUP) and a key implementation tool of the New Urban Agenda.

A NUP has been recognized internationally as a tool for the implementation and monitoring of global urban agendas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework. Its selection as one of ten thematic Policy Units, in preparation for the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), is demonstrative of the recognition on the international stage of the relevance of NUP. The Draft of the New Urban Agenda proposes NUPs within local-national partnerships as one of the fundamental drivers of change. In order to provide the transformative change to support sustainable urbanization globally, the development of NUPs requires a coordinated approach across different policy sectors and among all levels of government and all the relevant stakeholders.  In many countries, however, there is often a lack of the supporting national and subnational policies and frameworks that can leverage the urbanization process for increased development gains and guide it towards sustainable patterns. Furthermore, despite the clear benefits of an effective NUP, the process of policy formation is complex. Often, governments and other stakeholders may have inadequate capacity and the specialized skill to be able successfully to undertake this process independent of outside guidance. Additionally, governments often lack the data, knowledge, and tools needed to develop complex policies and plans like a NUP.

The National Urban Policy Programme (NUPP) will aim to bridge these gaps. The Programme will endeavor to solve the problem of lack of data, knowledge, and tools by providing a forum for knowledge creation, knowledge exchange and knowledge management and therefore build up a foundation of knowledge and evidence on urban policy and planning. The Programme will work to bridge the capacity gap by working with national and local governments as well as relevant stakeholders in order to allow them to build the specialized skills required to develop a coordinated approach to development of NUP. In addition, the Programme will increase governance coordination through the provision of technical assistance and advisory services on the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of NUP and its associated processes. Finally, the NUPP will provide a platform for all levels of government and relevant stakeholders to network and engage amongst themselves regarding the processes of developing and implementing NUP. This platform will also facilitate the broader engagement of stakeholders, outside of participating members of the NUPP. The development of a NUP is an advocacy opportunity that can be used to communicate to stakeholders about important urban issues in their communities. Accordingly, the NUPP will work to disseminate knowledge and instigate dialogue on NUP, and in turn, on urbanization more broadly.

This launching event aims to present the NUPP to diverse audience, including all levels of government, the private sector and civil society, and call for their active participation and support to various activities proposed in the Programme.