Representatives of dozens of UN member countries spoke at the High-Level Meeting. The event focused on progress in implementing the New Urban Agenda, the UN's most important document on sustainable urban development. The deputy head of the MDFRP spoke on Thursday about the Polish government's initiatives that implement the agenda.

Polish voice at the UN

For the Polish government, sustainable development is a priority. We are preparing the National Urban Policy to 2030, we have initiated the creation of municipal climate change adaptation plans, and we are financing investments in smaller cities under the Local Development Program. There are many more of these examples

- Jarosińska-Jedynak said.

An important part of the Deputy Minister's speech was an invitation to delegates to attend the World Urban Forum, which will be held in Katowice from June 26 to 30. It is the world's largest cyclical event on urban development. Its organizer is the UN, specifically UN-Habitat, and Poland and Katowice are co-organizers of the 11th edition of the event.

You are invited to participate in WUF11. This will be a great event, the Deputy Minister assured, adding that, due to the war in Ukraine, the topic of rebuilding cities after war damage has been included in the WUF11 program.

During the meeting, the deputy head of the MDFRP was accompanied by the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the UN Krzysztof Szczerski, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the UN Programs and Office in Nairobi Marek Garztecki and the President of Katowice Marcin Krupa.

Face-to-face promotion

The deputy minister used her visit to the UN to invite representatives from several countries to attend WUF11 and to promote the event. To this end, she met with:

• David Lucas Parron, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda of Spain,
• Daniela Grabmullerova, the Deputy Minister of Regional Development of the Czech Republic,
• Santiago Maggiotti, the Deputy Minister of Territorial Development and Human Settlements of Argentina.

What will happen on Friday

Friday, April 29 was another day of Deputy Minister Jarosińska-Jedynak's visit to New York. On that day at UN headquarters in New York, the Deputy Minister will take part in a special event - "Road to Katowice" - accompanying the High-Level Meeting. Representatives of the UN Member States were invited to the event. The deputy head of the MDFRP will make a presentation about WUF11 in Katowice and invite participants to the forum. The event will also include a speech by UN-Habitat head Maimunah Mohd Shariff and Ambassador Marek Garztecki. Also a part of the event will be a discussion on the role of cities and urban leaders in times of crisis.

The context of this panel is, of course, Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the massive destruction in Ukrainian cities. We have invited Ukraine's ambassador to the UN to participate in the discussion,

Jarosińska-Jedynak announced.

The event is scheduled for 10:00 am New York time (4:00 pm Warsaw time). It will be possible to follow it on the UN website.

On the same day, the Deputy Minister will meet with UN-Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Shariff to confirm the arrangements for organizing WUF11 to date.

The deputy head of the MDFRP will also meet with Sandra Ojiambo, the Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. UN Global Compact Poland is one of the partners involved in the preparation of WUF11 in Poland, primarily in the area of cooperation with business.