BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 18. Youth must
participate in urban planning and management, Jonathan Ricky, a
member of the UN-Habitat Youth Advisory Board and Executive
Director of the "Young Africans for a Sustainable Africa"
organization, said during the joint closing of the assemblies
within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum
(WUF13), Trend
reports.
"We call for the institutionalized and adequately funded
participation of children and youth in urban planning, housing
policy development, and city management," he said.
According to him, youth participation must be meaningful and
include all stages—from design to implementation—rather than being
limited to advisory meetings after decisions have already been
made.
Ricky noted that youth and children's initiatives must be
integrated into urban policy, and innovations implemented by youth
must be scaled at national and international levels with the
support of sustainable and predictable funding.
"Housing and urban infrastructure must be linked to transport,
education, healthcare, safe public spaces, and social services.
Only with such an approach will cities become truly livable," he
added.
He also emphasized that the participation of children and youth
in city management is a key element in implementing the principles
of the new Global Urban Agenda and achieving sustainable
development of the urban environment.
