Singapore’s participation in UN Habitat General Assembly

Singapore was represented at the 2nd Session of the UN-Habitat Assembly (UNHA2) by CLC’s Executive Director, Hugh Lim, from 5-9 June 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Debates and discussions at UNHA2 revolved around the theme “A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in times of global crises”.

Source: Mike Muzurakis, International Institute for Sustainable Development

137 Member States were represented at UNHA2, 52 of which were represented by Ministers and 37 by Vice-Ministers. Member States were supportive of UN-Habitat’s mission, with a majority delivering National Statements highlighting their commitments to implementing the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda in their countries. Additionally, at the Closing Plenary, the Assembly adopted nine different Resolutions by consensus related to the mandate of UN-Habitat, committed to achieving sustainable cities and communities.

Hugh delivered Singapore’s National Statement on 6 June to the plenary meeting at UNHA2. The National Statement highlighted Singapore’s commitments to multilateralism through global cooperation by referencing Singapore’s efforts in knowledge-sharing, for example through CLC’s capability development programmes, and examples of Singapore’s localisation of the SDGs. The full National Statement may be found here https://unhabitat.org/governance/un-habitat-assembly/second-session-2023

At the Assembly, the Singapore delegation also met with personalities such as the Executive Director, UN-Habitat, Maimunah Mohd Sharif; Vice-Mayor of Shanghai, Zhang Xiaohong; and Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson, where possibilities for deeper collaboration with CLC were discussed.

Writer’s Bio:

Cedric Choo
Manager (Capability Development)
Centre for Liveable Cities

Cedric is part of the Capability Development arm of CLC, where he is part of the team organising International Programmes. Targeted at mid to senior-level officials from other cities, the Programmes share Singapore’s experiences in urban development, through the lens of the Singapore Liveability Framework.