Monitoring, Review and Support Mechanisms for the New Urban Agenda

The New Urban Agenda was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in October 2016. As a non-binding agreement, the implementation of the New Urban Agenda depends on the political will of the states that are parties to the agreement. Mechanisms to support its implementation thus have an important role. Monitoring, review and support mechanisms in particular can make fundamental contributions in this area.  Such mechanisms should not just aid in the identification of gaps in implementation. They should also identify the causes of these gaps, and provide support (e.g. capacity building, technical and/or financial support) to address them.

An expert workshop in New York on September 27, 2015 addressed this topic. The workshop was co-organized by Cities Alliance and Global Taskforce. Participants included UN-Habitat, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), GIZ, the French foreign ministry, Slum Dwellers International, and Habitat for Humanity, among others. The workshop participants discussed the requirements and potential components of monitoring, review and support mechanisms for the New Urban Agenda. They moreover considered potential synergies with existing monitoring and review mechanisms (e.g. in the context of the post-2015 development agenda). This project built on the project "Sustainability in urban areas - exploring opportunities for the New Urban Agenda".

adelphi’s services in this project included the preparation and moderation of the workshop, as well as summarizing its outputs.