BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 14. Azerbaijan has
demonstrated a high level of readiness to host the Thirteenth
session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), said María Fernanda
Espinosa, President of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly,
Trend
reports.
Speaking at a briefing in Baku dedicated to WUF13, Espinosa
highlighted Azerbaijan’s hospitality, organizational capabilities,
and the rich history and culture of Baku during a briefing ahead of
the forum.
“I have personally witnessed Azerbaijan’s warm hospitality, its
strong organizational capacity, and the wealth of history and
culture in Baku, which gives me full confidence that the World
Urban Forum will be a success,” she said.
Espinosa stressed that events like WUF13 require not only
technical preparation but also political will and leadership.
“We see various sectors coming together to address a challenge
of enormous scale. It demands concrete solutions in policy,
investment, design, and planning,” she noted.
She highlighted the urgent need for the international community
to address the global housing crisis.
“With over a billion people living in slums and informal
settlements and hundreds of millions homeless, it is essential to
strengthen policies, increase investment, and make responsible
political decisions.
The current housing crisis is man-made. This is a human-created
crisis, which means human solutions are possible and necessary,”
Espinosa said.
