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.
