FAO Green Cities Action Program to be launched on Sept 18

FAO Green Cities Action Program to be launched on Sept 18
By Marwa Nassar - -

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will launch its Green Cities Action Program on September 18 during a virtual meeting due to be held under the theme of “Green cities to build back better for SDGs – A new powerful venture.”

The FAO program is a new initiative focusing on small, intermediate and metropolitan cities that aims to improve people’s wellbeing through increased availability of an access to products and services provided by green spaces, including urban and peri-urban forestry, agriculture and by sustainable food systems.

During the high-level meeting, the FAO will urge joining the initiative as active partners in addition to disseminating the FAO Call for Action.

The FAO will seek ensuring that urbanization becomes an opportunity for taking action to increase the wellbeing of urban dwellers, strengthen rural-urban linkages and help cities build back better and achieve the SDGs.

The FAO will also seek creating an enabling environment to promote green spaces – urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry – and sustainable food systems addressing the common, but also diverse challenges and opportunities that small, intermediary and metropolitan cities are facing.

The organization will also call upon national governments to facilitate dialogue, resources, policy space strengthening coherence with national programs and empower local governments with adequate resources and a clear mandate.

The FAO will also encourage local governments to mainstream green spaces and food systems in their urban and territorial plans, promoting green and inclusive transformation with a long term prospective, including for job generation and youth engagement.

The FAO will also incentivize resource partners to invest in promoting innovation for greening cities,  research and academic institutions, professionals in the public and private sector and to support and disseminate this Call for Action, and to partner with FAO towards the achievement of greener cities for all.

The UN organizations will also be encouraged to join the program and mobilize their technical capacities and political leverage to ensure its success. This Call for Action is intended to support the UN Secretary General’s Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs – to raise the level of ambition, to mobilize everyone everywhere, and to find innovative solutions at this crucial point where the world’s future is being reimagined.

The FAO is determined to work with its Members and partners to mobilize the technical and financial resources required to implement the Green Cities Action Plan, and to establish a Green Cities Network to facilitate the exchange among cities and for scaling up the initiative.

The objective is to involve 100 cities initially and then progressively expand the program as more resources become available and innovative methodologies are tested and validated.

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