Women in a “Challenged Urban World”. Achievements by and for women living in informal settlements

Today, we are witnessing one year of COVID-19. A global urban crisis which has impacted all our lives. Women in cities were particularly challenged in so many ways. Then again, this Day is to make us remember the lives of women in the most marginalized urban settings, in informal settlements and slums. Women live in high-density settings excluded from water, sanitation, energy, social and health facilities, infrastructure, mobility and connectivity, adequate housing, food and have no or little social protection. They, approaches, policy champions, practitioners from around the world who are engaged in transforming inadequate standards of living and driving for a better quality of life for all have the voice on this 2021 International Women’s Day!

Speakers

• Marjeta Jager, Deputy Director-General, DG INTPA, European Commission
• Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat)
• Yvonne Aki Sawyer, Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone
• Esther Waura Muiru, Founder and Strategic Advisor of Groots Kenya
• Voices from the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP)

• Moderated by Robert Lewis-Lettington, Chief, Land, Housing and Shelter Section