Rabat – The 2018 Africities Summit Youth Forum will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, with 5,000 expected participants from Africa and the African diaspora.
The 8th Africities Summit will take place November 20-24 under the theme: “The transition towards sustainable cities and territories: The role of local and sub-national governments of Africa.”
The forum will give a special focus to youth.
The Africities summit is the main event of the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa). The Africities summit is held every three years in an African country.
Morocco, UCLG Africa, and the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Municipal Councils (AMPCC) will organize the 2018 Africities Summit.
Morocco anticipates the participation of 5,000 people representing African stakeholders and the African diaspora around the world. The participants will include local governmental ministers of housing and urban development, public service, and finance, according to a statement published today, September 11, by UCLG.
“Leaders, officials of city and subnational governments, representatives of the business sector, civil society organizations and trade unions; traditional and moral authorities, researchers and academia, development partners and international cooperation agencies” will also participate in the forum.
UN Habitat’s Safer Cities Program and UNESCO’s Science, Technology and Innovation also promised to support the Africities Youth Forum.
As part of the 2018 Africities Summit Youth Forum, the organizers have launched a competition for young Africans aged 15-35 from Africa and abroad to collect ideas which will “accelerate transition towards sustainable cities and territories in Africa.”
According to UCLG’s statement, the competition’s main objectives are “to contribute to find the best strategies to improve the living conditions of Africans and define solutions to accelerate the dynamic of integration, peace building and unity on the continent, starting from its territories.”
The jury will select 20 people who will be invited to the summit and “will participate in a Creativity Lab consisting of a Cartoon Camp Challenge and a Virtual Reality Contest.” The selected people will compete in the first four days of Africities Summit. Successful candidates will receive awards for their projects on the final day of the summit.
The topic of the contests will be “Imagine a sustainable future for Africa and its cities and territories, in 2030 and 2063.”
The 2015 Africities Summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from November 29 to December 3. The summit discussed the future of urbanization on the continent.
A Moroccan delegation led by the then minister delegate to the interior minister, Charki Draiss, participated in the 2015 summit. The delegation included heads of regional councils and local communes, city mayors, and a group of experts.
