The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) side event will explore how inclusive economic development can help address inequality in the region’s urban areas.

How can local governments, the private sector and civil society promote transition to the formal economy and newly emerging businesses that target the needs of disadvantaged groups? How can informal businesses be integrated meaningfully in urban market development planning in the long-term? How can LAC cities and local governments facilitate an enabling environment for inclusive local economic development and promote business generation? How can cities and local governments align inclusive economic development strategies with national policy plans to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and advance an inclusive urban agenda? These are some of the questions that panellists – experts and leaders from national, regional and local institutions, NGOs, and international organizations – will address. 

WHAT UNDP Side Event, Habitat III Regional Meeting- Latin America and the Caribbean

H.E. Ms Maria Duarte, 

Minister of Housing and Urban Development, de Ecuador (TBC)

Mr Diego Zorrilla, UN Resident Coordinator, United Nations Development Programme   (UNDP) Resident Representative in Ecuador

Mr. Ibon Mendibelzua, Delegate of the Basque Country/Euskadi in MéxicoùMs. Júnia Santa Rosa, Director, Institutional Development and Technical Cooperation, National Housing Secretary, Ministry of Cities,Brazil

Ms. Adriana Lobo, Director EMBARQ, World Resources Institute (WRI)

 Ms. Sonia Dias, Solid Waste Management Specialist at Women in Informal

Employment (WIEGO)

Mr. Alfonso Serrano Gomez, Habitación y Vida (HabVita) Chief Executive Officer