Record numbers for the U20 urban community communication group headed by...

The works of the virtual summit of the Mayors of Cities U20 Urban Community Group, which is chaired by the city of Riyadh, concluded with a historic achievement and record numbers that are the highest in the group’s history. Urban.
The group’s closing statement was received by Majid Al-Hogail, the designated Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, who participated in the closing session as a representative of the Kingdom’s Presidency of the Group of Twenty this year, from Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City and Chairman of the Urban Community Communication Group.
The summit and the closing statement represent the culmination of a year-long march of close international cooperation, which was successfully led by the Riyadh work team, in coordination with 42 cities and 31 knowledge partners to submit a final statement containing 27 recommendations to the leaders of the G20 to enhance cooperation at all levels, and work according to four main axes. These axes were represented in partnerships by investing in a fair and environmentally friendly recovery from Covid-19, protecting the planet through national and international cooperation, forming new horizons for development by accelerating the transition to a circular carbon economy, and enabling the population to ensure a more equal and inclusive future, in addition to achieving Record and historical numbers for the group headed by the city of Riyadh.
For the first time, the group formed specialized working groups, in addition to a working group on the Covid-19 pandemic, and submitted a proposal to establish the “International Fund for Urban Recovery”, which is the first initiative of this kind led by cities, and funded by multiple donors, which makes it uniquely able to Respond quickly in times of urban crisis.
The task forces produced more than a thousand pages of studies and 160 recommendations included in 15 working papers, and the pandemic working group discussed its implications for cities, and provided solutions to the challenges they face in achieving economic recovery and obtaining the necessary financing and investment.
This initiative acquires a global dimension, given that the Urban Community Communication Group is one of eight communication groups within the G20, which enhances its importance and influence. The list of participants in the special working group included 12 cities and seven international organizations, and it collected 32 studies on how cities deal with the pandemic, and a survey of cities that represent more than 75 million people, and came up with a number of recommendations.
The city of Riyadh followed an international cooperative approach in its leadership of the group. Since taking over the leadership of the group business in December 2019, the Riyadh team has been keen to work collectively and coordinate continuously at the international level with all cities and parties concerned, which has had a positive and tangible impact on the mechanisms of the group’s work, and increased Of its importance and the development of its role and method of work. It is noteworthy that the U20 Urban Community Communication Group is a diplomatic initiative that brings together cities from the G20 member states, and cities monitored from outside the group, to discuss and form a unified position on several issues including climate, social integration, inclusiveness and sustainable economic growth, and issues recommendations to be studied by the G20.