WUF5 © Götz

From 22 to 26 March 2010, the World Urban Forum V (WUF5) of UN-Habitat was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The theme of the forum was "The Right to the City: Bridging the Urban Divide". Almost 15,000 participants from around the world attended the forum.

On 23 March 2010 the Global Parliamentarians on Habitat (GPH) held a Round Table for Parliamentarians within the framework of the World Urban Forum V. The parliamentarians discussed “climate change and human settlements".

The panel discussion was very well-attended with over 100 participants. It was chaired by the President of the Global Parliamentarians on Habitat, Peter Götz. Besides the State Minister of Construction and Urban Development from India, Saugata Roy, and the Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, a total of 20 Parliamentarians contributed to the discussion with statements and opinions.

At the round table the "Declaration of Rio" of the Global Parliamentarians on Habitat was presented by Eliomar Coelho, Councilor of the City of Rio de Janeiro. The Declaration was debated and approved at the 6th Global Forum of the GPH, held from 18 to 20 March 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Over 100 parliamentarians from more than 25 countries participated in this forum. The parliamentarians will carry the message of the Declaration on "Sustainable Urban Development" into their national parliaments and implement it.

In his address at the closing session of the United Nations before nearly 10,000 participants, Peter Götz called for new partnerships at all political levels and better cooperation between all the parties involved in the Habitat process. "Our most important resource is the political will," he said. A few days earlier, at the 6th Global Forum of Global Parliamentarians on Habitat in Rio de Janeiro, Götz was unanimously re-elected as President of the Board of Directors of the GPH.