Ambassador Hatem Yousry, Egypt's ambassador to KenyaOn Wednesday, at the second African Urban Forum, held in Nairobi at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), on behalf of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, President of the Republic.
Ambassador Hosni delivered Egypt's address during the forum's opening session, conveying the President's greetings. Sisi To all participants in the forum, expressing his appreciation to the Government of Kenya and the African Union Commission for their outstanding leadership in organizing this event.
Promoting sustainable urbanization at the regional level
Ambassador Hosni highlighted Egypt’s recent achievements in promoting sustainable urbanization at the regional level, including Cairo’s hosting of the twelfth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12) in 2024, working to advance the implementation of the «Cairo Call for Action» initiative, in addition to the leading role Egypt played during the COP27 climate conference through the launch of the Sustainable Urban Resilience Initiative (SURGe).
Ambassador Hosni also reviewed a number of successes that Egypt has recently achieved, including the development of the New Administrative Capital, which spans 700 square kilometers, as a model for smart and flexible cities in the face of challenges, in addition to national initiatives to develop unplanned areas and provide affordable housing, such as the ambitious «Housing for All Egyptians» program, which succeeded in delivering more than 1.2 million housing units by the end of 2025, providing decent housing for more than 3 million citizens.
Egypt declared free of slums
The ambassador also pointed to the «Decent Life» initiative currently being implemented by Egypt, which aims to develop more than 4,500 rural villages by providing urban-level infrastructure for about 60 million citizens, which contributed to declaring Egypt free of unsafe slum areas by the past year, 2025.
In closing, Ambassador Yosri stressed that the urban challenges facing Africa—from housing shortages to climate change-induced displacement—can only be overcome through effective international cooperation, linking housing issues to economic, social and environmental development, supporting the role of national and local governments, providing sustainable financing mechanisms, building capacity and transferring technology.
