Mayor Evelio Leonardia has canceled his trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the 10th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF10) amid the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) threat.
Leonardia, who is supposed to attend the WUF10 from February 8 to 13 in his capacity as the national president of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), said he is not leaving the country although he has already obtained a foreign travel authority from Secretary Eduardo Año of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
“I already have the official approval of Secretary Año for my travel. I already have a confirmed plane ticket (for my flight) on the 7th of February. I was set to go, but because of these developments, I’m canceling my trip,” the mayor said in a press conference after his meeting with the city’s inter-agency task force against nCoV yesterday.
Leonardia formed the body to properly address the emerging health threat, create a standard protocol in dealing with the threat of nCoV, and coordinate with the national and local crisis management committees in addressing the epidemic.
Upon the invitation of UN Habitat Undersecretary General and Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Leonardia was supposed to speak in the special session on financing for sustainable urban development on February 10.
The WUF, a non-legislative technical forum convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) since 2002, is recognized as the foremost global arena in the field of sustainable urban development and human settlements.
This year’s theme, “Cities of Opportunities: Connecting Culture and Innovation”, will focus on development agenda related to finance, urban development, housing, culture, national heritage, innovation, science, information and technology, and will provide participating UN entities the opportunity to discuss issues relevant to the theme within the framework of a one UN approach to sustainable urban development. (Nanette Guadalquiver ndb via pna)
