The 6th UN Forum of Mayors opens in Geneva!

The 6th United Nations Forum of Mayors opens today (12 Oct. 2026) in Geneva under the theme “Cities Delivering for a Sustainable Future”, bringing together the highest number of mayors and city leaders from around the world in its history. They will exchange experiences and explore practical solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing urban communities, focusing specifically on Sustainable Development Goal 11 (Sustainable cities and communities).

The Global Cities Hub (GCH) is proud to have been a partner of the Forum since its very first edition in 2020 and will be represented by its President, Christina Kitsos, Mayor of the City of Geneva. GCH organizes a number of events in the margins of the Forum, including on Voluntary Local Reviews, on Nature as urban infrastructure and an exchange between mayors and Geneva-based international organizations. In addition, GCH has partnered with the World Economic Forum around its Urban Transformation Summit, held back-to-back with the UN Forum of Mayors.

Cities are on the frontline of global challenges, from climate change and environmental pressures to rising inequalities, housing and mobility challenges, and threats to social cohesion. They are also places where innovative solutions are developed, where communities come together, and where new approaches to building more inclusive, resilient and sustainable societies are tested.

The Forum provides a valuable space for cities to share what works (and what does not), learn from one another and bring their experience into the international policy debate. There are many spaces around the world where cities exchange with each other. But there is only one formal UN space where mayors can exchange directly in the presence of States, within the UN system and with the Sustainable Development Goals as a common framework: the UN Forum of Mayors.

With only four years remaining to achieve the 2030 Agenda, and discussions already beginning on what should follow, ensuring that cities are part of the collective reflection is more important than ever. Whatever the shape of the post-2030 sustainable development agenda, its success will depend on its implementation on the ground. An agenda designed with cities is more likely to be an agenda that will be successfully delivered locally. The Forum should therefore not only remain a space for dialogue but become an important channel through which the perspectives and priorities of cities can feed into future intergovernmental discussions on sustainable development.

As Member States consider the renewal of the Forum’s mandate and terms of reference, the opportunity should be seized to strengthen and elevate its place within the UN system. If the UN is to remain relevant and connected to people’s everyday realities, it needs strong channels of dialogue with the cities and communities where global challenges are ultimately experienced, and where solutions are delivered.

Come and join us at the UN Forum of Mayors and all its associated events. The full programme is available here.