Observance of World Cities Day 2025. UN Headquarters

OBSERVANCE OF WORLD CITIES DAY 2025

“Inclusive Urban Futures: Families, Care, and Innovation at the Heart of Cities”

INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION ON URBAN FAMILY ORIENTED POLICIES

Friday, October 31st, 2025. 11:00-12:30 EST (New York)

United Nations Headquarters, Conference Room D

ANNUAL MONITORING REPORT 2025

GALLERY

BACKGROUND NOTE

To mark World Cities Day 2025, the International Federation for Family Development (IFFD) reaffirms its commitment to promoting inclusive, family-oriented urban development. In alignment with UN-Habitat’s Urban October initiative IFFD highlights key progress made this year under the framework of the Venice Declaration on Inclusive Cities for Sustainable Families, advancing the goals of SDG 11 and SDG17.

Good Practices Platform. It continues to expand as a reference hub for effective, family-responsive urban policies. In 2025 the project added innovative practices in urban planning, social cohesion, and intergenerational support. These initiatives reflect the growing recognition that placing families at the heart of policy makes cities more inclusive, equitable, and livable.

Signatories. Since its launch in 2017, the Venice Declaration—a joint initiative of IFFD, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the Veneto Region—has gained wide momentum. As of October 2025, over 250 cities and regions have endorsed the Declaration, committing to design urban systems and services that actively support families.

Regional Meetings. In the past year, four major technical events have advanced our agenda and have brought together city officials, urban planners, and civil society actors to strengthen commitments:

– Virtual Technical Meeting featuring flagship practices and implementation strategies;
– Buenos Aires, Argentina to welcome 12 new signatories and local innovations;
– São Paulo, Brazil to expand the network and launch new partnerships;
– Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Italy, highlighting youth engagement and live case studies.

Youth Training. IFFD supports youth engagement by partnering signatory cities with university students to design and implement family-friendly policies. These initiatives advance SDG 11 while fostering a new generation of leaders for inclusive cities.

Live Cases. In collaboration with IAE Business School, we launched “live case” innovation—bringing real city challenges into the classroom to co-create solutions. Cases from Buenos Aires, San Miguel, and Trieste have joined over 100 live cases across 50 international programs and workshops.

Looking Ahead. Care and support systems with family perspective at the World Summit on Social Development (Doha, Qatar November 2025). People and family centered urban areas at the World Urban Forum (Bakú, Azerbaijan, 2026) 

This will include concrete steps to scale up successful models, prioritize vulnerable families, and embed a human-centered vision of progress in future urban policies. By reinforcing inter-municipal collaboration and showcasing scalable innovations, this observance aims to inspire stronger global commitments to social development — beginning at the level of the family, and reaching across the entire urban fabric.