Healthy Cities for Building Back Better
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HEALTHY CITIES FOR BUILDING BACK BETTER Political Statement of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network WHO European Healthy Cities Network Annual Business and Technical Conference Healthy Cities in times of pandemic: protecting communities and building back better Web-based conference, 8–10 December 2020 Healthy Cities for Building Back Better Political Statement of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network Address requests about publications of the WHO Regional Office for Europe to: Publications WHO Regional Office for Europe UN City, Marmorvej 51 DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark Alternatively, complete an online request form for documentation, health information, or for permission to quote or translate, on the Regional Office website (http://www.euro.who.int/pubrequest). Document number: WHO/EURO:2021-2092-41847-57400 © World Health Organization 2021 Some rights reserved. 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Political statement We, the mayors and senior political representatives of cities, gathered on 8–10 December 2020, confirm our commitment to the values and principles of the Healthy Cities movement. As our cities are the national and international epicentres of the COVID-19 pandemic, we commit to stepping up leadership, individually and collectively, to make our cities healthy, safe, fair, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. We call on WHO and the global community to support science-based response efforts, not only to protect our communities from COVID-19 and its social and economic impacts, but also for a fair, healthy and sustainable recovery. Cities and local governments are central to enabling our societies to respond to and recover from this unprecedented challenge facing the world. We cannot afford to resume business as usual; we must build back better, healthier and more resilient. In particular: The climate emergency, global noncommunicable diseases burden and inequalities that persistently fail those left behind by our societies and economies must not continue as we build towards our common future. Our recovery must be green, inclusive, sustainable, healthy safe and evidence- based, and must deliver new, economic models that keep our populations healthy and foster well-being, keep our environment clean and protected against exploitation, and keep our communities resilient. We confirm our support for the WHO Manifesto for a healthy recovery from COVID- 19, which highlights “building healthy, liveable cities”. We stress that cities have a crucial role in the COVID-19 recovery. Healthy, liveable cities are not simply part of a healthy recovery, they are essential to it; without them, we will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals or our common goal of a sustainable future. Therefore, we call on the global community to adopt an economy of well-being that: increases opportunities for upward social mobility and for people to improve their lives; ensures that these opportunities translate into positive well-being outcomes for all segments of the population, including those at the bottom of the distribution. puts equity in health and sustainable development at the centre of strategies to combat COVID-19 and at the centre of future recovery from the pandemic. reduces inequalities; and ensures environmental and social sustainability. 1 We call on the global community to look on this time as an opportunity to become stronger, more unified, more resilient, more cohesive, and more prepared to respond to climate change impacts, emergencies, disasters and shocks, and to health, environmental, social and economic challenges. We are at a turning point in history. The decisions we make now impact our present and will determine our future. They affect us now and will affect generations to come. These decisions shape the environment and conditions in which people will live today and tomorrow. They determine how long we will live, and the quality of our lives. We are held accountable by our young generations, and will be by future generations, for the actions that we take now. The present and future of those generations depends on all of us acting now. Collectively, we: recognize, applaud, and reaffirm our commitment and support to WHO for the key role that it continues to play, both regionally and globally, in supporting all countries, cities and communities in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. stand in solidarity with our fellow cities and their citizens, including frontline health workers and other essential workers, who have suffered unimaginably during this outbreak, and support them through our common networks and platforms, to the best of our ability. stress that our planet, our cities and our places, are facing a climate emergency; we must not disregard the action needed to tackle this environmental crisis as we seek to recover from the economic shock of COVID-19. reiterate that inequalities underpin the defining public health challenges of our time, including the distribution of the burden of COVID-19, and that the most vulnerable people are the most severely affected. Building a healthier and happier world in the aftermath of COVID-19 means, first and foremost, tackling the persistent inequalities in our societies and at the heart of our economies. emphasize that we will only overcome the challenge of COVID-19 through solidarity, cooperation and coordination, in the European Region and globally. We stress the leading roles of cities and local governments as advocates for an equitable, sustainable, and evidence-based response to COVID-19. We confirm our support for the WHO Manifesto for a healthy recovery from COVID-19, which highlights “building healthy, liveable cities”. We stress that cities have a crucial role in the COVID-19 recovery. Healthy, liveable cities are not simply part of a healthy recovery, they are essential to it; without them, we will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals or our common goal of a sustainable future. reiterate our commitment to the