Also, the much-anticipated concept note and poster for the 13th World Human Rights Cities Forum, announced in our last newsletter, have now been released! (Emoji) In this newsletter, we are especially excited to share the meaning behind the poster for the first time.

With the Forum now in place, preparations for the event are accelerating. Once again, we hope you will stay tuned and look forward to this year's Forum!🙌

Due to the fact it implicitly represents a topic that is never easy to handle, everyone is bound to have different interpretations and impressions. Nevertheless, one of the points most will notice is the equal sign (=). If one looks at the city landscapes from a distance, it seems as if they are forming an equal sign (=). The sign directly connects to the theme 'Human Right Cities Responding to Poverty and Inequalities’ and reflects the value and determination to create a city where "No one is left behind", while the red and orange tones represent the warmth of acceptance and inclusion.

Discussions in Preparation for the Official Events

Following the confirmation of the Forum’s theme and concept note, the Planning Subcommittee and the International Steering Committee meetings were held on 9th and 25th May, respectively, their main agenda focusing on discussing the Forum’s official events and composing the list of main speakers.

In order to create a diverse and informative program of the official events, the Forum Secretariat is in the process of collecting opinions from various stakeholders. The third Planning Subcommittee Meeting discussion points included deciding on the overall planning direction and proposing the main speakers’ invitation list, after considering different criteria, such as the prospective speakers’ field of expertise, gender ratio, as well as geographical diversity. The decisions made here were then brought to the table at the third International Steering Committee meeting that gathered committee members from both Korea and abroad in order to create an even richer invitation list. The details discussed at each meeting can be found in the articles below.

On 24th May, the selection process of the session organizers was completed, and a total of six organizations were chosen.

It is noteworthy to mention that new topics - 'Housing' and 'Youth' - were included following the call for organizers, which aimed to identify new agendas and encourage civil society organizations participation. This will allow in-depth discussions in new areas of human rights issues at the local level and provide an opportunity to expand the participation of youth, which has been emphasized recently.

In addition, the newly selected Chonnam National University Global Diaspora Research Center will be responsible for the theme of "Migrants", while the ‘Gwangju Foundation for Women and Family’ will be in charge of the theme of "Family".

We will make sure to keep you up to date with the Forum's increasingly diverse program through our newsletter.