ActionAid India (AAI) is proud to announce joining the World Urban Campaign (WUC) as a Lead Partner.

The WUC is an advocacy and partnership platform co-ordinated by UN-Habitat and driven by a large number of committed partners and networks from around the world to raise awareness about positive urban change in order to achieve green, productive, safe, healthy, inclusive, and well planned cities.

AAI’s commitment is to focus on urban issues from the viewpoint of common citizens, whose voices and interests should take priority in policies governing the city.

Through Citizen’s Rights Collective (CiRiC) – the urban knowledge activist hub of AAI we work with marginalised and excluded urban populations. We seek to highlight critical issues of urbanisation and urban development by bringing together civil society groups, activists, academics, social movements and research institutions.

A major programme initiated by CiRiC is the People’s Vision of the City (PVoC) – a collaborative mass campaign that seeks to highlight and address the need to design and plan equitable and sustainable cities.

The principles guiding the PVoC are very much in accordance with the seven principles that have been driving the WUC and its partners since 2010:

1. Accessible and pro-poor land, infrastructure, services, mobility and housing;
2. Socially inclusive, gender sensitive, healthy and safe development;
3. Environmentally sound and carbon-efficient built environment;
4. Participatory planning and decision making;
5. Vibrant and competitive local economies promoting decent work and livelihoods;
6. Assurance of non-discrimination and equal rights to the city; and
7. Empowering cities and communities to plan for and effectively manage adversity and   change.

ActionAid India will actively participate in the deliberations, campaigns and meetings of the World Urban Campaign. AAI will hold regional and national conventions on habitat issues, housing and issues concerning the urban labouring poor. Our aim is to impact the national and international discourse on urban issues in favour of the homeless residents, workers of the informal sector and people living in under served working class settlements. Working with the World Urban Campaign ActionAid India will seek to actualise the vision of a city owned by all, belonging to all, nourishing life, equity, dignity, participation and justice.