PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, is set to deliver the keynote address during the opening ceremony of the University of Guyana-Caribbean Urban Forum (CUF) 10th international conference which commences today and concludes on June 18.
President Ali, who holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Urban Planning, will join hundreds of international scholars for the virtual forum, the university said in a press release.
It was noted that this major annual regional urban planning networking event will bring together hundreds of urban planners, environmental experts, municipal managers, community developers, policymakers, academics, and allied professionals, who will address critical urban issues impacting the region.
The event will be held under the theme, ‘Urbanisation: Processes, Policies, and Emerging Challenges’ and is designed to address specific policy issues within the Caribbean’s urban sector. It will not only support the collaborative efforts of planners in the Caribbean and wider Americas, but across the globe.
Co-hosts of the CUF include the Caribbean Network for Urban and Land Management (CNULM) based at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago; the Central Housing and Planning Authority; The European Union, and other national, regional, and international organisations.

The opening ceremony will be chaired by Dr. Temitope Oyedotun, Dean of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Guyana, and key features of this session include the keynote address by President Ali and remarks by Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin, Vice-Chancellor XI, University of Guyana, the press release said.
Other speakers include, Eleanor Mohammed, President of the Commonwealth Association of Planners; Dr Emanuel Cummings, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic Engagement), University of Guyana and Chairman of the Central Housing and Planning Authority; Dr Asad Mohammed, Co-Chair of the CUF and Director of Caribbean Network of Urban and Land Management; William Ashby, Portfolio Manager, Economic Infrastructure Division, Caribbean Development Bank, and Carolyn Trench-Sandiford, President of the Caribbean Planners Association.
According to the UG press release, it is noteworthy to recall that it was President Ali who delivered the keynote address at the very first CUF session held in Georgetown, Guyana, in April 2011 in his capacity as Minister of Housing and Water. “The president therefore has played a key part in CUF from the very start,” it added.
Following the opening ceremony, the sessions will largely be focused on technical presentations by experts in the field of urban planning and allied professions, along with several panel discussion sessions on various issues under the broad thematic area.

The press release said the focus of the conference is to confront the issue of urbanisation in the Caribbean context with a view to critically examine the range of policy responses to this phenomenon. The dialogue starts with the recognition that the Caribbean is one of the fastest urbanising regions in the world.
Participants are invited from the Caribbean, the Guyanese and Caribbean Diaspora communities, faculty members and students of the University of Guyana and other universities in the Caribbean Region. The CUF also includes participants from other institutions/agencies such as UN-Habitat, the Caribbean Development Bank, and UN-ECLAC.
Groups, institutions, and individuals are encouraged to participate. The opportunity for engagement will be provided for persons working on projects and or who have ideas which they believe could be usefully applied for community and national development.
The conference is also open to members of the international community who are engaged in the teaching or practice of urban planning.
The release added that the Caribbean Urban Forum builds on the principle of collaboration both at the regional and international levels. In this regard, regional agencies such as the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and CARICOM are usual CUF supporters. At the international level, usual support from organisations such as the European Union and UN-Habitat is also worthy of mention.