Agenda

Kazumi Ogawa is the Principal Coordinator Officer for Europe at the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). With 30 years of diverse experience within the United Nations System, Ms. Ogawa has served the Organization with pride in Europe, Central and Eastern Africa, and the United States. A career UN official, Ms. Ogawa has worked in the areas of development, political affairs, human rights, public information, and human resources. Prior to this assignment, she was most recently the Director of Human Resources of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from 2019 to 2023, and before that, was the Chief of Staff of UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya, from 2016 to 2019. 

Ms. Ogawa holds a Master of Arts degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii (USA) as an East-West Center Scholar. She has a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication and Public Relations from Boston University (USA).

Jung-Sook Park has been the Secretary General of World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) since 2021. She has initiated human-centered smart city development initiatives by launching programs such as the WeGO Smart Cities Champions,  Seoul Smart City Prize, and Smart City Index Report in partnership with IMD from 2023. 

She served as the Korean Representative of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) from 2009 to 2018, and she worked as a high-profile broadcaster for major TV networks in Korea from 1994 to 2004, as well as starring in “Jewel in the Palace,” one of the highest-rated TV dramas in the world. 

Her background is in education and research in public diplomacy as a professor at Kookmin University and Kyung Hee University and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea.

Jung-Sook Park is a graduate of Seoul Women's University (BA), MIA at Columbia University SIPA (US), MPA at Yonsei University’s School of Public Administration (KR). She was a visiting scholar and studied in a doctoral program at Keio University (JP).

Jacquis Kemleu Tchabgou is the mayor of Dschang in Cameroon since 2020. He is the promoter of the companies Afrigroup Engineering Services and Trading, and KEMTO Group specialized in Civil Engineering. He is also the Secretary General of the Association of Oilseed Refiners of Cameroon since 2008. A lawyer, economist, and expert in development, he also teaches Decentralized Cooperation, Leadership and Managerial Culture at the University of Dschang. 

Since 2016, he has been the President of the Steering Committee of the Agri-food Technical Center of Cameroon specializing in diagnostics, upgrading, production, marketing, laboratory analyzes in the field of Agri-food. Recently he became the Secretary General of the Cameroon Oil Palm Inter-professional Organization (INTERPALM-CAM), which integrates the entire value chain of the sector. He is member of several Commissions and Committees in the Ministries of Economy, Planning and Territorial Development, Industry and Technological Development, Commerce, Public Health, Agriculture and Rural Development.

Strongly interested in public affairs from early on, Sami Kanaan has a very rich political experience. He was elected to the Parliament of the City of Geneva (Municipal Council) in 1997, then to the Parliament of the Canton of Geneva (Grand Council) in 2001, before his election to the Executive Council of the City of Geneva (Administrative Council) in spring 2011. Reelected twice in 2015 and 2020, he is currently in charge of the Department of Culture and Digital Transition, after having been in charge of the Department of Culture and Sport.

Mayor of Geneva on three occasions, he put at the center of his years as Mayor, the dynamic of frontiers which can create ditches or on the contrary bridges, the cultural and creative economy, support for the media, the digital transition and the resilience of cities in times of crisis.

He is vice-president of the Union of Swiss Cities and chairs since 2016 the Federal Commission for Children and Youth (CFEJ) on a mandate from the Swiss Federal Council. He also chairs the Global Cities Hub (GCH), which connects cities, local and regional governments to the International Geneva ecosystem.

As London’s Chief Digital Officer, Theo Blackwell plays a leading role in realising the Mayor’s ambition to make London the world’s smartest city, ensuring that the capital’s status as a global tech hub helps transform the way public services are designed and delivered, making them more accessible, efficient and responsive to the needs of Londoners. 

Mr. Blackwell has extensive public and private sector experience. As Cabinet member for Finance, Technology & Growth at Camden council, he established Camden as London’s leading digital borough through its use of public data. He’s worked at GovTech accelerator Public Group, advising start-ups on the growing market in local public services, and was previously Head of Policy & Public Affairs for the video games industry’s trade body, Ukie.

Amb. András Szörényi is Senior Policy Advisor at the Global Cities Hub, an organization connecting local and regional governments to the United Nations system. He provides consultancy on advocacy and diplomatic outreach. He has 20+ years of distinguished diplomatic career. He worked in different capacities in Brussels covering EU affairs, in Washington D.C. dealing with bilateral relations, in Budapest on energy security  and in Geneva, working with the United Nations and other International Organizations. He has first-hand experience of negotiating in the European Union and the UN system as well as conceptualizing and implementing new initiatives on a wide variety of issues.

Dr. Szörényi always focuses on new global developments and emerging challenges. He has a broad understanding of and regularly gives lectures on the engagement of non-state actors on multi-stakeholder platforms. He holds a Ph.D. in International Economics from Corvinus University, a DEA in Comparative Political Sciences from Sciences Po Paris and a Master degree in International Relations from the University of Economics in Budapest.

Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh was elected on 1st February 2020 as Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation. He introduced 5-point program focusing on (1) heritage conservation and restoration; (2) access to efficient public transport; (3) establishing a climate change resilient and environment friendly green city; (4) corruption free institutional development and well-functioning good governance; and (5) economic and infrastructure development leading to making Dhaka a livable and sustainable city. Under his leadership, Dhaka South City Corporation has received UN-HABITAT SDG Silver Certificate for the SDG Cities Global Initiative champions the acceleration of the global sustainable development goals at the local level with an emphasis on leaving no-one and no-place behind.

Earlier he was a Member of Parliament and was elected for three consecutive terms from Dhaka-10 constituency.

By profession he is a lawyer completing his Barrister-at-Law degree under the General Council of the Bar of England and Wales from the Hon’ble Society of Lincoln’s Inn in 1997. He became a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 2022.

Manuel de Araújo has a long experience in Civil Society, Academia, Business and Politics. Mr. Araújo is the Mayor of Quelimane City, the 5th largest city in Mozambique.

He is Vice-President for Africa of ICLEI- Local Governments for Sustainability, and member of ICLEI's GexCom, member of the executive committee of the GPM and the Steering Committee of Transport Decarbonization Alliance. In 2019, Mr. Araujo was elected Deputy Chair of the Council of the Mozambican Mayor’s National Association (ANAMM) and Member of the TDA Steering Committee. 

Earlier he was Member of Parliament and Deputy Chair of the Foreign Affairs Portfolio Committee in the Mozambican Parliament. He worked for Amnesty International in London as Campaign Coordinator for the Policing and Human Rights. 

Currently he is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences of the Catholic University. He was the founder and chairman of the Centre for Mozambican and International Studies. Mr. Araújo was elected Lusophone personality of the Year 2018.

Mr. Araújo was educated in Mozambique (BA), Zimbabwe (MA) and in the UK (MA and PhD).

Dato’Azhar bin Haji Arshad was appointed as the Mayor of Seberang Perai effective 1st January 2022. Previously, he had served in the Information Ministry and several District and Land Offices in Pahang before joining the Penang State Secretary Office in 2018 as the Deputy State Secretary (Development). 

The vision and mission of Dato’ Azhar Bin Hj Arshad is to do the very best to make Seberang Perai a great place to live in, in terms of infrastructure, services, cleanliness, job opportunities and many others. As Mayor, he is the Lead Auditor and Internal Auditor for ISO9001 and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) the City Council. He has been appointed as the Advisor for the Global Executive Committee of ICLEI and the Vice President for the World Smart Sustainable Cities Organization (WeGO) for the term of 2021 – 2023. 

Dato’ Azhar bin Haji Arshad is actively involved in many sports and NGOs avtivities - as Chairman of the Penang MAKSAK Hockey Team, Board of Director of Stadium Corporation and Open Space, and Board of Director of Penang Halal International and others. He was awarded Excellent Service Award by Tanah Lipis Land and District Office, Pahang for the year 2009.