The Jeanne Sauvé Foundation hosted a the Global Urban Issues roundtable on Monday 16 September 2013. Attending the roundtable from UN-Habitat were Andrew Cox, Chief of Staff, and Douglas Ragan, Chief of the Youth and Livelihoods Unit (see bios below). The purpose of the roundtable was to dialogue on the issues related to sustainable urbanization globally, especially in light of the upcoming  III conference to be held in 2016. UN-Habitat, based in Nairobi, Kenya, is one of only two UN agencies headquartered in the developing world, and thus brings a unique perspective to international development, especially as it relates to urban issues. Discussed as well in this dialogue were the issues of youth, who currently represent the largest single demographic in cities in the developing world.

Biographies

Andrew Cox is currently the Chief, Office of the Executive Director, UN-Habitat. Andrew Cox served as Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in the Maldives, Resident Representative of UNDP, and UNFPA Representative (2010-2013). Previously, Andrew was Chief of Staff at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York (2007-2010). Prior to this, he held several positions in Sudan, from 2004-2007 as Head, Resident Coordinator’s Office, Head of Sector, UNMIS Nuba Mountains, and as Special Adviser to the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General. He was a Donor Relations Officer (2002-2004)and Humanitarian Affairs Officer – Central Asia team leader (2000-2002) for OCHA in New York. During 2002, Andrew also served as Chief of the Office of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Kabul; and was a Humanitarian Affairs Officer in Sierra Leone (1999-2000). Before his career began with the UN system, Andrew worked as Field Director for Concern Universal in Sierra Leone and had assignments with various companies and NGOs in the UK, Democratic Republic of Congo and Côte d’Ivoire. Andrew holds a Bachelor in Business Administration (Management) from Andrews University in the USA and an M.Phil. in Development Studies from the University of Sussex, UK. Andrew is married to Benedetta Casassa, and has two young children, Sophie and Sebastian.

Douglas Ragan has worked in youth development with NGOs, local and national governments and the United Nations at the local, national andinternational level for the past 25 years. Currently he is the Unit Leader for Youth and Employment for UN-Habitat, managing UN-Habitat’s Globalportfolio on youth development in over 60 developing countries. The programmes focus on urban youth development, including youthemployment, governance and participation. He manages three flagship youth programmes for UN-Habitat: the Urban Youth Fund, Youth 21initiative and the One Stop Youth Resource Centres. Doug has authored and co-authored research and policy publications on urban youth issues faced by marginalized young people globally, the most recent being the Global Youth-Led Development series, representing some of the first research done on youth-led agencies in the developing world. Doug holds a Bachelors Degree in Latin American Studies, a Masters Degree in Management for the Voluntary Sector and is currently working under a full fellowship towards a PhD in Architecture and Design at the University of Colorado Children, Youth and Environments Centre, with a focus on youth-led organizations in slums. In his previous role as director for the Environmental Youth Alliance from 1991 – 2007, Doug worked with marginalized communities globally such as aboriginal, immigrant and refugee and street youth to develop livelihood programmes.