The Incheon Declaration

[Day3] 22 Nov.

11:15 - 12:00 (Grand Ballroom A+B)

The first World Health City Forum (WHCF: World Health City Forum) held at Songdo Convensia in Incheon from November 20th to 22nd for a 2-night, 3-day schedule came to a close with a closing ceremony on the 22nd at 11 a.m.

Despite being a newly launched forum, the WHCF achieved great success with over 140 domestic and international speakers from more than 20 countries engaging in discussions across over 50 sessions. Especially notable was the formal adoption and announcement of the "Incheon Declaration," which resulted from the culmination of discussions and reviews by all participating speakers during the forum.

The Incheon Declaration ceremony, which commenced with a performance by the Incheon Wizard Children’s Choir, saw KIM Eun Mee, Co-Chair of the WHCF Organizing Committee (President of Ewha Womans University), recite the declaration on behalf of all forum participants. KIM emphasized, "Urban growth provides unprecedented opportunities for many people worldwide to achieve better health outcomes for happier and more satisfying lives. However, urban growth also entails risks. Increasing non-communicable diseases, persistent threats of infectious diseases, rising risks of violence and injury are major public health issues in urban areas. Unmanaged urbanization can lead to pollution, social isolation (especially among the elderly population), drug abuse, mental illness, and other risks, particularly affecting urban poor living in informal settlements, poorly planned environments, or low-quality accommodations. While urbanization has improved average health outcomes, escalating inequalities are perpetuating severe diseases."

"Therefore, by signing this declaration, we believe that careful, strategic actions are needed to capture opportunities arising from global urbanization trends and reverse the trend of increasing inequalities as cities grow. Smart technologies can be distributed in ways unimaginable before, reducing infectious disease risks, improving air quality, assessing individual risk factors, and managing resources such as water and energy inventory and flow," she continued. "Such changes require innovative technology utilization, creative fundraising, evidence generation and utilization, and positive collective actions to envision and build a just, sustainable, and resilient people-centered urban future. The success of this project depends on strong leadership, partnerships, community engagement, and participatory approaches by urban governments."

Finally, KIM Eun Mee, the Organizing Committee Chair, officially proclaimed the following six items of ‘The Incheon Principles’ and ‘The Incheon Actions’ :

Cities shall develop according to the following principles:

Health equity, fairness, and social justice in health opportunities and healthcare provision.
Participatory governance for inclusive health, safety, and resilience.
Ecological, low-carbon sustainability of urban environments.
Preparedness for disaster resilience and mitigation of compound adversities.
Utilization of data-driven intelligence for smart health cities.
Sharing of information, data, and experiences with other cities.

Leaders from various sectors, local communities, and citizens shall undertake the following actions:

Establish health equity indicators and strive to achieve indexed goals over time.
Develop and publish governance mechanisms for community participation in health, regardless of formal, legal, or immigration status.
Establish and publish sustainability plans for energy, food, water, healthcare, and other necessities.
Develop and publish plans for complex disasters, including but not limited to infectious diseases, heatwaves, floods, earthquakes, blackouts, water scarcity, food shortages, and their combinations.
Establish a digital health strategy.
Build and participate in open data and narrative sharing platforms.

Following the official closing ceremony that followed the Incheon Declaration, Mayor YOO Jeong Bok (Mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City), Chairman of the Forum, expressed sincere gratitude and respect for the passion and dedication of all participants in deriving consensus and finding solutions. He promised, "As the Mayor of Incheon and the chairman of the forum, I will continue to grow the World Health City Forum into a global platform for gathering and communicating collective knowledge and wisdom towards humanity's sustainable future." With this, the first World Health City Forum came to an official close.

[DAY3] 22 Nov, 11:15 - 12:00 (Grand Ballroom A+B)

The first World Health City Forum (WHCF: World Health City Forum) held at Songdo Convensia in Incheon from November 20th to 22nd for a 2-night, 3-day schedule came to a close with a closing ceremony on the 22nd at 11 a.m.

Despite being a newly launched forum, the WHCF achieved great success with over 140 domestic and international speakers from more than 20 countries engaging in discussions across over 50 sessions. Especially notable was the formal adoption and announcement of the "Incheon Declaration," which resulted from the culmination of discussions and reviews by all participating speakers during the forum.

The Incheon Declaration ceremony, which commenced with a performance by the Incheon Wizard Children’s Choir, saw KIM Eun Mee, Co-Chair of the WHCF Organizing Committee (President of Ewha Womans University), recite the declaration on behalf of all forum participants. KIM emphasized, "Urban growth provides unprecedented opportunities for many people worldwide to achieve better health outcomes for happier and more satisfying lives. However, urban growth also entails risks. Increasing non-communicable diseases, persistent threats of infectious diseases, rising risks of violence and injury are major public health issues in urban areas. Unmanaged urbanization can lead to pollution, social isolation (especially among the elderly population), drug abuse, mental illness, and other risks, particularly affecting urban poor living in informal settlements, poorly planned environments, or low-quality accommodations. While urbanization has improved average health outcomes, escalating inequalities are perpetuating severe diseases."

"Therefore, by signing this declaration, we believe that careful, strategic actions are needed to capture opportunities arising from global urbanization trends and reverse the trend of increasing inequalities as cities grow. Smart technologies can be distributed in ways unimaginable before, reducing infectious disease risks, improving air quality, assessing individual risk factors, and managing resources such as water and energy inventory and flow," she continued. "Such changes require innovative technology utilization, creative fundraising, evidence generation and utilization, and positive collective actions to envision and build a just, sustainable, and resilient people-centered urban future. The success of this project depends on strong leadership, partnerships, community engagement, and participatory approaches by urban governments."

Finally, KIM Eun Mee, the Organizing Committee Chair, officially proclaimed the following six items of ‘The Incheon Principles’ and ‘The Incheon Actions’ :

Cities shall develop according to the following principles:

Health equity, fairness, and social justice in health opportunities and healthcare provision.
Participatory governance for inclusive health, safety, and resilience.
Ecological, low-carbon sustainability of urban environments.
Preparedness for disaster resilience and mitigation of compound adversities.
Utilization of data-driven intelligence for smart health cities.
Sharing of information, data, and experiences with other cities.

Leaders from various sectors, local communities, and citizens shall undertake the following actions:

Establish health equity indicators and strive to achieve indexed goals over time.
Develop and publish governance mechanisms for community participation in health, regardless of formal, legal, or immigration status.
Establish and publish sustainability plans for energy, food, water, healthcare, and other necessities.
Develop and publish plans for complex disasters, including but not limited to infectious diseases, heatwaves, floods, earthquakes, blackouts, water scarcity, food shortages, and their combinations.
Establish a digital health strategy.
Build and participate in open data and narrative sharing platforms.

Following the official closing ceremony that followed the Incheon Declaration, Mayor YOO Jeong Bok (Mayor of Incheon Metropolitan City), Chairman of the Forum, expressed sincere gratitude and respect for the passion and dedication of all participants in deriving consensus and finding solutions. He promised, "As the Mayor of Incheon and the chairman of the forum, I will continue to grow the World Health City Forum into a global platform for gathering and communicating collective knowledge and wisdom towards humanity's sustainable future." With this, the first World Health City Forum came to an official close.

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