Ms. Ishigaki attended the High-Level Political Forum on Resilient Recovery held in Kobe City.  She moderated the panel discussion on Strengthening Recovery Governance Prior to Disasters which discussed how recovery governance can be strengthened before disaster strikes to improve outcomes and reduce losses.

Ms. Ishigaki attended the 2025 Asian Townscape Awards Final Judging Session in Fukuoka City and delivered the opening remarks.

At this year’s Final Judging Session, 11 areas from six countries across Asia, for example, India・Coimbatore /Lake Eco-Restoration Project, Bangladesh・Dhaka/ Begunbari Canal Improvement Project and Jordan・Amman/King Abdullah II Park Development Project, were selected as award recipients.

The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong on 27 November 2025.

Ms. Ishigaki met with Mr. Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator India. 

She introduced UN-Habitat’s new strategic plan; and they discussed a possible UNRC’s involvement in UN-Habitat events in future.

Ms. Ishigaki met with Mr. M B Rajesh, Hon’ble Minister, Local Self Government and Urban Development, State of Kerala. Hon’ble Minister iterated Kerala urban trajectory is likely to reach over 80% in the coming decades.

Ms. Ishigaki introduced UN-Habitat’s new strategic plan and discussed a possible collaboration, especially in the areas of technical assistance and capacity building.

At the Kerala Urban Conclave 2025 in Kochi held on 12-13 September 2025, Ms. Kazuko Ishigaki, UN-Habitat Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, addressed the Plenary Sessions and delivered the keynote on “Building Capacity for Resilient and Responsive Urban Governance.” 

She emphasized that capacity building is central to managing rapid urbanization, climate risks, housing shortages, and basic service delivery.  Highlighting tools such as the Governance Assessment Framework (GAF-MTR) and Urban Governance Index, she shared lessons from India and across the globe on linking finance, institutional reforms, and human resource development for resilient, inclusive cities.