The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. 

It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat I) held in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976. UN-Habitat maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya. 

It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group. The mandate of UN-Habitat derives from the Habitat Agenda, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996. The twin goals of the Habitat Agenda are adequate shelter for all and the development of sustainable human settlements in an urbanizing world.

 

Overview

UN-Habitat headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi

The UN-Habitat mandate is also derived from General Assembly resolution 3327 (XXIX), by which the Assembly established the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation; resolution 32/162, by which the Assembly established the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat); and resolution 56/206, by which the Assembly transformed the Commission on Human Settlements and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), including the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation, into UN-Habitat. 

The mandate of UN-Habitat is further derived from other internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration (Assembly resolution 55/2), in particular the target of achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers by 2020; and the target on water and sanitation of the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which seeks to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation. 

Through Assembly resolution 65/1, Member States committed themselves to continue working towards cities without slums, beyond current targets, by reducing slum populations and improving the lives of slum-dwellers.

 

Work and projects

UN-Habitat office in Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau (Barcelona)

UN-Habitat works in more than 70 countries on five continents focusing on seven areas:

• Urban legislation, land and governance;
• Urban planning and design;
• Urban economy;
• Urban basic services;
• Housing and slum upgrading;
• Risk reduction and rehabilitation;
• Urban research and capacity development.

UN-Habitat works with local partners, for example Doh Eain in Yangon, Myanmar which focuses on urban regeneration and heritage conservation. 

 

Governance

The governance structure of the programme is made up of three decision-making bodies: the UN-Habitat Assembly, an executive board and a Committee of Permanent Representatives. Previously, The Governing Council was the decision-making body for the Programme, but it was dissolved following a resolution passed by the UN General Assembly. 

The assembly is a universal body composed of the 193 member states of the United Nations and convenes every four years at the Headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi. The first assembly was held in May 2019. The presidency of the first assembly was held by Mexico. Mexico's presidency was represented by Martha Delgado Peralta the Mexican Undersecretary of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights. 

The second decision-making body of the programme is the executive board, which is made up of 36 member states elected by the UN-Habitat Assembly with representatives from every regional group. The board meets three times annually. The Committee of Permanent Representatives of UN-Habitat (CPR) is composed of all Permanent Representatives accredited to the United Nations Office at Nairobi. 

The UN-Habitat secretariat is headed by an executive director nominated by the UN Secretary-General with the approval of the UN General Assembly. The current executive director is Anacláudia Rossbach of Brazil, who was appointed in June 2024. The deputy executive director is Michal Mlynár of Slovakia who was appointed by in December 2022. 

 

List of executive directors

1. Arcot Ramachandran, India, 1978–1992
2. Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Canada, 1993–1994
3. Wally N’Dow, Gambia, 1994–1997
4. Darshan Johal, Canada, 1997–1998
5. Klaus Töpfer, Germany, 1998–2000
6. Anna Tibaijuka, Tanzania, 2000–2010
7. Joan Clos, Spain, 2010–2018
8. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Malaysia, 2018–2024
9. Anacláudia Rossbach, Brazil, 2024-

Before 2002, the title of the head of the programme was director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements. 

 

 

World Urban Forum (WUF)

 

The World Urban Forum (WUF) is the world’s premier conference on urban issues. It was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies.

 

The World Urban Forum was established by the United Nations in 2001 to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world: rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies and climate change. Over the past two decades, the World Urban Forum has evolved into the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization. Convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the forum is a unique non-legislative platform and one of the most inclusive international gatherings on urban issues. The first WUF was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002 and has been held around the world ever since. It is organized biennially in different locations around the world.

 

The World Urban Forum is organised and run by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. 

The first World Urban Forum was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002 and has been held around the world ever since.

The forum has the following as its objectives:

• Raise awareness of sustainable urbanisation among stakeholders and constituencies, including the general public;
• Improve the collective knowledge of sustainable urban development through inclusive open debates, sharing of lessons learned and the exchange of best practices and good policies; and
• Increase coordination and cooperation between different stakeholders and constituencies for the advancement and implementation of sustainable urbanisation. 

 

FORUMS 

• World Urban Forum I (WUF1), Nairobi, Kenya, 2002
• World Urban Forum II (WUF2), Barcelona, Spain, 13–17 September 2004
• World Urban Forum III (WUF3), Vancouver, Canada, 19–23 June 2006
• World Urban Forum IV (WUF4), Nanjing, China, 2008
• World Urban Forum V (WUF5), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 22–26 March 2010
• World Urban Forum VI (WUF6), Naples, Italy, 1–7 September 2012
• World Urban Forum VII (WUF7), Medellín, Colombia, April 2014
• World Urban Forum IX (WUF9), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February 2018
• World Urban Forum X (WUF10), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2020
• World Urban Forum XI (WUF11), Katowice, Poland, 2022
• World Urban Forum XII (WUF12), Cairo, Egypt, 2024
• World Urban Forum XIII (WUF13), Baku, Azerbaijan, 2026.

 

Note:

The 8th World Urban Forum (WUF8) wasn't held because it was replaced by the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), a special, high-level UN conference that focused on global urbanization, occurring in Quito, Ecuador, in 2016, in lieu of the regular WUF schedule. UN-Habitat organized this significant event to address rapid urbanization and set new global urban agendas, making it the key gathering instead of WUF8.

 

About Multilevel Urban Forums (MLUF)

 

Multilevel Urban Forums (MLUF) are inclusive multi-level platforms that bring multiple stakeholders together around a common vision for sustainable urban development that aligns with the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The urban forums are organized to support the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies geared towards sustainable urban development processes. They provide a platform that not only facilitates dialogue but allows space for stakeholders to engage on urban policy issues and have their voices heard.