United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN HABITAT)

UN-HABITAT was originally established in 1978 as main outcome of the United Nations Conference on human settlements (Habitat I) held in Vancouver, Canada in 1976. It was also the secretariat for the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), held in Istanbul, Turkey, in June 1996. Dubbed the “City Summit”, this conference formulated the Habitat Agenda and the Istanbul Declaration. Known as the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) since 1978, UN-HABITAT was elevated in status to become the United Nations Human Settlements Programme on 1 January 2002.

The headquarters of UN-HABITAT are located in Nairobi, Kenya, and its current Executive Director is Dr. Joan Clos. Every two years, UN-HABITAT's work and relationships with its partners are examined in detail by a Governing Council composed of 58 member states. It is a high-level forum of governments at the ministerial level during which policy guidelines and the organisation's budget are established for the next two-year period. UN-HABITAT work is currently guided by the Medium Term Strategic Institutional Plan (MTSIP) that was adopted in 2007 by the 21st Governing Council of UN-HABITAT.

Main documents outlining the mandate of UN-HABITAT:

Most recently the 23rd Governing Council took place in April 2011.

• Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements
• Habitat Agenda
• Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements
• Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements
• Resolution 56/206

To learn more: www.unhabitat.org

The challenge
Towns and cities are growing today at unprecedented rates setting the social, political, economical, cultural and environmental trends of the world, both good and bad.  In 1950, one-third of the world's people lived in cities. Just 50 years later, this rose to one-half and will continue to grow to two-thirds, or 6 billion people, by 2050. Cities are now home to half of humankind. Cities are the hubs of much national production and consumption - economic and social processes that generate wealth and opportunity. On the other hand, cities are increasingly confronted with immediate problems such as disease, crime, pollution, poverty and social unrest. In addition, the problem of climate change – which is largely caused by cities – and the effects – in the form of natural disasters primarily experienced in cities – is increasingly an urban challenge for all cities in the world. In many cities, especially in developing countries, slum dwellers number more than 50 per cent of the population and have little or no access to shelter, water, and sanitation, education or health services.

UN-HABITAT's programmes are designed to help policy-makers and local communities get to grips with urban issues and find workable, lasting solutions. The agency’s flagship publications, such as the biannual ‘State of the World’s Cities Report’, have become key references in understanding the contemporary urban condition. Simultaneously, the World Urban Forum, organized every two years by UN-HABITAT, has turned into the world's premier conference on cities. Since the first meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002, the Forum has grown in size and stature as it travelled to Barcelona in 2004, Vancouver 2006, and Nanjing in 2008. The Fifth Session of the World Urban Forum, held in Rio de Janeiro from 22-26 March 2010, was centred around The Right to the City-Bridging the Urban Divide, recognizing the rights of the urban poor and aiming to promote their inclusion and equal access to the city. The event also featured the launching of the World Urban Campaign. This Campaign is a platform designed for public, private and civil society actors to work in the true spirit of partnership so as to elevate policies, share practical tools and raise awareness for sustainable urbanization. Sustainable urbanisation is one of the most pressing challenges facing the global community in the 21st century.

UN-HABITAT's work is furthermore directly related to the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the goals of member States to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020, Target 11, Millennium Development Goal No. 7, and Target 10 which calls for the reduction by half of the number without sustainable access to safe drinking water. And although Target 11 has already been achieved by improving worldwide the living conditions of 227 million slum dwellers between 2000 and 2010, greater efforts still are needed since the absolute number of slum dwellers has actually increased from 776.7 million in 2000 to some 827.6 million in 2010.


Click here to download the UN-HABITAT brochure

UN-HABITAT Representation Office to the European Union and Belgium

The UN-HABITAT Representation Office to the European Union and Belgium was established in Brussels in 2001. It aims to provide an added value to the overall work of UN-HABITAT in its relations with European Union (EU) entities and bodies, the network of Member State Permanent Representations, the Government of Belgium, the Northern European bilateral donors, the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Institutions, civil society organisations and think tanks that have established themselves around the EU.

The Brussels Office’s main objectives are:

• Undertaking, maintaining and addressing policy dialogue with European Partners.
• Contributing to UN-HABITAT advocacy and communication campaigns.
• Mobilizing funds and programme support.
• Coordinating UN-HABITAT’s common action with other UN-HABITAT Offices in Europe and UN Agencies based in Brussels.

Recently, in February 2010, the UN-HABITAT’s Brussels office facilitated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between UN-HABITAT and the Committee of the Regions and has taken further steps to enhance the relationship with the European Commission. Furthermore, the UN-HABITAT Brussels Office organised the European Parliament=European Commission-UN-HABITAT Consolidated Urban Dialogue Meeting with European Union Partners that resulted in the adoption of the Brussels Urban Declaration.

Upcoming events:

World Habitat Day, 3 October 2011: The United Nations has designated the first Monday of October every year as WorldHabitat Day. This year, WorldHabitat Day will be celebrated on 3 October 2011 and the Global Celebration will be hosted by the Government of Mexico. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all, to ad

World Habitat Day brochure

equate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.

The United Nations chose the theme Cities and Climate Change was chosen because climate change is fast becoming the preeminent development challenge of the 21st century. Indeed, no-one today can really foresee the predicament in which a town or city will find itself in 10, 20 or 30 years time. In this new urban era with most of humanity now living in towns and cities, we must bear in mind that the greatest impacts of disasters resulting from climate change begin and end in cities. Cities too have a great influence on climate change.

The Global Celebration of the World Habitat Day this year will be held in Mexico and will focus on "Cities and Climate Change". Following the Cancun outcomes on Climate Change talks and in the lines of the preparations for the Rio+20 Earth Summit of June 2012, this topic indicates that the challenges related to climate change at local and global level cannot be addressed in a sustainable manner without a good governance in the cities and towns, where human activity accounts for around 40-70% of the greenhouse gas emissions. Considering that approximately one billion citizens live in slums and thousands other live in coastal cities below the sea level, in extremely vulnerable conditions, particularly in developing countries, there is no doubt that the « urban agenda » will progressively impose itself as a global priority for sustainable human development, specifically to alleviate the effects of climate change on the most vulnerable populations.

Executive Director's Message 

Mexico World Habitat Day video 

The European celebration of the World Habitat Day will be organised by the UNHABITAT Office in Brussels as a high-level Panel Discussion on climate change policies, under the High Patronage of the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mrs. Isabelle Durant. The event will include the official launch in Europe of UNHABITAT's Global Report on Human Settlements 2001: Cities and Climate Change.

Cities and Climate Change reviews the linkages between urbanization and climate change, two of the greatest challenges currently facing humanity in the 21st Century, and whose effects are converging in dangerous ways. It illustrates the significant contribution of urban areas to climate change while at the same time highlighting the potentially devastating effects of climate change on urban populations. It reviews policy responses, strategies and practices that are emerging in urban areas to mitigate and adapt to climate change, as well as their potential achievements and constraints. In conclusion, the report argues that urban areas have a pivotal role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation and identifies strategies and approaches for strengthening this role.

"This year's edition of UN-HABITAT Global Report on Human Settlements elucidates the relationship between urban settlements and climate change, and suggests how cities and towns that have not yet adopted climate change policies can begin to do so... I commend this report to all concerned with improving the ability of towns and cities to mitigate climate change and adapt its impacts"

BAN KI-MOON,

Secretary-General, United Nations

"Many towns and cities, especially in developing countries are still grappling with the challenges of how to put in place climate change strategies, how to access international climate change funding and how to learn from pioneering cities. I believe this Global Report will provide a starting point for such towns and cities. More generally, I believe this report will contribute to raising global awareness of the important role that cities can and should play in the mitigation of green house gas emission and in adapting to climate change"

DR. JOAN CLOS,

Executive-Director, UN-HABITAT

Recent Publications

• Global Report on Human Settlements 2011 – Cities and Climate Change
• State of the World's Cities 2010/2011 - Cities for All: Bridging the Urban Divide
• State of the Urban Youth 2010/2011; Leveling the Playing Field
• State of African Cities 2010
• Urban World: inform yourself on current urban topics, recent developments in the field of sustainable urbanisation and the worldwide activities of UN-HABITAT in our quarterly magazine, which can be downloaded for free.
• The 2010 Annual Report

Visit unhabitat.org for more information on UN-HABITAT programmes, work areas, publications and events.

Contact UN-HABITAT:

Headquarters
UN-HABITAT
P.O. Box 30030, GPO,
Nairobi, 00100, Kenya
Tel: (254-20) 7621234 (Operator) / 7 623120 (Information Services Section)
Tel: (254-20) 762 3151/3153 (Media and Press Relations)
Fax: (254-20) 7624266/7624267/
7624264/7623477/624060
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.unhabitat.org

Representation Office with the European Union and Belgium
Rue Montoyer 14, 2nd Floor
B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32-2-503-3572
Fax: +32-2-503-4624
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Regional offices
UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Africa and the Arab States
UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
UN-HABITAT Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean

Liaison offices
UN-HABITAT New York Office
UN-HABITAT Geneva Office

Information offices
UN-HABITAT Information Office Hungary
UN-HABITAT Information Office India
UN-HABITAT Information Office China
UN-HABITAT Information Office Moscow