World Habitat Day

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. Organizers: UN-Habitat and State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan. This press conference will mark the closing of the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) and highlight key outcomes and messages from the week. Related Sites and Documents: World Urban Forum Website & Programme . Watch Press - Official Closing Press Conference of WUF13! Conferences

  The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. Related Sites and Documents: World Urban Forum Website & Programme . Watch the  Press - Daily Press Briefing (WUF13) ! Conferences

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities . About 1.16 billion people - equivalent to 24.8 of the global urban population - are estimated to live in slums and informal settlements, based on the latest estimates by UN-Habitat. While historical trends indicates a 5.9% decline in the proportion of urban population living in slums and informal settlements owing to a diversity of programmes across regions (from 30.6% in 2000 to 24.8% in 2024), the number of people living in slums and informal settlements has increased by 279 Million people between 2000 and 2024. Out of this number, about 49% (136 Million) are new entrants to living in slum like conditions since 2015, when the SDGs took effect. Urgent and concerted efforts are needed now more than ever, considering the rapid rate at which slum populations are increasing, and which ar...

   The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. How can national legislation turn global housing commitments into real outcomes? Housing is one of the most pressing challenges facing governments at national, regional, and local levels today. Rising housing costs, chronic supply shortages, and growing informal settlements are reshaping urban demographics, fueling social tensions, and constraining economic mobility. In developing countries, rapid urbanization, climate-related hazards, and inadequate infrastructure intensify these challenges, driving the expansion of informal settlements and heightening social tensions. These pressures generate political and economic demands for reform, placing urban law and regulatory frameworks at the center of national development priorities. Parliamentarians play a pivotal role in shaping th...

  The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. This press conference will launch "Local Patterns for the New Urban Agenda", a new implementation initiative led by The Pattern Institute and partners to address one of the most persistent challenges in global urban policy: translating high-level commitments into effective, locally actionable solutions. As the New Urban Agenda (NUA) and the Sustainable Development Goals reach their midpoint, many cities—particularly in Africa and Asia—continue to face a "last-mile problem," where global principles do not translate easily into on-the-ground action. This initiative introduces pattern language methodology as a practical, human-centered tool to bridge that gap. Pattern languages transform complex policies into visual, repeatable, and adaptable solutions that can be applied...

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. The global housing crisis affects over 3 billion people and is driven by interconnected challenges including affordability constraints, informality, displacement, climate risks, and unequal access to land and services. While many innovative housing solutions exist, they often remain fragmented, under-recognized, and insufficiently scaled. There is a need for a global mechanism that connects practical solutions with knowledge generation, policy dialogue, and capacity development. In response, UN-Habitat, in partnership with the Government of Azerbaijan, is establishing the Baku Urban Award as a global initiative to identify, recognize, and promote impactful housing solutions. Anchored in the World Urban Forum (WUF), the Award goes beyond recognition by serving as a platform for knowledg...

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. From global commitments to local impact: the Road to Baku mobilizes stakeholders to strengthen housing, land, and urban services through SDG Localization and multilevel governance. As partners worldwide convene for WUF13, the event responds to the urgency of the global housing crisis by framing adequate housing not as an isolated sector, but as a strategic entry point for advancing sustainable urban development and accelerating the 2030 Agenda. In this context, the session aims to highlight the crucial role of SDG Localization and Multilevel Governance as key means of implementation for universal adequate housing, effective land management, and equitable urban basic services. Titled "SDG Localization: Driving System Change Through Partnerships and Innovation ," and co-organized b...

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities . How can the UN system deliver coordinated solutions to accelerate housing and the SDGs? Adequate housing is central to achieving the SDGs and advancing inclusive, resilient, and sustainable urban development. Yet the global housing crisis continues to deepen, affecting nearly three billion people worldwide and undermining progress across multiple development priorities, including poverty reduction, health, climate resilience, and social inclusion. Addressing this challenge requires coordinated action across sectors, levels of government, and development partners. The One UN Roundtable at WUF13 will convene Resident Coordinators, United Nations entities, national and local partners, and development stakeholders to advance a shared UN system approach to adequate housing as a catalyst fo...

  The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities . This side event will highlight sanitation as a foundational urban system for safe, adequate, and climate-resilient housing, focusing on low-income and informal urban communities in Asia. Convened at the 13th World Urban Forum in Baku and co-organized by ESCAP, UN-Habitat, the World Bank, Habitat for Humanity International, Slum Dwellers International, and CWIS San Nepal, the event addresses the sanitation crisis and its direct implications for housing safety and urban resilience. The session will link sanitation to the WUF13 theme, " Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities ," and demonstrate how inadequate sanitation undermines housing habitability through flooding, structural damage, and public health risks. Three city case presentations will cover sanitat...

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities . Housing is not gender neutral. Women face many challenges related to housing. A lack of affordable housing within and across countries, unemployment, intimate partner violence and different forms of sexual violence contribute to homelessness, and a lack of tenure security for women and girls. For women victims/survivors of violence, the need for safe and affordable housing options is often one of their greatest concerns. This side event will explore housing in different contexts (social housing, informal settlement, displacement, and in high crime areas) as it relates to women's safety and with links to women's social and economic opportunities and challenges. Women's housing needs must be considered in a context broader than shelter itself to respond to the plurality of the...

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities . How do we turn solutions into systems that can truly house the world? The world is urbanizing fast and the pressures on cities are mounting. Today, more than half of the world's population - approximately 4.4 billion people, (about 57 percent of the global population) - lives in urban areas. Urbanization brings both prosperity and challenges. Globally, inequality, social exclusion and inequitable service provision remain significant in cities in both developing and developed economies. The housing crisis continues to escalate, reflecting persistent and systemic inequality in accessing safe and secure housing. Over 2.8 billion people live in conditions of housing inadequacy, including 1.1 billion in informal settlements and slums, and more than 300 million experiencing absolute homel...

Related Sites and Documents:   World Urban Forum Website  & Programme .

The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities . Opening Ceremony of the Thirteenth Session of the World Urban Forum - WUF13. Related Sites and Documents: World Urban Forum Website & Programme . Watch the Opening Ceremony - Thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13)! Conferences

 The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities. Organizers:  UN-Habitat and State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan Facilitator: Nadira Tudor (Euronews) (TBC) The official opening press conference of the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) will set the tone for the week, introducing the theme "Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities" and outlining key priorities for addressing the global housing crisis, strengthening urban resilience, and advancing sustainable urban development in cities and communities worldwide. Partners: UN-Habitat Session panelists: Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director, UN-Habitat Anar Guliyev, Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan and WUF13 National Coordinator Rep...

   The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities . How do we turn diverse voices into shared priorities and actionable commitments? The Joint Closing of the Assemblies brings together the collective intelligence, insights, and commitments generated across all stakeholder groups into a unified direction for WUF13. As the culmination of assembly deliberations, it transforms dialogue into convergence—articulating clear priorities that can drive action beyond the Forum. Through a carefully sequenced and interactive format, the session will synthesize key messages, recommendations, and commitments emerging from each assembly. Representatives will present concise insights and bold proposals, feeding into a collective process that distills cross-cutting priorities and shared ambitions. High-level reflections will connect these ou...