With unprecedented urban growth in the face of increasing poverty and social inequality, the Executive Board of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has endorsed a draft work programme, the foundation’s budget for 2025, and the strategic plan of the agency.

Member States had extended the current strategic plan until 2025 to align the planning cycle of UN-Habitat with the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) of the United Nations system during the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, in June 2023. They also adjourned the regular second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly till 2025 under the UN-Habitat strategic plan for the period 2026−2029.

Currently, UN-Habitat in collaboration with the University of Nairobi is undertaking policy reviews across five African countries: Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe – leading to the establishment of the Centre for Urban-Rural Linkages in Africa at the University of Nairobi in October 2023, as well as working with stakeholders on the development of international guidelines on people-centred smart cities, which it aims to complete by June 2025.

Specifically, the first session of the Executive Board of the UN-Habitat for the year 2024, which was chaired by Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, adopted several measures that support efforts to reconstruct the human settlements affected by conflict and disaster, through a comprehensive system-wide response, and to continue to assist in urban crises, using urban profiling to assess the needs, vulnerabilities and capacities of urban areas, as well as establish urban recovery frameworks.

They urge the Executive Director to use all the tools within the agency’s disposal to engage, including through collaboration with the interagency standing committee, with recent urban crises, without prejudice to the identified urban crises and conflicts.

The three-day board meeting further mandated the agency to develop the neighbourhood-based approach to recovery and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, to use urban profiling to deepen the assessments and to explore options for building back better, as well as welcomed efforts by the agency to continue contributing to the implementation of the reform of the United Nations development system.

The recalled resolution 2/5 of the UN-Habitat Assembly, noted the supporting documents provided by the Secretariat regarding the Sustainable Urban Resilience of the Next Generation initiative (SURGe) and agreed that UN-Habitat operationalises the SURGe initiative to accelerate multilevel climate action, regarding mandates of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and relevant multi-lateral environmental agreements, by the establishment of a SURGe secretariat.

The board supported the organisation of Ministerial Meetings on Urbanisation and Climate Change, seeking synergies with other initiatives (including CHAMP, BCRUP and RISE UP), establishing a SURGe portal for introducing the initiative and stimulating donor contributions and providing technical advice to member states upon their request subject to availability of ear-marked funding, with an initial target of US dollars one million per year.

On the implementation of Resolution 2/7 of the UN-Habitat Assembly on “Adequate housing for all”, the board recalled resolution 2/7 of the UN-Habitat Assembly and agreed that the first session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All will be held from 9 to 11 December 2024, in Nairobi.

Earlier, the Chair of Africa Group, Dr Vivian Kuma of Cameroon reiterated its call for the implementation of all resolutions adopted by the United Nations Habitat Assembly on an equal footing.

The Director, Urban and Regional Development Department of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Dr Olakunde Akinola, welcomed the robust collaborations established between UN-Habitat and other UN agencies, which creates a centrality of activities within the UN system.

“My delegation considers that it is time to upscale delivery on the ground to address one of the inadequacies enunciated in the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) report. We, therefore, encourage enhanced innovation in this regard, especially in line with the collaborative capacities of UN-Habitat to promote a more grassroots outlook in service delivery,” he added.

Dr Victory Jaja, Permanent Mission of Nigeria to UN-Habitat, noted that the country is concerned with the overwhelming emphasis on urban regeneration in the background report due to the inherent vagueness of the concept and its lack of legislative roots.

Jaja said: “This concept holds the significant potential of affecting comprehension of the normative and operational activities of UN-Habitat and thereby reducing its effectiveness. This concept as seen in the background report is linked to nature-based solutions and purports to provide guidelines for Sustainable development Goals (SDG) localisation.

“These linkages of different concepts should be deemphasised to avoid creating challenges for the implementation of already existing and well-established programmes and projects.”

The Managing Director, Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), Mr Thierno-Habib Hann, said Africa requires at least $1.2 trillion in investment to meet its 52 million housing deficits. “Green climate resilience would be key in addressing deficit to mitigate the potential carbon footprint, which would otherwise negate all other efforts for climate mitigation,” he said.

He said the pan-African housing finance institution is looking forward to further strengthening its collaboration with UN-Habitat to achieve the set objectives of SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. This collaboration is to be anchored on the implementation of the Housing Compact for Africa initiative, which aims to define a common approach across stakeholders of the housing sector to accelerate the delivery of adequate and affordable housing at scale throughout the African region.

The Housing Compact for Africa initiative seeks to improve access to adequate, safe and affordable housing for all, contributing towards the realisation of SDG 11. 2; strengthen the capacity of national and local governments to create enabling environments for the provision of adequate, safe, accessible, and affordable housing by placing housing at the centre of social and economic policies.

Also, strengthen partnerships and cooperation among relevant stakeholders in the housing sector to coordinate efforts in delivering adequate and affordable housing in African countries.