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Ulviyya Poladova

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Faster and more effective implementation of the New Urban Agenda is urgently needed worldwide, Anaclaudia Rossbach said during the Ministerial Meeting on the New Urban Agenda held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum 13 in Baku, AzerNEWS reports.

Addressing participants, Rossbach thanked the Government of Azerbaijan and the organizers of the forum, stressing that 2026 marks a critical stage in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

“This year is not only a year for reporting, but also a year for defining new approaches. We must identify which steps have yielded results, where we are lagging behind, and what we need to do differently moving forward,” she stated.

The head of United Nations Human Settlements Programme emphasized that the New Urban Agenda remains the central global framework for sustainable urban development, noting that cities are not only places where problems are concentrated, but also the main platforms where solutions can be implemented on a large scale.

Rossbach highlighted several achievements made over the past decade, noting that around 160 countries have either adopted or are developing national urban policy frameworks, while more than two-thirds of countries have adopted national housing policies.

She also pointed to growing integration of urban priorities into climate policies, stating that the share of nationally determined climate contributions containing strong urban components increased from 49 percent in 2021 to 80 percent in 2025.

“These are important achievements, but they are still not enough,” Rossbach stressed, referring to the latest report by the United Nations Secretary-General on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

According to her, implementation remains uneven and insufficient in many areas, while political commitments too often fail to translate into long-term investments, effective local implementation, and measurable improvements in people’s lives.

Rossbach said housing remains one of the most pressing global challenges. “Today, more than one billion people live in slums or informal settlements worldwide, with over 120 million people born in or moving to slums in the past decade alone,” she noted.

She added that housing affordability pressures continue to intensify across both developed and developing countries, while homelessness is becoming an increasingly serious issue globally.

“These are not isolated problems. Where people live determines their access to work, education, healthcare, transport, safety and opportunities,” she said.

The UN-Habitat chief also warned that inadequate housing conditions leave populations more vulnerable to floods, heatwaves, landslides, and other climate-related risks. According to the Secretary-General’s report, more than 80 percent of cities worldwide have experienced significant warming over the past two decades.

Rossbach stressed that housing must not be viewed solely as a construction issue, but as a broader matter linked to land policy, infrastructure, finance, governance, climate action, and human rights.

“If we want to accelerate implementation of the New Urban Agenda, adequate housing must be treated as a central driver of sustainable development,” she said.

She called for the next decade to become “a decade of implementation at scale,” emphasizing the need for integrated housing policies focused on vulnerable groups, including people living in informal settlements and those facing homelessness.

Rossbach also underlined the importance of large-scale slum upgrading, climate resilience, protection against forced evictions, improved infrastructure and public services, as well as stronger financing systems supported by governments, municipalities, development institutions, and private sector partnerships.

In addition, she stressed the need for stronger multi-level governance and better data collection systems.

“We cannot accelerate what we cannot measure,” she noted.

Rossbach described the ministerial meeting in Baku as an important opportunity to evaluate the first decade of implementation of the New Urban Agenda and to place housing at the center of the next phase of global urban transformation ahead of the high-level review meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York this July.

Concluding her remarks, she stated that UN-Habitat stands ready to support member states, local and regional governments, and international partners in advancing sustainable urbanization, housing, land, and infrastructure development goals.