United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)

1. Responding to the multiple crises, has the governing body of your organization taken any decisions or adopted any new strategies to enhance effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions and to reinforce the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and poverty eradication? (200-800 words) 

New decisions and strategies adopted by the governing body of UN-Habitat since November 2022 that respond to the multiple crises while enhancing effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions and poverty eradication include new integrated combinations of approaches to sustainable territorial and spatial development which are proven to accelerate the implementation of majority of SDGs through sustainable development in urban context. The following is a summary of resolutions that were adopted by the United Nations Habitat Assembly on 9 June 2023 and are directly relevant to these goals (content edited, not direct quotes): 

• Resolution 2/1. International guidelines on people-centred smart cities: Noting the Secretary-General’s road map for digital cooperation, amongst other contexts, Member States requested the Executive Director of UN-Habitat for further support in promoting a people-centred smart cities approach and to ensure that innovation and digital technologies are used to help cities and communities to achieve the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda. 

• Resolution 2/2. Accelerating the transformation of informal settlements and slums by 2030. Taking note of the Global Action Plan on Slum Transformation by UN-Habitat, this resolution urges for a long-term, sustainable plan for transforming our neighbourhoods and cities into integrated settlements that provide home for, support and enable a decent standard of living for all, thus transforming slums and informal settlements into functional settlements where people can access adequate, safe, liveable and affordable housing and other basic services, among others water, education, health and waste management. 

• Resolution 2/4. Biodiverse and resilient cities: mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services into urban and territorial planning requests the Executive Director, among other requests and subject to the availability of resources, to establish an open-ended international expert advisory group on biodiverse and resilient cities, in collaboration with institutions, organizations, networks, and experts already engaged with the concept of biodiverse and resilient cities, and other biodiversity-related conventions and key United Nations entities, such as the UNEP, to produce a toolkit on urban development for more biodiverse and resilient cities. 

• Resolution 2/6. Localization of the Sustainable Development Goals encourages Member States and members of the specialized agencies of the UN to promote the localization of the SDGs to accelerate action towards the fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda by advancing local implementation in an integrated manner. It also requests the Executive Director of UN-Habitat to promote the localization of the 2030 Agenda by continuing to advance efforts to develop normative guidance and practical tools relating to all the dimensions of the localization of the SDGs. 

• Resolution 2/7. Adequate housing for all. Recalling the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its article 25 recognizing housing as part of the right to an adequate standard of living, and being concerned that in most countries the disparity between housing costs and income levels has grown while access to finance is constrained, the resolution requests the Executive Director to establish an open-ended intergovernmental expert working group to consider and make recommendations to the Assembly on the development and content of policies for accelerating progress towards the universal achievement of safe, sustainable, adequate and affordable housing. 

• Resolution 2/9. Creation of a human settlements resilience framework for early warning, foresight, risk reduction, crisis response, and post-crisis recovery and reconstruction requests the Executive Director, subject to the availability of resources, to develop a comprehensive operational framework that incorporates global best practices, improves cooperation and addresses existing gaps to strengthen resilience in human settlements. 

In addition, the following Executive Board decision during the report period support the same goals:  

• Decision 2023/2, under normative and operational activities of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, encourages the Executive Director to continue the efforts aimed at the reconstruction of human settlements in urban crisis situations in line with the UN-Habitat mandate.  

• Also the Decision 2022/6, encouraged the Executive Director to further explore the contribution of urban crisis prevention and response to climate action, durable solutions for displaced persons, sustaining peace and the acceleration of the achievement of the SDGs; Also encourages the Executive Director to mobilize further resources to enable UN-Habitat to take up its role of supporting UN country teams in managing acute urban displacement and finding durable solutions, in response to the SG’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement; and requests the Executive Director to intensify programme development related to urban crisis prevention and response in close consultation with strategic partners, including UNHCR, UNDP and IOM; Also encourages the Executive Director to identify the geographical areas where there is the greatest need and opportunity for UN-Habitat to add value to wider United Nations efforts in addressing urban migration and displacement challenges across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus. 

2. In the past year, has your organization organized any intergovernmentally mandated conferences, forums or events that contributed to the achievement of the SDGs, or in the process of planning and organizing any such mandated events to be held next year?  

Event Name:	Second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly
Event Dates:	5 - 9 June 2023
Event Location (City, Country):	United Nations HQs in Nairobi, Kenya
Relevant SDGs:	SDG11 and urban dimensions of all other SDGs
Description (max 150 words): please include a short summary of the event’s mandate and contributions to the SDGs, including its main outcome(s)	The second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, in Nairobi, Kenya, held dialogues on “A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in times of global crises.” As the governance body of UN-Habitat, the United Nations Habitat Assembly convenes every four years. It is the highest global decision-making body on sustainable urbanization and human settlements. The 193 UN Member States cast the votes, while participants include non-Member States, other UN bodies and specialized agencies, as well as intergovernmental organizations, civil society, private sector, academia and research institutions, women, youth and children, and grassroots organizations.  Thematic debates and discussions during the second session of the Assembly addressed the following topics: Universal access to affordable housing; Urban climate action; Urban crises recovery; Localization of the SDGs; and Prosperity and local finance.  The session agreed to 10 resolutions and a Ministerial Declaration.
Website (if applicable)	The second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly | UN-Habitat (unhabitat.org)

 

3. In the past year, has your organization published or planned to publish any analytical work or guidance note or toolkits to guide and support the implementation of SDGs at national, regional and global levels?  Please select up to three to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs.  

Resource Name	Mainstreaming Migration and Displacement into Urban Policy: A Guide
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	10 (10.7), 11 (11.1; 11.3; 11.8), 17 (17.18)
Publishing entity/entities	UN-Habitat
Target audience	National, sub-national, local governments
Description (max 150 words)	This Guide has been developed to support national, sub-national and local governments in the management of migration and displacement in urban areas.   Besides outlining the basic policy processes involved in developing or revising urban policies that adequately address the realities of migration and displacement, it also includes a 10-step pathway of recommendations and actions to achieve a more holistic, integrated and effective policy response.
Language(s)	English
Website (if applicable)	https://unhabitat.org/mainstreaming-migration-and-displacement-into-urban-policy-a-guide

Resource Name	Multilevel Governance and SDG Localization
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	All
Publishing entity/entities	UN-Habitat  with Action Research for CO-development (ARCO) and international knowledge partners: Brookings Institution, LSE Cities, Nelson Mandela School of Public   Governance, United Cities and Local Governments
Target audience	Local and national governments, civil society organizations
Description (max 150 words)	To devote strong global efforts to explore multilevel   governance (MLG) dimensions and practices to provide practical recommendations to accelerate the localization of the SDGs within the Decade of Action this guidance analyses the MLG-SDG localization nexus and proposes a framework that connects: (i) the key dimensions of MLG processes, as emerging from the policy coherence and integration paradigm; (ii) the main principles and conditions under which these are turned into specific practices; and (iii) the resulting outcomes for improved capacities and functions for SDG localization.  The cornerstone of this framework are the three dimensions of effective MLG systems: vertical integration, horizontal integration, stakeholder engagement (UN, 2018) which reflect the 2030 Agenda calling upon governments to ensure an effective implementation of the Goals by embedding the SDGs at multiple levels of governments, cutting across sectors and breaking silos to address the integrated nature of the SDGs, enabling inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making, implementation and review processes.
Language(s)	English
Website (if applicable)	mlg_for_sdg_localization_final_report.pdf (unhabitat.org)

Resource Name	MY Neighbourhood
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	All
Publishing entity/entities	UN-Habitat
Target audience	Local and national government decision-makers and planners, organisations and individuals
Description (max 150 words)	An expansion of the 2014 “Five Principles of Sustainable Neighbourhood Planning”, this guidance unpacks the key design principles, and provides an extensive checklist of urban design tips that are applicable in diverse cultural and geographical contexts, across sectors (transport, housing, public space, utilities among others), and across scales (neighbourhood, street, open public space, and buildings. The guidance provides principles of urban planning and design at the local scale to inform urban transformation; Shows the link between local   transformation with city-wide, regional and national vision; Provides indicators for urban monitoring against SDG and New Urban Agenda targets, and a starting point to identify new urban indicators; Ensures that urban assessment, urban interventions and outcomes are   multi-scalar and integrated, not sectorally siloed or spatially fragmented; Enhances strategic urban planning   capacity of municipal governments; Localizes the SDGs in urban planning process and urban transformation at the neighborhood, street level, open public space scale.
Language(s)	English
Website (if applicable)	MY Neighbourhood | UN-Habitat (unhabitat.org)

Resource Name	Multilevel Urban Forums: A Guide
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	11, 17
Publishing entity/entities	UN-Habitat
Target audience	National and subnational governments,  Intergovernmental organizations
Description (max 150 words)	This guide has been developed to support governments at all levels to plan and hold urban forums with an urban policy-practice nexus. Accompanied by adaptable templates and toolkits, the guide supports the entire process of planning and holding the forum, and even for post-forum activities.   Importantly, the guide demonstrates how urban policy through urban forums can be used as a coordinating framework for implementation of national, regional, and global agendas that support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
Language(s)	English
Website (if applicable)	To be published in early 2024

 

4. In connection with the 2023 SDG Summit, the United Nations development system announced 12 High-Impact Initiatives where transformative progress is possible despite challenging global circumstances. Please share if your organization is contributing to any of these High Impact Initiatives and how various actors are being rallied behind them to mobilize further leadership and investment to bring progress to scale.  

• HII on Local2030 Coalition (Pushing key transitions and achieving the SDGs by 2030)  

The Local2030 Coalition aims to demonstrate the UN’s collective offer on localized SDG action by providing technical and advisory support to strengthen and empower local and subnational governments and boost local stakeholders’ capacities. Through these efforts, the Local2030 Coalition supports the acceleration of the six transitions needed to achieve the SDGs (food systems, energy access and affordability, digital connectivity, education, jobs and social protection, climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution). It also catalyzes inclusive and co-created local actions that leave no one behind. 

The HII on SDG Localization is being led by UN-Habitat, UNDP and FAO and counts on the collaboration of UN entities (UNHCR, UNICEF, WHO, ESCAP, UNECE, UNEP, UN DESA, UN Women, IOM and the Joint SDG Fund), members of the Local2030 Coalition Steering Committee (Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments) and four Local2030 Hubs: Hawai’i Green Growth Hub, Liverpool 2030Hub, Paraná Hub, and a Knowledge Hub. 

Main targets of the Local2030 Coalition are to expand the network of Local2030 Hubs; support UN country teams to embrace localization; support all key UN entities to join the Local2030 Coalition, 1000 local governments to join the SDG Cities initiative; attract major private sector investments to at least 100 cities; have US$50M mobilised under the Women-Led Cities initiative; and US$150Million invested in catalytic initiatives at the local level through the Localization Window. 

The Local2030 Coalition was presented at the SDG Action Weekend on 17 September 2023, on the margins of the 2023 SDG Summit. A Session titled “Local2030 Coalition: Pushing Key Transitions and Achieving the SDGs by 2030” was attended by ministers, governors, mayors, development banks and representatives of the civil society, who spotlighted practices, initiatives, and solutions to enhance localized actions and lift the level of ambition on local responses to achieving the 2030 Agenda. The main outcomes of the session and the SDG Summit include:  

• Pledge from Italy to continue supporting the Local2030 Knowledge Hub beyond 2023-24 biennium (i.e., 2025-26) with at least the current level of funding (1 million Euro for the biennium); and to keep localization high on the political agenda through Italy'sG7 presidency (2024); 

• Announcement from the Basque Country and Bilbao to continue hosting the Local2030 Coalition Secretariat until 2030; 

• Interest from Brazil to support the Women-led Cities initiative; 

• Interest from UN entities to join the Local2030 Coalition and to take on the rotational co -chair role; 

• Interest from foundations and philanthropies’ networks to work with the Local2030 Coalition; 

• Commitment of Spain to mobilize political and financial support for the Local2030 Coalition and the 

localization window of the Joint SDG Fund through its EU Presidency; 

• International financial institutions stepping forward to support SDG localization: the European Investment Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Brazilian Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank through the Green Coalition for the Amazon. 

 

5. In addition to the above, has your organization been part of any other initiatives or multi-stakeholder partnerships that enhance effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions and reinforce the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially in the areas of poverty eradication (SDG1), food systems transformation (SDG2), climate action (SDG13), governance (SDG16), partnerships (SDG17), which will go under in-depth review at the HLPF in 2024, or related to the Secretary-General’s proposals in Our Common Agenda?  

Please note that the partnerships included in the 2021 UN-Habitat submission to DESA are still active and reached a more advanced state, such as the World Urban Campaign, UN Habitat Universities cooperation hub, Global networks of women’s groups (AGGI)/ the Stakeholder Advisory Group Enterprise (SAGE), Global Water Operators’ Partnership Alliance, National Urban Forum, Council of Urban Initiatives, 11.1 Compact for Housing Solutions. 

Initiative/Partnership Name	Sustainable Urban Resilience for the Next Generation (SURGe)
Partners (please list all partners)	UN-Habitat and ICLEI (co-founders).  FAO, IOM, IRENA, UN Water, UNCDF, UNEP / Global Alliance for Building and Construction, UNESCAP  UNESCO, UNFCCC, UNICEF, WHO, YOUNGO Constituency to the UNFCCC,   The open global SURGe Alliance has 180+ global partners  Comprehensive list of partners: cop27_surge_initiative_updated_concept_note.pdf (unhabitat.org)
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	3, 6, 7, 11, 13, 17
Member States benefiting from it	Government partners committed thus far:   Costa Rica, Egypt, Japan, Morocco, Nauru, Qatar, Syria
Description (max 150 words)	Cities need to be equipped to accelerate local climate action and contribute to global climate goals – while at  the same time transforming cities to be healthy, sustainable, just, inclusive, low-emission and resilient  urban systems. To achieve this vision, the COP27 Presidency with with UN-Habitat and facilitated by ICLEI launched the SURGe Initiative which was developed under the leadership of the COP27 Presidency and launched at the Ministerial Meeting on Urbanization and   Climate Change at COP27.     SURGe approach has been endorsed by 180+ global partners and remains open for endorsement and support to national and local governments, city networks, academia, the private sector, and international organizations. Partners can support setting up national SURGe Secretariats and, through these, implementing climate action in cities and communities.
Website	COP27 Presidential Initiative (unhabitat.org)  SURGe: a new initiative fostering climate action at local and urban levels | Climate Chance (climate-chance.org)

Initiative/Partnership Name	Group of 20 (G20) Platform on SDG Localization and   Intermediary Cities
Partners (please list all partners)	Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, UN-Habitat, G20 Ministers of Development and International Co-operation
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	All
Member States benefiting from it	G20
Description (max 150 words)	For the first time in the history of the Group of 20, G20 Ministers of Development and International Co-operation met in Matera in 29 June 2023 to reaffirm the commitment of G20 countries to support an inclusive, resilient and sustainable recovery in developing countries and accelerate progress on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. In their final Communiqué, Ministers recognized that “intermediary cities offer a significant, but often unexplored and underutilized, potential for achieving the SDGs at the local level and […] can play a determinant role in articulating a rural-urban continuum, addressing problems, finding solutions, and implementing actions, in concert with national governments, to advance a development model that is more inclusive, resilient and sustainable, and leaves no one and no place behind.”
Website	Launch of the G20 Platform on SDGs Localization and Intermediary Cities (G20 PLIC) - OECD

Initiative/Partnership Name	UN Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments
Partners (please list all partners)	UN-Habitat (as the Advisory Group Secretariat and normative resource for local and national governments), United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG),  Executive Office of the Secretary-General
Relevant SDGs (list all relevant goals)	All
Member States benefiting from it	All
Description (max 150 words)	The establishment of a time-bound Advisory Group on Local Regional Governments, situated ahead of the 2023 SDG Summit and before the 2024 Summit of the Future, offers Member States an unprecedented opportunity to promote inclusive, networked, and effective multilateralism, as envisioned in the UN Secretary General’s Our Common Agenda. The Advisory Group’s recommendations on local and regional governments’ engagement in intergovernmental processes, could also inform Member States as part of the Pact for the Future.     The overall objective of the Advisory Group is to advise the UN SG on matters pertaining to local and regional governments’ engagement and action, to inform Member States’ decision-making in relation to recovery measures from multiple and overlapping crises and implementing international agreements and standards, including on sustainable development, gender equality, social inclusion, climate action, the new urban agenda, and human rights.    The Advisory Group will encompass representation of local and regional governments and of national government thought leaders that have exemplary multi-level governance, including political representatives proposed by the networks gathered in the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments (15 local and regional representatives); and national leaders from five countries that have exemplary multi-level governance. Representatives of the UN system will be invited by the UN SG to join discussions of the Advisory Board, in a supportive role.
Website	Secretary General’s Advisory Group on Local and Regional Governments | United Nations Secretary-General

 

6. In the Political Declaration adopted at the 2023 SDG Summit, Member States committed to using the review of the high-level political forum at the 78th session of the General Assembly to further strengthen the follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, harnessing data to track progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, strengthening analysis of the interlinkages across the Goals and targets, including policy implications of their synergies and trade-offs. Please provide your organization’s recommendations, if any, in this regard.  

• Strengthen follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda at HLPF 

• Harnessing data to track progress in implementation 

• Strengthening analysis of the interlinkages across Goals and targets, including policy implications of their synergies and trade-offs 

• Other suggestions   

The evidence base for tracking global urban trends to inform integrated, multisector policy responses remains weak. Tackling these challenges requires multilateral cooperation and investments given the complexity of revolutionizing spatial, city and urban scale data and indicators.  

The Global Urban Monitoring Framework endorsed by the United Nations Statistical Commission is a move to the right direction, providing a coherent entry point to track progress simultaneously for the attainment of SDG 11 and of the urban-related targets of the Goals and the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. The Urban Monitoring Framework allows for a common approach to monitoring the core dimensions of urban development globally as a basis for joint policy direction and action. 

Urban and territorial scale monitoring has also been enhanced with global agreements on how to define cities, urban areas and rural areas allowing to produce comparable data for various urban-related SDG targets and indicators. This global level approach to measuring sustainable urbanization is enabling systematic global monitoring and reporting of the performances of cities and local governments. As of 2023, a total of 40 countries are being supported to retrofit their urban data and produce metrics using the global city, urban and rural definitions.  

The results of this exercise show that many countries are more urbanized than previously thought, which, in turn, highlights the need for a review of the existing urban and rural development strategies to ensure an informed alignment with sustainable patterns of urbanization that can drive integrated, effective approaches to the implementation of SDGs in different development contexts.