Implementation of the Outcomes of the United Nations Conferences on Human Settlements and on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and Strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (Un-Habitat)

A/RES/79/214View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 19Follow-up to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), published in 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

5 versions · 2018–2024

2024A/RES/79/214Implementation of the outcomes of the United Nations Conferences on Human Settlements and on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)LatestCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/77/173Implementation of the outcomes of the United Nations Conferences on Human Settlements and on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)Compare with previous version
2020A/RES/75/224Implementation of the outcomes of the United Nations Conferences on Human Settlements and on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)Compare with previous version
2019A/RES/73/239Implementation of the outcomes of the United Nations Conferences on Human Settlements and on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)Compare with previous version
2018A/RES/72/226Implementation of the outcomes of the United Nations Conferences on Human Settlements and on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

4 entities

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Conferences Financing Governance Human Settlements Sustainable Development Trust Funds Urban Planning

What does this mandate say?

32 operative paragraphs

Governance of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

Welcomes the holding of the first part of the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, held in Nairobi from 5 to 9 June 2023, takes note of the report of the session, welcomes the resolutions and decisions contained therein, and calls for their full implementation;

Also welcomes the ministerial declaration entitled “A sustainable urban future through inclusive and effective multilateralism: achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in times of global crisis”, adopted by the United Nations Habitat Assembly at the first part of its second session, in which it focuses on a multilevel, multi-stakeholder and multisectoral approach to urbanization, with strong attention to data systems and knowledge for evidence-based policies and results monitoring, innovation, advocacy and communication, partnerships, capacity-building and digital transformation for accelerated progress;

Further welcomes decisions 2/1 and 2/2 of 8 June 2023 of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, to extend the strategic planning cycle of UN-Habitat for the period 2020–2023 until the year 2025, and to adjourn its second regular session and to resume the session for a duration of two days, on 29 and 30 May 2025, in order to achieve the alignment of the planning cycle of UN-Habitat with the quadrennial comprehensive policy review of operational activities for the development of the United Nations system;

Takes note of the review of management and administration in the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) prepared by the Joint Inspection Unit, and encourages UN-Habitat to provide regular updates to its Executive Board on the implementation of the recommendations of this review;

Ensuring adequate funding and improving information to monitor funding trends

Encourages Member States to provide voluntary additional financial resources to service the intergovernmental governance processes of UN-Habitat;

Encourages the strengthening of UN-Habitat so that it can deliver effectively on its mandate through the provision of financial resources, taking into account the special interests and needs of developing countries, by exploring innovative resource mobilization options, as well as by overseeing and providing strategic guidance for the Programme’s normative and operational activities;

Invites Member States, international and bilateral donors and financial institutions to contribute to UN-Habitat through increased voluntary financial contributions, especially non-earmarked contributions, to the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation, including the urban basic services trust fund and other technical cooperation trust funds, invites Governments and other stakeholders to provide voluntary predictable multi-year funding and increased non-earmarked contributions to support the implementation of its mandate, and requests the Executive Director of UN-Habitat to ensure that reporting on funding is transparent and easily accessible to Member States, including through the creation of an online registry that contains relevant financial information;

Invites all Member States making financial contributions earmarked for the operational activities of UN-Habitat to ensure that such resources are fully aligned with the strategic plan of UN-Habitat and are in accordance with the priorities of Member States benefiting from those contributions;

Reiterates the need to ensure that UN-Habitat has appropriate capacity to generate, manage and disseminate its evidence-based urbanization knowledge, based on its normative and operational work, building on existing international instruments, assessments and information networks to raise public awareness of critical, as well as emerging, urbanization issues;

Also reiterates the importance of the Nairobi headquarters location of UN-Habitat, and requests the Secretary-General to continue to improve the capacity of UN-Habitat to implement its mandate;

Implementation of the New Urban Agenda to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

Reaffirms that, by readdressing the way cities and human settlements are planned, designed, financed, developed, governed and managed, the New Urban Agenda will help to end poverty and hunger in all its forms and dimensions, reduce inequalities, promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in order to fully harness their vital contribution to sustainable development, improve human health and well-being, foster resilience and protect the environment;

Also reaffirms the central role that cities and human settlements can play in sustainable development, and urges UN-Habitat to further support increased participation of governments at all levels and regional organizations in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda to contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular by providing technical assistance aimed at developing the capacity of all levels of government, especially in developing countries, to plan and implement sustainable urbanization and human settlements and related programmes and projects;

Further reaffirms that youth policies, tailored and adapted to national and local contexts, help ensure that youth development challenges are addressed, and encourages meaningful engagement with youth in urban policy and decision-making processes;

Reaffirms the importance of strengthening the capacities of cities to increase the integration of risk management into preventive urban development policy to create urban resilience;

Also reaffirms the commitment at the very heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind and to taking more tangible steps to support people in vulnerable situations and the most vulnerable countries and to reach the furthest behind first;

Recognizes the importance of the implementation of the New Urban Agenda at the local, subnational, national, regional and global levels, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national legislation and practices, as well as policies and priorities;

Also recognizes the findings contained in the Sustainable Development Goal 11 synthesis report and its recommendations on the need for continued technical and financial support for countries to build capacity for the production and monitoring of the urban dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals and New Urban Agenda targets, including the timely application of the global urban monitoring framework and implementing the degree of urbanization methodology to delineate cities, urban and rural areas;

Requests UN-Habitat to continue to support countries in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda with a strategic focus on adequate housing, land and basic services for all, and the transformation of informal settlements and slums for the period 2026–2029, in line with the UN-Habitat strategic plan for the period 2026–2029, to be adopted in 2025, and in line with relevant resolutions adopted by the United Nations Habitat Assembly;

Notes the launch by UN-Habitat of the Global Action Plan: Accelerating for Transforming Informal Settlements and Slums by 2030, and its 10 key actions towards scaling slum transformation;

Encourages UN-Habitat to continue its support to countries in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, giving consideration to evidence-based urban planning practices that promote access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing, inclusive urban prosperity and finance, poverty eradication, water and sanitation, effective climate action and environmental sustainability, multilevel governance and localization of the Sustainable Development Goals, and effective urban crisis response and recovery;

Also encourages UN-Habitat to continue to assist countries in monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, in complementarity with the Statistical Commission methodology for delineation of cities, urban and rural areas for international and regional statistical comparison purposes, develop a common methodology for aggregating subnational urban statistics, strengthen means of verification of new tier III indicators of targets under Sustainable Development Goal 11 on cities and communities, utilizing the Global Urban Monitoring Framework to develop innovative methods, approaches and guidelines for data collection, analysis, monitoring and implementation and harnessing the Urban Agenda platform to share progress, action and knowledge resources on sustainable urbanization, and looks forward to the contributions of UN-Habitat to the high-level political forum on sustainable development, under the auspices of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council;

Further encourages UN-Habitat to continue promoting and implementing the People-Centred Smart Cities flagship programme, including in line with United Nations Habitat Assembly resolution 2/1 of 6 July 2023, entitled “International guidelines on people-centred smart cities”, to ensure that the benefit of digital transformation is widely shared among all urban dwellers, especially those in vulnerable situations, living in slums and informal settlements, including through developing normative guidance and providing technical support to governments, cities and communities;

Requests UN-Habitat to provide all support necessary to all meetings of the open-ended intergovernmental expert working group on adequate housing for all, including the conduct of research and the preparation of information documents and analysis as may be requested by the working group or the Executive Board;

Urges UN-Habitat to ensure that its normative and operational activities are balanced, that its normative work guides and is integrated into its operational work and that its experiences in the operational field feed into its normative work;

Encourages UN-Habitat to accelerate the implementation of the United Nations system-wide strategy on sustainable urban development to facilitate coordination among entities of the United Nations system, including the regional commissions, to ensure effective support for countries in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the urban and human settlements dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Also encourages UN-Habitat to continue its collaboration with international development banks and the private sector to ensure coherence of policy support and the alignment of large-scale urban investments with the principles of the New Urban Agenda and to facilitate increased investment in sustainable urbanization, including through, but not limited to, the Multi-Partner Implementation Facility for Sustainable Urban Development, the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, the Adaptation Fund and the Climate Investment Funds;

Calls upon UN-Habitat to continue to work in close partnership with United Nations country teams, under the leadership of the resident coordinators, to promote joint urban programming as well as catalytic localization initiatives that mobilize collective resources and expertise, to contribute to enhancing the design of common country analyses and to the implementation of United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks, providing normative guidance and operational support towards the development of inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and the strengthening of national, subnational and local governance systems to meet this goal;

Looks forward to the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of UN-Habitat, to be held in Nairobi before the third regular session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly, in 2027, requests UN-Habitat, in consultation with Member States, to finalize the preparatory process and organizational arrangements for the commemoration, encourages participation at the highest possible level, requests the Secretary-General to support the commemoration, and encourages Member States and other donors in a position to do so to make voluntary contributions, for the preparation of the event and to support the participation of developing countries;

Decides to hold a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the midterm review of the New Urban Agenda, to be held in New York for a duration of two days at the highest possible level following, or preceding, the 2026 high-level political forum on sustainable development, to assess progress on integrating the New Urban Agenda into policies, programmes and investments at all levels, identify good practices, gaps and challenges and accelerate the path to achieving the goal of the New Urban Agenda by 2036, taking into account the quadrennial report of the Secretary-General on progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda to be presented in 2026, invites States and local and regional governments to assess progress, gaps and challenges in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda at the local, national, regional and global levels, to share findings, good practices and recommendations with UN-Habitat, to be included in a report on the midterm review, which will also take into consideration the stocktaking, thematic reviews and outcomes of regional forums for sustainable development, and to include this topic in their deliberations as inputs for the meeting that will inform the midterm review process, decides that the high-level meeting shall consist of an opening segment, a plenary segment, interactive multi-stakeholder panels and a closing segment and shall adopt a concise and action-oriented political declaration to renew commitment and accelerate the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, agreed in advance by consensus through intergovernmental negotiations led by two co-facilitators to be appointed by the President of the Assembly, one from a developed country and one from a developing country, and to be submitted by the President of the Assembly for adoption by the Assembly, and requests the President of the Assembly, in consultation with Member States and UN-Habitat, to finalize the preparatory process and organizational arrangements for the meeting, with any additional costs to be met through voluntary contributions;

Review and implementation

Welcomes the establishment of a special voluntary trust fund for the purpose of assisting developing countries to attend United Nations Habitat Assembly and UN-Habitat Executive Board sessions, and invites Member States, international financial institutions, donor agencies, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and natural and juridical persons to make financial contributions to the voluntary trust fund;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a progress report to the General Assembly at its eighty-first session on the implementation of the present resolution, to be entitled “Follow-up to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)”;

Decides, for its next consideration of this topic, to include in the provisional agenda of its eighty-first session the item entitled “Follow-up to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)”.

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