"Today we are in a period with clear and concrete objectives, and also of strategic importance for UN-Habitat. This is because this year is the first year of our new strategic plan covering 2026–2029," said Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Anacláudia Rossbach, at the event “WUF13 NGO Forum: Global Partnerships and Decision-Making," APA reports.
She said that this plan has very clearly defined priorities: “These include promoting housing for all, expanding access to land, increasing access to basic services, and transforming informal settlements and vulnerable areas. However, today we understand that building houses alone is not enough. We must build functioning systems. We must create communities, cities, and solidarity. We must form a new social contract.”
The Executive Director noted that the tasks ahead are too large for any single institution to handle alone: “No institution can fully carry out this work or bring together all the necessary knowledge, experience, and perspectives on its own. Working together is essential. We must cooperate at the local and city levels. We must ensure that our urban planning is based on participatory principles and establish stable, institutional participatory governance mechanisms that bring together different sectors at the local level. At the same time, the local level must be coordinated with the national level. Civil society, academic circles, community organizations, and the private sector must also be involved in the development of housing and urban policies and in the transformation of territories. In Azerbaijan, the reconstruction process is being carried out with the active participation of communities and stakeholders. I see this. Here today there is an NGO Agency that brings together more than 300 organizations and NGOs. We need you here. We need you at the upcoming World Urban Forum as well. Your participation is also important when assessing the implementation of the New Urban Agenda adopted in Quito in 2016. Finally, we need you because without your participation we will not be able to overcome the global housing crisis.”
