World Habitat Day

The United Nations designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It also reminds us we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns.

The purpose of World Habitat Day is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. World Habitat Day was established in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 40/202, and was first celebrated in 1986. 

World Habitat Day 2022

This year’s theme is Mind the Gap. Leave No One and No Place Behind.

Cities generate wealth but also concentrate poverty and inequality. How to tackle poverty and inequality are among the most pressing challenges facing urban areas; and improving income and a wide range of opportunities for all is essential to achieving an optimistic urban future. Multidimensional aspects of urban poverty and inequality should be at the centre of interventions to create inclusive and equitable urban futures globally. Without concerted action at all levels, poverty and inequality could become the face of the future of cities.

The combined crises of COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and conflicts, have widened the inequality gaps with the emergence of newly poor people. In 2021, an estimated 163 million people have fallen into poverty due to such multiple crises. Minorities are the most vulnerable of the urban poor, facing specific challenges in the context of displacement due to various discriminations factors, including gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, and others.

The key priorities for tackling urban poverty and inequality in cities as highlighted by the UN-Habitat World Cities Report (2022) include the following:

• Extending infrastructure and services to under-serviced communities.
• Recognizing the informal sector workers for their legitimate contribution to livelihoods and supplying goods and services that keep the city’s formal economy running.
• Inclusive and gender transformative approaches that promote resilience to multiple crises by using local knowledge in the face of uncertainty.
• Place-based interventions to build resilience in “urban weak spots” such as slums and informal settlements.
• Bottom-up urban resilience in the planning, governance, and management of cities.

Source : UN Habitat