May 2018: The UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) has published its ‘Annual Progress Report 2017,’ which discusses the impact of UN-Habitat’s work at the national and subnational levels, and presents case studies demonstrating the organization’s approaches to sustainable urbanization and implementation of the SDGs and the New Urban Agenda (NUA).

The 2017 annual report is the fourth annual progress report on the implementation of UN-Habitat’s six-year strategic plan (2014-2019). The publication focuses on: ongoing processes related to strengthening UN-Habitat; specific challenges related to urbanization and human settlements and UN-Habitat’s response strategy; and UN-Habitat’s coordination role of monitoring and assessing implementation of SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and the NUA.

Among the examples of the organization’s work in 2017, the report discusses UN-Habitat’s contribution to conflict resolution through addressing the humanitarian-development-peace nexus in Iraq, helping to reintegrate Yazidis, who have been victims of ethnic and religious violence. In alignment with SDG 11, other SDGs with urban dimensions and the NUA, UN-Habitat: provided emergency relief supplies such as water; constructed sanitation and health facilities; provided emergency shelter; and built capacities of local and national authorities in urban planning and management.

In an effort to promote the central role of housing in ensuring the sustainable development of cities and human settlements, UN-Habitat helped develop a Global Housing Strategy to assist countries in adopting strategies, policies and legislation for sustainable urbanization that ensures citizen engagement. For example, in Mexico, UN-Habitat helped provide housing by introducing a mechanism for measuring city prosperity, enabling the city of Zapopan to adopt a strategy that ensured the centrality of housing and individuals to all urban planning initiatives.

UN-Habitat coordinates monitoring and assessment of implementation of SDG 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and the New Urban Agenda.

To advance the SDGs by reaching out to low-income populations, UN-Habitat partnered with Infonavit, a Latin American mortgage lender, to ensure access to affordable mortgage financing. The report also highlights UN-Habitat and Infonavit’s collaboration on establishing an SDG Certification Programme for Housing, which will assess the compatibility of real estate development projects with relevant SDGs, particularly SDG 11, and provide real estate developers with greater incentives to develop projects that comply with the SDGs.

The report also discusses UN-Habitat’s City Prosperity Index (CPI), which offers tools for cities to formulate policies. The Index has been adapted to respond to SDG and NUA monitoring and reporting, and helps harmonize methodologies with agreed standards and indicators. The report explains that, inter alia: over 400 cities are implementing the CPI; 52 national statistical offices are using UN-Habitat’s tools and guidelines producing urban data and indicators that support SDG monitoring and reporting; 181 national and local authorities and partners have implemented sustainable urbanization plans and strategies; and 374 urban observatories are using UN-Habitat tools, methods and data in monitoring urban trends at national and local levels.

The report notes that mainstreaming UN-Habitat’s four cross-cutting issues (youth, gender, climate change and human rights) requires that every project contribute to the NUA and the SDGs.

According to the report, UN-Habitat’s financial performance on urban land legislation and governance reflects the importance of land in sustainable urbanization, risk reduction and rehabilitation. In addition to urban land issues, the Bank met or exceeded its implementation targets on research and capacity building, and development of methodologies to monitor implementation of the urban dimensions of the SDGs. [UN-Habitat Annual Progress Report 2017] [City Prosperity Index]