The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), created in 1978, is mandated to “promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.” The Programme plays a key role in helping countries manage urbanization to maximize a city’s capacity to generate wealth and higher living standards for its citizens. Until 1997, UN-Habitat received little support from the UN and struggled to help developing countries deal with problems stemming from massive urban growth. By 2002, when half the world’s population resided in urban areas, the organization had completed a major revitalization, with an increased budget and a more focused mandate. The Programme became central to the work on achieving the seventh Millennium Development Goal to “ensure environmental sustainability” through efficient habitat development and reduction of poverty. Today, UN-Habitat’s work spans may of the current Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Women in urban environments face unique threats to their safety and security that men rarely experience. Although crime rates vary dramatically from city to city, women everywhere must take extra precautions when traveling or even living in their homes. The rapid pace of urbanization has left many cities poorly organized, forcing women to make long trips to their workplace, shopping, and schools. In many cases, public transit options simply do not exist, and long travel times through unfamiliar neighborhoods expose women to an increased risk of violence. Even if public transit is available, these options may be just as or more unsafe than walking. There are many simple tools that can be used to keep women safer. Many urban slums lack basic infrastructure such as street-lighting that is proven to keep people safe. Even in more developed cities, there is often a lack of legislation against street harassment, sometimes called catcalling, which normalizes harassment and enables violence. However, women do not only face risks to their safety outdoors. The World Health Organization estimates that one in three women aged 15–49 has experienced violence from their partner. Therefore, there is also a need for robust social services that can investigate reports of domestic violence and bring women to safe spaces. Furthermore, UN Women estimates that only 40 percent of women seek any kind of help after experiencing violence, so awareness of these services is also a priority. Programs that have been sponsored by UN-Habitat, such as the Safer Cities for Girls Programme, have already helped over 600,000 women and girls worldwide. With the global urban population growing sharply and already counted in the billions, additional widespread action is vital to keep women safe.

UN-Habitat is committed to supporting the development of affordable and accessible homes for people of varying socioeconomic backgrounds. As cities around the world have rapidly grown amid a global trend towards urbanization, housing rates in these cities have also increased. For many families, their economic opportunities lie in cities, so their options for housing are restricted. Providing adequate housing is particularly challenging in Asia, home to 54 percent of the world’s urban population. For example, the deficiency of affordable housing has directly influenced the increase of Ger areas in Mongolia, which are collections of round tents traditionally used by nomads. Many nomadic peoples of Mongolia migrate to cities due to climate change, urbanization, and other factors, but the Ger communities they live in are deprived of many resources, such as clean water and sanitation infrastructure. Surging prices and speculation are also a large cause of concern for housing affordability in larger cities. Creating affordable and accessible housing will require a close examination of urban planning and measures to incentivize the development of affordable, rentable properties. With billions of people expected to flock to cities by 2050, ensuring housing availability is among the highest priorities for UN-Habitat.