United Nations Advocacy

Our first pillar of work is strategic advocacy for international homelessness policy focused on definition and measurement. Through formal partnerships with United Nations (UN) agencies and groups; contributions to written statements, reports and resolutions; and participation in major UN convenings, IGH continues to advocate for the issue of street homelessness to be explicitly addressed at the United Nations.

Advocacy Goals

Clear, global measurement of street homelessness

A shared goal to reduce and ultimately end street homelessness

Support from member states to catalyze effective strategies

Strategic Partnerships

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

Homelessness has not been mandated to one specific office within the United Nations eco-system. IGH established a formal partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) — an influential UN agency, mandated to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities. UN-Habitat is the focal point for all urbanization and human settlement matters within at the UN. Through this valued partnership, we aim to continue to raise awareness of homelessness within the UN ecosystem, provide technical assistance and capacity building to Member States interested in addressing homelessness, and plan for better global homelessmess data collection.

UN-Habitat Photo - Advocacy Page

“We see much more political will to address homelessness both within the United Nations and in Member States. The key to successfully moving this will towards action will be coming together as one global movement, with people with lived experience, service providers, government, and academia, speaking powerfully for how homelessness should be addressed both within our countries and internationally.”

UN 1 - Advocacy page

NGO Working Group to End Homelessness (WGEH)

IGH is a strategic partner and member of the Executive Committee member of the NGO Working Group to End Homelessness (WGEH), a group of 31 organizations working to influence the UN political proceedings to heighten Member States’ and Civil Society’s concern for and action to address the social injustice of homelessness. WGEH is the only non-governmental organization (NGO)/civil society organization established to address homelessness within the United Nations ecosystem. Until WGEH was founded in 2017, there had been no major discussions about homelessness within at the UN in over three decades.

The Working Group convenes regularly to identify opportunities to engage and build relationships with UN stakeholders, spearhead written statements on homelessness at the UN, organize events alongside major UN covenings, and contribute to civil society engagement at the UN. One of the Working Group’s objectives is to increase co-production with people who have lived experience of homelessness through inclusive membership, collaboration, and advocacy resources.

Key Contributions

  • 2019

    Expert Group Meeting on Affordable Housing and Social Protection Systems for All to Address Homelessness

    IGH convened with partners in Nairobi, Kenya for an expert group meeting, organized by UN-Habitat, in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The discussions and recommendations of the meeting contributed to the preparation of the background document to 2020 session of the Commission for Social Development which explicitly focused on the issue of homelessness for the first time.

  • 2020

    Commission for Social Development (CSocD58): Affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness

    In collaboration with its partner organizations and with support from the African group of nations at the United Nations, the NGO Working Group to End Homelessness’s proposal and advocacy, homelessness was selected as the priority theme of the 58th Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD58). This was the first CSocD session with a theme that explicitly addressed the issue of homelessness.

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    NGO Committee on Social Development’s Civil Society Forum

    IGH participated in the 2020 Civil Society Forum, organized by the NGO Committee on Social Development, alongside our colleagues and friends who contributed their perspectives from lived experience of homelessness in Ireland, Uruguay and the United States; addressing homelessness in India, Nigeria, Uruguay and Europe; and research on the gaps in addressing homelessness at the United Nations. Visit the 2020 Civil Society Forum webpage here: https://ngosocdev.org/what-we-do/commission-for-social-development/csocd58-and-civil-society-forum-2020/.

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    UN Resolution: Affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness

    As a result of the United Nations (UN) 58th Session of the Commission on Social Development, the UN Economic and Social Council issued its first resolution on homelessness as a mainstream UN policy issue. The resolution outlines a definition of global homelessness for the first time, calls on member states (countries) to collect data on demographics related to homelessness, and encourages governments to improve access to affordable housing. Read the resolution here: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3869551?ln=en&v=pdf.

  • 2021

    UN Resolution: Inclusive policies and programmes to address homelessness, including in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

    The United Nations General Assembly adopted a second Resolution on homelessness that recognizes homelessness recognizes that root causes of homelessness are structural rather than individual,; included a call for Member States (countries) to take action on homelessness via partnership with people with lived experience/expertise, program and policy development, disaggregated data collection; and recognizes the link between solving homelessness and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Read the resolution here: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3953766?ln=en&v=pdf.

  • 2023

    Landmark UN Secretary General’s Report: Inclusive policies and programmes to address homelessness

    The report recognized homelessness as “both a concrete violation of human rights and an indicator of extreme poverty and social exclusion”. The landmark report included a call on the Secretary General to prepare a bi-annual report, in consultation with UN-Habitat as well as other UN bodies, to map achievements and challenges in the implementation of inclusive policies and programs to address homelessness. This report built on the exploration of social protection and access for all to adequate, safe, and affordable housing in the aftermath of COVID-19. Read the report here: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/4018593?ln=en&v=pdf.

Sustainable Development Goals

From the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) to track countries’ and stakeholders’ progress towards addressing international, systemic issues related to poverty and basic human needs, environmental sutstainability, economic growth, healthcare, and more. Global homelessness is a shared issue that directly intersects with those issues and their solutions however, homelessness is not included in any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and their 169 indicators.

  • Where could homelessness fit in the SGDs?

    SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable and its first target 11.1: Ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums, are the closest language to any mention of homelessness in the SDGs.

    Meeting this target is measured by the proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing. Although homelessness is not a new issue, it is an urgent and solvable one. Homelessness is a crucial aspect of SDG 11.1 and meaningfully intersects with all other SFGs however, it is not being measured by the current indicator(s).