Homelessness is one of the world’s most urgent, and most overlooked, development challenges. It sits at the intersection of poverty, health, climate change, migration and inequality, yet remains largely invisible in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
At this year’s High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), held in July, the Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH), the Permanent Mission of Portugal, and co-sponsors Brazil, France and the UN Statistics Division hosted an official side event, The Case for Including Homelessness in Global Development Goals. The event brought together representatives from the UN, governments and civil society, including UN-Habitat and homelessness expert and advocate Rob Robinson, who drew on his lived experience throughout the discussion.
The HLPF concluded with the adoption of a ministerial declaration calling for transformative, equitable, innovative and coordinated action to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Goals. Importantly, the declaration recognized that homelessness “must be urgently addressed”.
Why the High-Level Political Forum Matters
The HLPF is the central UN platform for monitoring the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 SDGs. It is convened annually and brings together ministers, heads of UN agencies, civil society, academics and other experts to conduct in-depth reviews of selected SDGs. Countries also present the findings from their Voluntary National Reviews, which highlight their progress under the SDGs.
Why Homelessness Must Be Included in Global Development Goals
When the UN adopted the SDGs in 2015—a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030—ending homelessness was not included as a goal, target or indicator. As a cross-cutting issue linked to migration, climate change, health, and inequality, ending homelessness is integral to sustainable development. Its omission from the SDGs was a critical missed opportunity, which placed the estimated 330 million people experiencing homelessness at risk of being excluded from global development efforts.
The absence of homelessness from the SDGs has made global measurement and coordinated action significantly more difficult, undermining efforts to end homelessness. UN resolutions and Secretary-General reports underscore the urgent need for a shared definition, robust measurement, and multi-sector, people-centred approaches.
In response, IGH has worked with partners around the world—including UN-Habitat, local, regional, and national governments, people with lived experience, civil society, and academia—to elevate homelessness within the UN system and advocate for its explicit inclusion in global development frameworks.
These efforts culminated in a joint submission by UN-Habitat and IGH to the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators, proposing an indicator on homelessness under SDG 11 Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums.
The UN-Habitat and IGH submission was considered compelling, but was ultimately rejected due to the absence of a globally recognised definition of homelessness—without which consistent and comparable measurement is not feasible.
With a globally recognised definition of homelessness currently being developed by the UN-Habitat Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All, Member States now have a decisive opportunity to commit to explicitly including homelessness in the global development framework.
Key Messages from the Discussion
There was broad consensus across the panel — including Member State representatives — on five key messages:
– A globally recognised definition of homelessness is essential.
– A dedicated global indicator would strengthen measurement, accountability and reporting.
– Prevention and permanent housing should replace the reliance on temporary accommodation.
– Countries should report on homelessness through their Voluntary National Reviews now, rather than waiting until 2030
– People with lived experience must help shape policy and implementation.
Panellists acknowledged that while progressive policies have been adopted at the national level, including housing-first approaches, and measurement and reporting on homelessness are taking place, there was still much work required to more effectively implement those policies and to reduce and ultimately end homelessness.
The event reinforced the significant progress already made in elevating homelessness on the UN agenda and demonstrated increasing political momentum for ensuring homelessness is explicitly reflected in the post-2030 global development framework.
What Comes Next
Building on the momentum generated at this year’s HLPF, IGH will continue working with Member States, UN-Habitat and partners around the world to advance a globally recognised definition of homelessness, which will be discussed on 26 and 27 November 2026 at the third session of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All.
IGH will work with partners to strengthen measurement and reporting, including by engaging Member States presenting their Voluntary National Reviews in 2027 and advocating for them to report on homelessness.