The New Urban Agenda (NUA) was adopted at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador in 2016. It represents a shared vision for a more sustainable and equitable future and recognizes that, if well planned, urbanization can be a powerful tool for sustainable development. It guides how cities are planned, managed, and inhabited to promote equity, combat climate change, and ensure affordable, inclusive, and resilient communities.
Ten years after its adoption, the UN is facilitating a midterm review of the NUA. As part of this process, the UN General Assembly will endorse a concise and action-oriented political declaration, intended to renew commitment and accelerate implementation. IGH was invited by Poland and Malawi, who are leading negotiations on the Declaration, to provide input as part of multistakeholder consultations. IGH delivered the following statement:
Homelessness is the most extreme form of housing exclusion and a growing global crisis. The UN estimates that 300 million people are experiencing homelessness globally, with many more at risk due to a lack of affordable housing, income, and social protection. The Political Declaration must send a clear message that homelessness is not inevitable. It can be made rare, brief, and unrepeated through sustained political will and coordinated action.
The NUA sets out a commitment to improve the living conditions of homeless people, end the criminalization of homelessness, and, ultimately, prevent and eliminate homelessness altogether. Importantly, it recognizes that homelessness requires prevention-focused, housing-led responses that address structural drivers, including access to affordable housing, stable income, healthcare, and social support.
These commitments remain highly relevant and reflect a strong, shared understanding of how to effectively respond to homelessness; however, the central lesson of the past decade is that we have failed to implement the NUA at scale.
While progress has been demonstrated in some cities and countries—notably during the COVID-19 pandemic through rapid, coordinated responses—homelessness continues to rise and upstream approaches remain underdeveloped.
The Declaration represents an important opportunity for countries to translate commitments into action at national and local levels. Homelessness must be explicitly named as a global challenge that has not been effectively addressed and will continue to grow without coordinated and sustained action.
Homelessness lies at the intersection of the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of urban development. Comprehensive national and city-level strategies that prioritize homelessness prevention are essential. These strategies should be developed in partnership with civil society, including people with lived experience of homelessness.
In support of the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing for all, there must be a core transformative commitment to system-wide action on the structural drivers of homelessness, including access to:
- A safe, secure, and affordable home
- A sufficient, stable, and sustained income
- Good health and access to effective care
- Safe and supportive relationships and social networks
In addition, there must be a clear expectation that no public institution discharges individuals into homelessness, including from prisons, healthcare settings, or migrant accommodation.
An effective global response requires the development of a shared UN-wide definition of homelessness, which will support efforts to produce globally comparable, disaggregated data on homelessness. Improved measurement is essential to accountability, policy design, and effective prevention strategies.
A key roadblock to progress has been the lack of an explicit reference to homelessness in the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The Declaration should call for the explicit integration of homelessness into the post-2030 global development framework.
Existing platforms and partnerships need to be recognized—including IGH and its network of cities and national governments—as vehicles for translating commitments into action. Dedicated, cross-sector homelessness strategies that integrate housing, health, education, and employment have proven effective and should be elevated as a model for implementation.
The NUA sets out a clear pledge to end homelessness. The priority now is to accelerate delivery on existing commitments, while strengthening key areas where learning has advanced, particularly in relation to prevention, definition, measurement, and implementation. IGH stands ready to support national governments, UN partners, and cities to advance this agenda—drawing on global evidence and practical experience to make homelessness rare, brief, and unrepeated.