UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme)

From affordable housing initiatives to championing climate action, urban changemakers are shaping the future of our cities. The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award is your chance to celebrate them! 🎖️ Know a city leader, grassroots organization, or initiative making a real difference? Nominate them for the 2025 Scroll of Honour—one of the most prestigious global awards for urban transformation. 📅 Deadline: 30 April 2025 🏆 Winners announced on: World Habitat Day, 6 October 2025 Let’s celebrate those redefining what’s possible in our cities. Submit a nomination today! 👉 https://loom.ly/erf_0XE #ScrollOfHonourAward #WorldHabitatDay

🚍 Free public transport (alone) doesn't fix traffic Tallinn, Estonia, made public transport free in 2013, expecting fewer cars on the road. Instead, car use went up while public transit's share of trips dropped from 42% to 30%. Other cities - Luxembourg, Malta, Kansas City - saw similar results. So what's happening here? What would actually work? It turns out making public transport BETTER is more important than making it free. Reliable service, bus priority lanes, comfortable rides, and safer stations actually convince people to leave their cars. Bogota and Jakarta’s Bus Rapid Transit systems, London’s congestion charges, and Paris’s SUV restrictions show that reducing car convenience while improving transit options is the real solution. 💬 Would free public transport get you to ditch your car? Or is something else stopping you? Let’s discuss! Video: Timelapse of a train ride in Taiwan

♻️ Fashion’s waste problem demands urgent action! On 30 March 2025, the International Day of Zero Waste spotlights fashion & textiles—one of the world’s most resource-intensive industries. 👕 Did you know? The industry uses 215 trillion liters of water annually—enough to fill 86 million Olympic pools 🏊♂️ 🚨 It’s time to rethink fashion! We need a shift to circular design, sustainable production & responsible consumption to reduce waste and pollution. 🔗 Join the movement & register your zero-waste initiative today: https://loom.ly/p6qNrOk #ZeroWasteDay #SustainableFashion #CircularEconomy #BeatWastePollution

Meet Sabreen Alawneh, a Jordanian woman making the most of every drop 💧 in one of the world’s most water-scarce regions. Through a UN-Habitat-led training, she learned water-efficient farming techniques—turning challenges into opportunities. By applying these methods, she revived her family’s land, secured her livelihood, and proved that adaptation is possible, even in the driest conditions. Sabreen’s story is a testament to the power of knowledge and resilience in agriculture. #IWD2025 #ForAllWomenAndGirls

The 3+30+300 Principle: A Blueprint for Greener, Healthier Cities 🌳 Imagine stepping outside your home and seeing three large trees. Walking through your neighbourhood, 30% of the space is covered by a lush canopy. And within just 300 metres, a high-quality green space awaits. This is the 3+30+300 Principle - a simple yet powerful framework for building healthier, climate-resilient, and more liveable cities. Developed by urban forestry expert Cecil Konijnendijk, this principle is backed by research and already shaping urban policies worldwide. 🌍 Why does 3+30+300 matter? The benefits of urban trees and green spaces are profound: ✅ Mental health & well-being: Just seeing trees can reduce stress and improve focus. ✅ Climate resilience: Tree canopy helps cool cities and absorb stormwater. ✅ Social equity: Ensures all communities - not just the wealthiest - have access to nature. ✅ Biodiversity: Supports urban wildlife and ecological balance. It all starts with assessment, strategic planning, and collective action. Whether you’re a policymaker, urban planner, developer, or community leader - our guides provide the tools to turn this vision into reality. 📖 Check out our 2024 World Cities Report on strategies to build nature and resilience into our cities.

The future of our cities is shaped by the women who live, lead, and transform them! Yet, women and girls still face major barriers. Insecure tenure, economic inequalities, and discrimination keep too many from accessing adequate housing, pushing them into poverty and unsafe conditions. UN-Habitat is committed to breaking these barriers by championing gender equality and women’s leadership in urban development, fostering cities where all women have the opportunity to live with dignity, lead with influence, and thrive equitably. Our publication, Stronger Women, Stronger Cities, showcases impactful initiatives—from critical COVID-19 response efforts to empowering women-led communities. 💜 This #InternationalWomensDay, we stand #ForALLWomenAndGirls—for their rights, equality, and empowerment. Because when women lead, cities thrive. 🔗 Read more: https://loom.ly/1JP_u5Y #IWD2025

Gender equality cannot wait. Listen to the words of the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at #IWD2025, calling for a bold, urgent pledge to defend & advance rights #ForAllWomenAndGirls. We call on governments, organizations & businesses to join us in driving real political change in all that we do.

“Progress is only real if all people – especially women and girls – are included in it.” — UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach on #IWD2025 Women and girls are on the frontlines of the global housing crisis, which affects 2.8 billion people worldwide. Yet, they face greater threats: 🚫 Barriers to owning and accessing housing, land & property 💧 Shortages of basic services ⚠️ Increased safety risks Action to address this cannot wait. Women and girls must be empowered with equal rights and opportunities. Gender equality is not just a women’s issue. It is a basic human right that benefits everyone. #ForAllWomenAndGirls, we must act now to create safe, inclusive cities for all.

Meet Maria, Marlene, and Teisiane —women who refuse to let their neighbourhood’s history be erased. Pires was once a thriving, self-sufficient community, but industrialization and urban pressures have taken a toll. Now, they are at the forefront of leading for change. As part of UN-Habitat’s Horizontes Congonhas project, they’re speaking up for their community ensuring women’s voices shape the city’s future. 💙 📖 Learn more about this initiative: https://loom.ly/RR9RoPw #ForAllWomenAndGirls #IWD2025

As International Women’s Day approaches, we stand in solidarity with #Afghan women and girls, reaffirming our commitment to their rights, inclusion, and empowerment. 🎥 Loose Stephanie, UN-Habitat Afghanistan Country Programme Manager, reiterates our dedication to supporting Afghan women and ensuring they remain at the heart of our work. #ForAfghanWomen #InternationalWomensDay