UN-Habitat is responding to a growing volume of requests from both national and local governments to help them prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on more than 40 years of urban experience, much of it in humanitarian situations, we are focusing on the city-level response to the crisis.

UN-Habitat implemented the “Project for Improving Living Environment and Disaster Prevention Capacity in Cambodia” with grant aid from the Government of Japan (2019-2020) to support the recovery process of the 2018 floods and strengthen climate resilience of the disaster-affected population. The project was completed with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of 202 houses with 1,098 people.

The conflict in Darfur destroyed a large number of health and public facilities which obstructs the voluntary return of IDPs. UN-Habitat has been working on construction work in Darfur with the support of USAID, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Government of Japan, Government of Qatar through UN Darfur Fund, and UNAMID in cooperation with Government of Sudan.

How can cycles of risk accumulation in African cities be broken in ways that also enhance local and city-wide development? This book addresses this question by drawing on the experience of researchers, policy makers and community organisers working in African cities.

The impacts of climate change are beginning to impact people’s wellbeing and livelihoods across the world, and as they are both principle emitters of emissions and centres of innovation, cities must be at the centre of climate action. This Enhancer helps identify trends, vulnerabilities, and synergies within an urban system, providing a basis on which to initiate climate action.

Through a comparative analysis of the 19 cities of the Global Future Cities Programme, the report shares experiences and knowledge gained during the Programme’s Strategic Development Phase. It identifies common urban trends in urban planning, mobility, resilience and data, as well as underlying systemic barriers and enablers for sustainable urban development observed across the Global Future Cities.

This report summarizes the discussions from the 2019 Urban Resilience Hackathon organized by UN-Habitat, Kenya Red Cross Society, and the International Centre for Humanitarian Affairs, which targeted youth from informal settlements and ASAL areas to brainstorm for solutions to pressing issues in Mukuru informal settlement, in Nairobi, Kenya.

UN-Habitat’s three-pronged approach considers spatial planning in relation to legal and institutional frameworks, in addition to financial mechanisms. The demonstration project for Buraidah has been elaborated to include schematic designs and feasibility studies, that can later be transformed into implementation plans. This Demo project is to inform Policy making of needed urban reforms.

Sudan has been experiencing long lasting conflicts and tribal disputes. To respond the uprising challenges, UN-Habitat has been assisting returnees, IDPs and host communities in the post conflict areas to live together in peace in partnership with the Government of Japan.