On 13 July 2026, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, receives the final report on child safety online from the co-chairs of the special panel of experts.
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Press Conference by Anacláudia Rossbach, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UN-Habitat; Ambassador Erastus Ekitela Lokaale, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya to the United Nations; and Shirley Pryce, Jamaica Household Workers Union, GROOTS Jamaica, Huairou Commission and Member of the UN-Habitat Advisory Group on Gender Issues. They briefed on Renewing Commitments on Sustainable Cities and Communities and the launch of the SDG 11 Global Synthesis Report 2026.
UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach said, “adequate housing is the foundation of sustainable cities and communities. Housing is not only about shelter, it determines access to transport, employment, education, healthcare, public space and economic opportunities.”
The world is off track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG 11) on sustainable cities and communities, ten years after its adoption, according to the SDG 11 Global Report 2026, launched by UN-Habitat during the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
Prepared with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), UNDRR, WHO, UNODC, UNESCO, UNEP and other partners, the report presents the United Nations system’s joint assessment of progress towards achieving SDG 11.
The report identifies the global housing crisis as one of the greatest barriers to sustainable urban development. Today, more than three billion people lack access to adequate housing, including over 1.1 billion living in informal settlements and slums.
The UN-Habitat Executive Director said, “this report reminds us that housing crisis is fundamentally a crisis of inequality. The people most affected are often those facing multiple forms of exclusion, including women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants, displaced populations, indigenous people, and residents of informal settlements.”
She continued, “addressing these inequalities requires more than building houses. The report calls for in-situ upgrading of slums and informal settlements in partnership with communities. Residents must be recognized as co-producers of solutions with investments that improve housing, security, infrastructure, public transport, public spaces and resilience without displacement.”
Rossbach highlighted that the report “demonstrates that climate related disasters are becoming an increasingly central urban challenge. Encouragingly, countries are strengthening resilience planning more national urban policies meet international standards, and an increasing number of countries have aligned national and local disaster risk reduction strategies.”
She added, “141 countries have national disaster risk reduction strategies, and 116 countries report aligned local strategies. However, planning must now translate into implementation through safer housing, resilient infrastructure, risk informed land use and stronger local preparedness.”
The Executive Director said, “the report concludes with a call for renewed commitment during the remaining years of the 2030 agenda,” reiterating the need for “greater investment, especially in adequate housing, stronger political leadership, improved urban governance and a renewed commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind as cities continue to grow.”
Ambassador of Kenya Erastus Ekitela Lokaale also spoke to reporters. He said, “for Kenya, these findings resonate deeply, guided by our Constitution and the bottom-up economic transformation agenda.”
He continued, “we have placed affordable housing, integrated urban planning and resilient infrastructure at the centre of our national development priorities through the Affordable housing program, informal settlement upgrading initiatives, expanded urban infrastructure and investments in sustainable mobility. We are working to ensure that urbanization becomes a driver of economic opportunity, social inclusion and environmental sustainability.”
For her part, Shirley Pryce of Jamaica Household Workers Union and a member of the UN-Habitat Advisory Group on Gender Issues said, “housing is much more than a roof over our heads or four walls. Housing is dignity. It’s safety. Housing is health. Housing is opportunity. It is where children learn, where families recover, where a person finding security and where resilience begins.”
“Haiti’s crisis has become deeper, more complex and more urgent,” said Youri Saadallah, Global Emergency Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, following a mission to Haiti.
Briefing reporters in New York from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he said 6.4 million people, more than half the country’s population, require humanitarian assistance, and only one in ten public health facilities with inpatient capacity are fully operational nationwide.
“Speaking not only as a humanitarian, but also as a father and, quite frankly, as a human being, the situation we witnessed is unacceptable,” Saadallah said. “The strongest message we heard was that people no longer feel safe. They are being stripped of [their] dignity. Women and children are bearing the brunt of this crisis. Sexual violence, including collective rape, is rampant. There is a disturbing sense that such abuses are becoming normal.”
Saadallah said armed groups have expanded in Port-au-Prince and infiltrated displacement sites. “One mother told us that she has to sleep on top of her daughter every night to keep her safe,” he said. “And sadly, this story is only one among the many we heard throughout our visit.”
He added that the recruitment and use of children by armed groups increased by 200 per cent, and grave violations against children rose by 21 per cent in 2025 compared to the previous year. “One community center we visited removed all glass from its windows because staff fear that severely traumatized children may use the shards from these glass windows to harm themselves,” he said. “That’s the reality within the country.”
Maria Moita, Director of the Department of Humanitarian Response and Recovery at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said nearly 1.5 million people are internally displaced, the highest number ever recorded due to violence in Haiti.
“Port-au-Prince remains the epicenter of Haiti’s displacement crisis,” Moita said. “Schools have become shelters. Communities have been uprooted. Safe space is almost non-existent in Haiti. Displacement sites are extremely congested. There is no space to sleep or live with dignity. There’s no space to install the most basic services, such as latrines or cooking areas. People are living on top of each other. Privacy is non-existent and therefore protection needs are immense.”
Moita said the displacement crisis extends beyond Haiti’s borders. “In Ouanaminthe and Belladère we witnessed a human impact of large-scale deportations from Dominican Republic. Humanitarian partners reported 600 to 700 forced returns every day through Ouanaminthe alone, many people are arriving with nothing. Many have already fled violence inside Haiti before they were deported.”
Saadallah and Moita are part of a group of Emergency Directors, including UN agency representatives and representatives of large NGOs, who undertook a mission to Haiti.
As hazards become more frequent, complex and interconnected, cities face growing risks driven by climate change, rapid urbanization, population growth and development patterns that place people and assets in harm’s way. Extreme heat, flooding, earthquakes, technological disruptions and other hazards threaten lives, infrastructure and development gains. Ahead of the 2026 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction under the theme “Resilience Starts at Home”, this session poses an urgent question: are our cities built to protect people where they live? With SDGs 6, 9 and 11 under review, this discussion highlights why investing in resilient cities is essential to safeguard communities and sustain progress.
Speakers:
– Mr. Kamal Kishore, SRSG for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of UNDRR
– Dr. Esam Halawani, Decision Support Center Director, Al Madina Region Development Authority
Moderator: Ms. Elaine Reyes, News Anchor, UN Insider & Americas Now (CGTN America)
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements)
His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa attends the 110th Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood held at the South African Memorial in Longueval, France.
Survivors of the genocide in Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina share how they are keeping alive the memory of the more than 8,300 men and boys who were killed in the town in July 1995.
Watch the full film "The Memory Keepers of Srebrenica": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK060SfOAC4
Featuring Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, on why truth must be told and facts must be defended
The Uniformed Gender Parity Strategy (UGPS) is helping advance the meaningful participation of uniformed women across United Nations peace operations. Through voices from Headquarters and the field, this video highlights how the meaningful participation of uniformed women contributes to more effective and inclusive peacekeeping.
Survivors of the genocide in Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina share how they are keeping alive the memory of the more than 8,300 men and boys who were killed in the town in July 1995.
Watch the full film "The Memory Keepers of Srebrenica": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK060SfOAC4
Featuring Judge Graciela Gatti Santana, President of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, on why truth must be told and facts must be defended
Young adults want relationships, children and hopeful futures — but financial and job insecurity are standing in the way, new UNFPA survey finds.
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Diene Keita briefed reporters today (8 Jul) on the launch of UNFPA’s new global report on the findings of Demographic Futures Survey.
The new UNFPA survey of more than 108,000 internet-connected young adults across 73 countries and territories offers a revealing insight into what young people today want regarding relationships, children and the future — and what they feel is standing in the way. The results of UNFPA’s Demographic Futures Survey are published today in its report Lives, Choices and Futures: What young people want and what shapes their decisions about relationships and parenthood.
Keita said, “the findings are striking. Most young people aspire to partnership and parenthood, but many do not feel the conditions are in place to achieve these goals. Economic and housing constraints were the most commonly cited barriers to both partnership and having children.”
The UNFPA chief also said, “some people have suggested that younger generation are rejecting marriage and family life. But our data shows this is simply not true,” explaining that “two thirds of the respondents say their ideal relationship involves marriage. Yet among those aged between 25 and 39 who want to have a partner, one quarter are single and not dating. Most respondents said they want to have children with two children the most commonly reported ideal family size.”
Financial security topped the list of condition young adults say they need to feel ready for parenthood, the Executive Director said.
She continued, “this was cited as important by 88 of the respondents. Stable employment followed closely at 87 percent and emotional readiness at 85 percent.”
“They are asking for the condition that would make real choice possible: decent work, affordable housing, health care, sexual and positive health services, child care support, parental leave and gender equality at work and at home,” Keita added.
Executive Director emphasized, “it is uncertainty, not unwillingness, that is making young people question whether they can start a family. And that uncertainty is not only economic. For many young people, conflict and insecurity also shape whether the futures feel safe enough to plan for a family and that distinction matter. If we misread the problem, we risk designing the wrong solution.”
She also said, “although it is clear that young people are worried, but they are not without hope. Two thirds of the respondents say they feel positive about the future, even as conflict, economic insecurity and inequality ranked among the top concerns.”
The UNFPA chief reiterated, “the right based response to demographic change is about ensuring every person has the agency the support and opportunity to make some of the most intimate and consequential decision of their lives, and that drives the work we do in helping government strengthen population data, understanding the demographic trends and development data based population policy that uphold rights and expand choice.”
She added, “all these issues are deeply, deeply political. This is precisely why open evidence-based dialog is so important.”
