The UN-Habitat Global Activities Report formally the Operational Activities Report is an historical progress report to the Governing Council that takes into account the development made in addressing the UN-Habitat’s project portfolio at the national, regional and global levels. The Agency’s work has been more focused on promoting national urban policy reforms alongside building institutional and human capacities, and including helping and supporting the governments with the implementation of the national urban plans. UN-Habitat activities and programmes at the global, regional and national levels are crucial in increasing synergy for greater national ownership of the various sustainable urban development tools and best practices being promoted by the UN and the Habitat Agenda partners around the world. This report of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the world’s leading authority on urban matters, demonstrates through some of its selected activities delivered by the thematic Branches and the Regional Offices in the last two years how working together as Habitat Agenda partners at different levels can achieve for the urban resident and more specially the urban poor and the most vulnerable members of the urban society being the youth, omen and the elderly who are always at the receiving end of the urban threats and challenges.

Despite a positive trend in inequality reduction in recent years, Latin American and the Caribbean cities are still the most unequal in the world. The publication Construction of More Equitable Cities: Public Policies for Inclusion in Latin America presented by UN-Habitat and CAF – development bank of Latin America examines, for the first time, income and consumption inequalities in a large sample of cities (over 300) over a period of 20 years (1990-2010). After comparing inequality trends, the study analyzes the factors that have created and reproduced them. It provides evidence of the relationship between inequality and different dimensions of development. The study concludes with policy recommendations that local authorities and other tiers of governments can implement to achieve more equitable cities.