UN-Habitat’s governance structure is a three-tier structure made up of the UN-Habitat Assembly, the Executive Board and the Committee of Permanent Representatives. The General Assembly of the United Nations in its resolution A/RES/73/239 decided to dissolve the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and to replace it with a United Nations Habitat Assembly of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat Assembly). UN-Habitat Assembly is a universal body composed of the 193 member states of the United Nations and convenes every four years at the Headquarters of UN-Habitat in Nairobi. The Executive Board is composed of 36 member states elected by the UN-Habitat Assembly and meets three times a year to increase the oversight by Member States of UN-Habitat operations. The Committee of Permanent Representatives of UN-Habitat (CPR) meets twice every four years in an open-ended manner. The three governing bodies together are intended to strengthen the accountability and transparency of UN-Habitat, and provide an effective oversight mechanism for UN-Habitat to enhance its normative and operational activities.

The Executive Board of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme will hold its second session for the year 2020 from 27 to 29 October 2020. The session will be held online. The decision to hold the session online was based on the recommendation by the Bureau of the Executive Board of UN-Habitat during its meeting on 10 August 2020, based on the continued unpredictable global circumstances with regard to COVID-19 and measures put in place by the Government of Kenya, the United Nations and the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON).