Nairobi, 25 June 2020 – UN-Habitat, the United Nations Programme promoting socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities, has opened nominations for its prestigious Scroll of Honour Award.

Up to five Scrolls of Honour will be awarded on World Habitat Day 2020 on Monday 5 October. The theme for this year’s World Habitat Day, celebrated every year on the first Monday of October, is “Housing For All: A better Urban Future”.

Individuals, organizations, the private sector, national and local government, civil society, NGOs, bilateral and multi-lateral aid agencies, academic institutions and the media are among those eligible to apply. Nominations for individuals, projects and organizations must come from a third party.

The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award was launched in 1989 to acknowledge initiatives which have made outstanding contributions in the field of sustainable urbanization and has recognized 192 initiatives. The Selection Committee will look for best practices initiatives and achievements related to Sustainable Development Goal 11 particularly in the context of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and innovative solutions. In line with this year’s theme, there will be a focus on achievements in housing which has become particularly critical during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The Selection Committee, which is made up of UN-Habitat experts and senior management, will make recommendations for winning initiatives to the UN-Habitat Executive Director. The award, a plaque engraved with the name of the winner, project or organization will be presented during the Global Observance of the World Habitat Day. The deadline for nominations is 17 August 2020 and winners will be notified by 2 September.

The nomination form is available to be filled in English and submitted directly here. It should be accompanied by a document outlining achievements as detailed in the Guidelines and can include links/uploads of media coverage, videos and photographs. The nomination form can also be copy pasted and sent with the relevant documents to unhabitat-whd@un.org.

More information is on https://urbanoctober.unhabitat.org/whd and in the Guidelines https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2020/06/scroll_of_honour_guidelines.pdf

For further enquiries contact unhabitat-whd@un.org.