Nairobi, 27 – 29 October 2020 – The Executive Board of UN-Habitat held its second session for 2020 virtually in keeping with COVID-19 protocols.

The President of the UN-Habitat Assembly, Ms. Martha Delgado of Mexico, commended the contribution of UN-Habitat in the fight against COVID-19 and urged member states to renew their support, including financial contributions to the agency.

UN-Habitat Executive Director Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif provided an update on the work of the agency and its reform process. She thanked member states for their continued financial support and highlighted that funding was needed  to ensure that sustainable urbanization is “not left out in multilateral as well as national platforms”.

The second day saw the passing of Resolution 1/2 on United Nations system-wide guidelines on safer cities and human settlements, Resolution 1/3 on enhancing capacity-building for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the urban dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as Resolution 1/4 on achieving gender equality through the work of UN-Habitat to support inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable cities and human settlements. The Board members discuss the Implementation of the Strategic Plan and the development of the capacity-building strategy.

On the last day, the Board looked at the normative and operational activities of UN-Habitat, including reporting on the activities of UN-Habitat and the implementation of subprogrammes, flagship programmes and technical cooperation activities among other areas.

The Executive Board aims to increase the oversight of UN-Habitat’s operations by member states and to strengthen UN-Habitat’s accountability, transparency and effectiveness. It comprises 36 member states elected by the UN-Habitat Assembly and convenes three times a year.

The first session of the Executive Board in 2021 is due to take place 6 – 7 April.