Beledweyne, the largest city of Hishabelle Sate of Somalia, has constantly suffered from devastating floods. Over the past decade, floods have increased in magnitude and recurrence, reaching alarming levels by 2019, where 68% of the city was flooded.

Students from the Institute for Cooperation in Basic Habitability (ICHaB-ETSAM) and colleagues from UN-Habitat Somalia Programme have jointly developed this working paper. It aims to establish the spatial basis for flood risk…

The 2020 edition of the World Water Development Report (WWDR 2020) entitled ‘Water and Climate Change’ aims at helping the water community to tackle the challenges of climate change and informing the climate change community about the opportunities that improved water management offers in terms of adaptation and mitigation.

The scientific evidence is clear: the climate is changing and will continue to change, affecting societies mainly through water. Climate change will affect…

Nairobi’s Public Open Space ecosystem is a complex tapestry of natural and environmental contrasts. It includes diverse typologies such as urban forests, cemeteries, parks and gardens, squares and courtyards among others. Overall, there are 826 public open spaces in the city county, covering a combined area of 3106.4Ha. This is equiva¬lent to 5.32 percent of the built-up area and translates to 6.56 square metres per capita public open space.

The report assesses the statutory and customary land administration systems in the five Darfur states and provides guidance on how to secure land and property rights of the people voluntarily returning to Darfur and of other vulnerable groups - such as IDPs, refugees, women and youth. The report also looks at the functioning of land administration and how it can be improved in a fit-for-purpose, incremental and feasible manner for the benefit of the whole Darfur’s population. An adequate and…

As part of the stakeholder engagement activities for the Kalobeyei Infrastructure Corridor Development Plan, in Turkana County, Kenya, UN-Habitat and partners organized a workshop on “Mobilizing Investments”, which plays a critical role for the plan to be realised. The findings of the workshop are captured herein.

The Settlement Profile for Nakivale, Uganda provides an holistic analysis of Nakivale’s current situation including challenges, opportunities and key trends. As the oldest refugee settlement in Africa, Nakivale is uniquely positioned. The profile assesses Nakivale’s development potential in order to understand what future interventions would be necessary to achieve long-term sustainability.

The Settlement Profile for Kebribeyah provides a holistic analysis of the settlement’s current situation including challenges, opportunities and ways forward. As the oldest remaining refugee settlement in the Somali Regional State, Kebribeyah has unique opportunities. The profile assesses Kebribeyah’s development potential in order to frame a starting point to develop strategic planning scenarios.

The Settlement Profiling Tool, developed by UN-Habitat in partnership with UNHCR, sets out the framework for preparing cross-sectoral spatial profiles which are intended to help inform urban development policy decisions. The settlement profiling tool particularly focuses on situations where protracted displacement has occurred and supports a shift towards prioritising development interventions.

The South African governance system, defined by the Constitution of 1996, specifies the mandate of the three spheres of government: national, provincial and local. Recent laws and policies, including the Draft Climate Change Bill (2018), give a larger mandate to local governments when planning for climate action and responding to local challenges.