The Global Activities Report 2015, takes into account the progress made in addressing UN-Habitat’s projects portfolio with a view to increasing its impact and facilitating national ownership. An encouraging trend during the current reporting period is that the earmarked portfolio has continued to grow, confirming rising demand for the Agency’s technical expertise.

This upward trend, consistent with UN-Habitat’s strategy to expand its earmarked projects portfolio, has been sustained, from a level of USD 136 million in 2012, to USD 171 million in 2013 – representing a 25 per cent increase, and to USD 172 million by November 2014.

These contributions have enabled UN-Habitat to provide strong support of more than USD 162 million in 2014 alone to 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 18 countries in Asia and the Pacific, 9 countries in the Arab States region, and 19 countries in Lati America and the Caribbean, in addition to regional programmes and normative global initiatives.

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.

Los países y las ciudades de Latinoamérica han entrado en una senda de reducción de desigualdades. Sin embargo, las brechas que separan pobres de ricos siguen siendo las más elevadas del mundo. ONU-Hábitat y la CAF - Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina presentan el libro Construcción de ciudades más equitativas: políticas públicas para la inclusión en América Latina, el cual examina, por primera vez, las desigualdades en el ingreso y el consumo en una amplia muestra de 300 ciudades sobre un periodo de 20 años (1990-2010).

El estudio compara las tendencias en la evolución de las desigualdades, y analiza los factores que las han creado y reproducido a lo largo del tiempo. Así mismo, señala las relaciones existentes entre desigualdades y otras dimensiones del desarrollo. Esta publicación concluye con recomendaciones de políticas públicas que las autoridades locales y otros niveles de gobierno pueden implementar para la construcción de ciudades más equitativas.

The increasing prominence of the youth bulge in most urban areas presents a unique opportunity, as they represent the most dynamic human resource available. Their numbers today are larger than at any point in human history. Yet this group suffers the most from urban unemployment and often feels that they lack equal access to opportunities.

This is especially acute in developing countries, which have a relatively youthful population that must be mobilised to realise greater economic and social development goals.

Youth are key to the prosperity of cities in the developing world, yet many barriers prevent them from fulfilling this role - most notably access to education, vocational training, and employment. It is crucial that governments and institutions assist youth to overcome these barriers by facilitating equitable access to education and employment.