This  is UN-Habitat’s sixth  and final annual progress report on the implementation of the strategic plan 2014—2019. The report presents analysis of progress on indicators against set targets for each expected accomplishment over the Strategic Plan period (2014—2019). Key achievements and detailed results across all scales are presented. Impact stories demonstrate the concrete and practical ways that UN-Habitat has transformed the lives of beneficiaries.

Global commitment to the inclusive right to adequate housing was renewed at the Third United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III. Housing will hence prove central to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11: ‘Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’.

While 220 million people have been lifted out of slum conditions over the past 10 years, the number of people living in slum conditions is likely to grow by six million every year, to reach a total of 889 million by 2020. It is necessary to equip cities and their practitioners with the tools and capacities to anticipate and control urban growth and city officials will require knowledge, skills and methodologies that will allow them not only to upgrade existing slums but also prevent the appearance of new ones.

The UN-Habitat Global Activities Report formally the Operational Activities Report is an historical progress report to the Governing Council that takes into account the development made in addressing the UN-Habitat’s project portfolio at the national, regional and global levels. The Agency’s work has been more focused on promoting national urban policy reforms alongside building institutional and human capacities, and including helping and supporting the governments with the implementation of the national urban plans.

This book documents the processes, challenges and related successes of a pilot project on slum upgrading in Soweto East villages of Kibera informal settlement, Nairobi. As a post project intervention assessment report, it focuses on distilling lessons learnt and best practices with a view of informing future strategies and policy decisions on slum upgrading interventions for similar urban settlements in any part of the world.