Surabaya, 25 July 2016 – UN-Habitat Executive Director, Dr Joan Clos has said that much of the success in achieving the goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda will depend on “building sustainable cities.”

Dr Clos made the statement at the press conference for the opening of the third Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Human Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development to be held in Quito, October this year, of which he is also the Secretary General.  The conference was opened by the Vice President of Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla.

Shanghai – 23 July 2016. The Executive Director of UN-Habitat, Dr. Joan Clos, wrapped up a 3-day official visit to China, where he met several high-level officials and signed new agreements, further strengthening the collaboration between UN-Habitat and the Chinese government. Dr. Clos was in China upon invitation of Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of China.

Kabul, 23 July 2014 – UN-Habitat has launched an innovative online monitoring tool employing Google Maps to document the progress of community and municipal-led development projects in Afghanistan. The initiative has been undertaken as part of programming funded by the Government of Japan in the country. 

Manila, 11 July 2014 – The Philippines has been conducting a series of extensive sub-national and national consultation workshops since April this year with diverse urban actors such as national government officials, local authorities, civil society, private sector, academic institutions and all relevant interest groups as it prepares its National Report for Habitat III.

Nay Pyi Taw, 10 July 2014 – A Memorandum of Understanding was signed today at Amara Hotel in Nay Pyi Taw by the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry (MOECAF), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to formalize their collaboration in the field of environment and climate change in Myanmar. 

Nairobi/Thika 3 July 2014—Leading a strong delegation on a visit to Kenya, the Governor of Fukuoka in Japan Hiroshi Ogawa pledged stronger cooperation between his prefecture and UN-Habitat as well as Kenya in general.

Colombo, 1 July 2014: Fifty high level delegates from Government Ministries and partner agencies came together at a workshop held in Colombo Tuesday last week to formulate the National Habitat III Report. The workshop was convened by the Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing and Common Amenities of the Government of Sri Lanka, following an invitation by UN-Habitat.

Jakarta, 25 June 2014: The Ministry of Public Works in Indonesia has signed an agreement with UN-Habitat renewing its commitment to the sustainable development of cities and urban areas.

The agreement was signed during a recent official two-day meeting by UN Under-Secretary-General and UN-Habitat Executive Director, Dr Joan Clos to the country.

UN-Habitat in Tuvalu

Country Information

The Pacific has a very rapid rate of urbanisation and high population growth and is not well enough prepared to cope with the challenges and opportunities that urban growth presents. UN Habitat is well placed to assist Tuvalu to improve its urban management and planning practices and enable new thinking and actions about how best to evolve cities, towns and peri-urban areas for the future.