The annual rate of population growth in the last census period (2001-2010) has reached 7.6%, the country’s population is projected to reach 2.2 million by 2030. The youth population aged between15-30 years comprises 30% of the total population; thus the Kingdom of Bahrain has embarked on the development of appropriate initiatives and schemes to meet the social, cultural and economic needs of this group in recognition of its significance as a human capital and a dividend that has the potential for achieving sustainable development.

Quito, 17 October 2016 - Making the New Urban Agenda a cornerstone of participatory, integrated and  sustainable urban development is the core message from the opening of Habitat III, the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development.

Otavalo, Ecuador, 13 October 2016 – With just days to go until the opening of the Habitat III conference in Quito, stakeholders have come to together to discuss the importance of including indigenous peoples, and especially youth and women, in the urbanization process.

Cairo, 12 October 2016 – Today UN-Habitat launches its global website in Arabic, ar.unhabitat.org, as well as two new social media channels on Twitter and Facebook reporting globally on UN-Habitat’s updates and activities in Arabic.

Nairobi, 5 August 2016 – In preparation for the Habitat III conference to be held in Quito in October, the third session of the Preparatory Committee - PrepCom3 - closed with strong progress towards the adoption of the New Urban Agenda.

In three intensive days of negotiations in Surabaya, Indonesia, delegates from member states recognized the importance of sustainable urbanization and discussed the ways in which it could influence Agenda 2030 and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Surabaya, 25 July 2016 – UN-Habitat has developed a tool that can measure the prosperity of a city through its City Prosperity Initiative.

Eduardo Moreno, Director of the Research and Capacity Development at UN-Habitat presented the new tool and comprehensively explained how it can be applied to policy and action for improvement and development.

The tool has been devised, he said, “To help monitor the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.”

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.

New York, 6 July 2015 – A new electronic platform allowing people from all over the world to contribute to the debates around the New Urban Agenda has been launched as part of the activities leading up to the Habitat III conference in October 2016.

Quito, Ecuador, 10 June 2015 – UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos last week undertook a two day mission to Ecuador where he held high level meetings with President Rafael Correa and the Minister of Urban Development and Housing, Maria de los Angeles Duarte.