Statement: UN Multistakeholder Consultation on the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda

 

In 2016, the New Urban Agenda was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador. The New Urban Agenda represents a shared vision for inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities. It included commitments to prevent and eliminate homelessness, and to improve the living conditions of people experiencing homelessness.

The New Urban Agenda is currently undergoing a midterm review, culminating in a High-Level meeting of the General Assembly in July 2026. At a UN multistakeholder consultation today, Depaul International delivered the following statement:

Member States committed in the New Urban Agenda to prevent and eliminate homelessness, improve living conditions, and implement integrated, prevention-oriented and Housing First approaches. Yet almost a decade on, we are not on track to meet these commitments. 

Homelessness is rising across every region and income level, driven by conflicts, climate impacts, inequality, unaffordable housing and weak social protection systems. UN-Habitat estimates that up to 3 billion people lack decent housing, over 1 billion live in informal settlements, and at least 330 million face absolute homelessness. Yet despite this scale, and despite the NUA commitments, international financing targeted to preventing and ending homelessness remains negligible. 

Homelessness is not a niche or standalone issue. 

• It is a climate issue, because climate-linked displacement and inadequate housing expose people to extreme heat, storms and pollution. 

• It is a public health issue, deeply interconnected with mental and physical health challenges, and infectious disease transmission. 

• It is a gender equality issue, disproportionately affecting women and girls in hidden and unsafe forms. 

• And it is an education issue, with children experiencing homelessness facing major barriers to learning and long-term development. 

If homelessness is treated only as a local concern, we will not fulfil the NUA’s pledge to leave no one behind. 

A central message for July’s Political Declaration must be: we cannot end what we do not measure. The NUA calls for high-quality, timely, disaggregated data. But globally, definitions and measurement of homelessness remain inconsistent. We welcome the UN-Habitat led work toward a global definition, yet this now needs political commitment, resourcing and acceleration. 

Looking toward the SDG review and the post-2030 agenda, homelessness must be explicitly recognised and monitored, not hidden beneath other indicators. We need visibility, comparability, and accountability. 

The good news is that solutions exist. Prevention-driven and housing-led approaches are being implemented successfully around the world. The gap is not knowledge; the gap is political will, financing and coordinated global action. 

This midterm review is our chance to acknowledge the urgency, close the implementation gap, and set out a bold, measurable pathway to deliver on the promises made in Quito.