In news– World Habitat Day is observed on the first Monday of October every year, which marks the beginning of Urban October.
About the day-
- It is observed to bring attention to the state of our towns and cities, as well as the basic right of all people to adequate shelter.
- Theme for 2022 is “Mind the Gap. Leave No One and No Place Behind”.
- The focus is on the growing inequalities and challenges in cities and human settlements. These are the problems that have been aggravated due to what the UN calls triple Cs: Coronavirus (COVID-19), Climate, and Crisis. These triple Cs have hampered the progress made against poverty.
- In 1985, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to observe World Habitat Day.
- World Habitat Day was first celebrated in 1986 in Nairobi, Kenya, with the theme ‘Shelter is my right’.
- In 1989, the UN Human Settlements Programme launched “The Habitat Scroll of Honour award”. It is the most prestigious human settlement award in the world.
UN Human Settlements Programme-
- The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the United Nations agency for human settlements.
- It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlements and and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat I) held in Vancouver, Canada, in 1976.
- It maintains its headquarters at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.
- It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.
- The main documents outlining the mandate of the organisation are the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, Habitat Agenda, Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, and Resolution 56/206.