<\/p>\n
UN-Habitat, the UN agency focused on sustainable urban development plus housing, has warned that nearly 3 billion people lack access to adequate housing worldwide. More than 1 billion people live in informal settlements, while over 300 million people experience homelessness across the Global South plus Global North.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN-Habitat data highlights stark regional pressures. In Africa, about 62% of urban dwellings are informal. In the Asia-Pacific region, over 500 million people lack access to basic water services, while more than 1 billion people live without adequate sanitation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In a video message supporting an upcoming global forum, Gere said the absence of a safe home blocks access to other essentials. Gere said that without safe housing, health, education, plus stable employment become far harder to secure. The message framed homelessness as more than the absence of shelter, linking homelessness to denial of security, healthcare, privacy, plus human dignity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The crisis will feature prominently at the World Urban Forum (WUF13), UN-Habitat\u2019s leading global conference on sustainable urbanisation, scheduled to take place in Baku, Azerbaijan. WUF13 will run under the theme \u201cHousing the world: Safe plus resilient cities plus communities\u201d, bringing together governments, civil society organisations, urban planners, private sector leaders, plus youth representatives to discuss solutions to the expanding housing emergency.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Gere Foundation, Spanish housing organisation HOGAR S\u00cd, plus UN-Habitat are working together to focus attention on ensuring access to adequate housing for all people. Advocates argue that homelessness reflects systemic failures in social protection plus housing policy, calling for long-term political commitment, stronger safety nets, plus housing-centred public strategies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacl\u00e1udia Rossbach said the collaboration underscores the need for global cooperation to confront urban challenges, with housing positioned as a foundation for dignity plus inclusion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33980,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-33979","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Hollywood Actor and Humanitarian Richard Gere has joined United Nations efforts aimed at tackling homelessness, describing housing as \u201cthe gateway to all other rights\u201d amid a growing global crisis.","published_date":"","news_description":"Hollywood Actor and Humanitarian Richard Gere has joined United Nations efforts aimed at tackling homelessness, describing housing as \u201cthe gateway to all other rights\u201d amid a growing global crisis.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33981,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33979\/revisions\/33981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}