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Representatives from governments, civil society and academia on Monday issued the appeal at a World Habitat Day gathering in Muscat, Oman.<\/p>\n
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Held under the theme \u201cAdequate Housing for All\u201d, the event called for greater investment in communities and closer cooperation among governments, businesses and civil society organisations. \u201cAdequate housing is not a luxury. It is a foundation for a dignified life and for sustainable cities,\u201d UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacl\u00e1udia Rossbach said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHousing needs to be treated as a public priority alongside land and basic services.\u201d<\/p>\n
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More than 3 billion people are denied adequate housing, while over 1 billion live in informal settlements and slums. Many others are homeless or have been displaced by conflict, disasters and climate change.<\/p>\n
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UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres described adequate housing as \u201cthe foundation of dignity, security and opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n
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Guterres said investment in housing and the transformation of informal settlements could reduce poverty and inequality while strengthening climate resilience and social stability.<\/p>\n
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UN Habitat Assembly President Nga Kor Ming said access to a physical structure alone was insufficient. \u201cA house without clean water, safety or legal security is not a home. It is a poverty trap,\u201d Ming said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTo deliver adequate housing for all, we must move away from quick fixes to systemic transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The UN considers housing adequate when conditions meet seven requirements, including access to services, affordability, habitability, accessibility and a suitable location. \u201cAdequate housing means much more than a physical structure with four walls and a roof,\u201d Rossbach said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cA family may have a roof and still spend so much on rent that there is little left for food, education or healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Guterres called for coordinated action by national and local governments, stronger partnerships and greater use of data in housing decisions.<\/p>\n
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The international financial system should also be reformed to provide developing countries with predictable and affordable financing for large-scale housing investment. \u201cOn this World Habitat Day, let us treat housing as a public good and build a world where everyone has a place to call home,\u201d Guterres said.<\/p>\n
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World Habitat Day, celebrated October 5, begins Urban October, a month-long campaign promoting adequate housing and sustainable urban development.<\/p>\n
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–UN\/ChannelAfrica-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43319,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-47281","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Governments must treat adequate housing as a public priority as nearly 3.4 billion people worldwide face poor living conditions, homelessness or housing insecurity, the United Nations (UN) says.","published_date":"","news_description":"Governments must treat adequate housing as a public priority as nearly 3.4 billion people worldwide face poor living conditions, homelessness or housing insecurity, the United Nations (UN) says.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47281","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\/47281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47282,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47281\/revisions\/47282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=47281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}