Mind the Gap. Leave No One and No Place Behind

“Today, over one billion people live in overcrowded settlements with inadequate housing and that number is rising every day. We need more urgent action and greater investment to provide affordable housing to all alongside access to electricity, water, sanitation, transport, and other basic services. To leave no one behind is the core pledge of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”- Antonio Guterres- United Nations Secretary-General. All across the globe millions of people live in squalor. This is challenging for many governments and over the years various programmes and solutions have been sought. UN-Habitat promotes transformative change in cities and human settlements through knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance and collaborative action to leave no one and no place behind. World Habitat Day is held on the first Monday of October. The United Nations (UN) designated the first Monday of October of every year as World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of our habitats, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter. The day is also intended to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to shape the future of our cities and towns. In 1985 the United Nations selected the first Monday of October as World Habitat Day. The idea is to reflect on the state of our towns and cities and the basic right of all citizens to adequate shelter. It is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat. The theme: “Mind the Gap. Leave No One and No Place Behind”, will look at the problems of growing inequality and challenges in cities and human settlements. The United Nations states the COVID-19 pandemic and recent conflicts have reversed years of progress made in the fight against poverty, resulting in the emergence of newly poor people those who would have exited poverty in the absence of the pandemic but remain poor, and those who have fallen into poverty on account of the pandemic. According to the UN-Habitat’s World Cities Report, the number of people affected was between 119 and 124 million in 2020, and between 143 and 163 million in 2021. Tackling urban poverty and inequality have become an urgent global priority. Urbanization Urbanization presents some of the most significant opportunities and challenges in the world today. Cities are centres for economic growth and development but also face demographic, environmental, economic and social challenges. The United Nation’s Agenda for Sustainable Development and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #11 – “to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, identifies sustainable urbanization as one of the key priorities for global development. The adoption of the new Urban Agenda by the United Nations in 2016 has seen national and local governments around the world embark on a transformative path towards making SDG11 a reality. The UN hopes that by engaging all stakeholders, cities have the ability to harness transformational change and improve the life of their inhabitants. Unfortunately, in many contexts, cities lack the capacity to enact this change. Thus ensuring cities have the capacity, capability and tools to address the challenges posed by urbanization has become an urgent global issue. Urbanization is the process by which populations move from rural to urban areas, enabling cities and towns to grow. It can also be termed as a progressive increase in the number of people living in towns and cities. It is highly influenced by the idea that cities and towns have achieved better economic, political, and social mileages compared to rural areas. Urbanization is very common in developing and developed worlds as more and more people have the tendency of moving closer to towns and cities to acquire “privileged” social and economic services as well as benefits. These include social and economic advantages such as better education, health care, sanitation, housing, business opportunities, and transportation. As a result population density always accompany urbanization which in itself is problematic. In some societies this is the genesis for garrison constituencies where politicians carefully select residents to live in specific locations; in return those residents are expected to vote for a particular political party en bloc . The UN adds, cities and local governments play a front-line role in responding to crises and emergencies as well as in planning for an inclusive, resilient, and green future. To prepare urban areas for future catastrophes, we need to start with cities. Thus, local action and local implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals are more important than ever. Collective Transformation In Jamaica, 54% of the population resides in urban areas yet only 30% of the land area is urbanized. Globally, 80% of energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions are accounted for by cities. In Jamaica, the energy sector, which is primarily based in urban areas, accounts for 73% of carbon emissions. Housing is a fundamental human right. According to Cities Alliance, approximately, 1.8 billion people, or more than 20 percent of the world’s population, lack adequate housing. There are 1 billion people living in informal settlements and slums and more than 100 million people are homeless. By 2030, the numbers of people in inadequate housing could increase to 3 billion. As dwellers of this planet we all have a basic right to affordable housing. Governments worldwide owe their citizenry this basic human right. It is obvious that governments alone cannot solve this problem. It is therefore critical that partnership be formed. One such partnership is the joining of resources in a private public alliance to include Non-Government Organizations (NGO’s) in order to achieve an inclusive, resilient, and green future. In the words of former president Jimmy Carter, habitat gives us an opportunity which is very difficult to find: to reach out and work side by side with those who never have had a decent home but work with them on a completely equal basis. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo © #WorldHabitatDay