• Sustainability:
• Our Work:
• Human Settlements

Human Settlements

For the first time in history the majority of the world’s inhabitants are urban dwellers, as people flock to cities in search of economic opportunities.

Cities are expanding at an ever-increasing rate and many new inhabitants have no alternatives to living in a slum.

Within the Commonwealth’s 53 member countries it is estimated that 1 in 6 of the total population of nearly two billion people live in slums. In many of these countries, especially within Africa and Asia, this figure rises to two thirds. Slums are often associated with having poor access to clean water and sanitation and accompanying high levels of child mortality and disease.

In response to this challenge, the UN Global Conference Habitat II which took place in Istanbul, Turkey in 1996 agreed a broad framework - the Habitat Agenda - for dealing with poverty and issues of sustainable development in cities and other human settlements. The Habitat Agenda contains over 100 commitments and 600 recommendations on human settlements issues. All Commonwealth governments have signed up to the Habitat Agenda.

In September 1998 then Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku formally established the Commonwealth Consultative Group on Human Settlements (CCGHS) in support of the Habitat Agenda. At its inaugural meeting in Nairobi, Kenya in May 1999, the CCGHS adopted a Commonwealth goal of:

“Demonstrated progress towards adequate shelter for all with secure tenure and access to essential services in every community by 2015.”

The Commonwealth Secretariat conducts its work on Human Settlements through two main bodies. These are the CCGHS and ComHabitat.