Our strategy is linked to three overarching principles:

Leaving No One Behind (LNOB): Leaving no one behind puts the most vulnerable first at the forefront. It requires inclusive governance creating systems to connect and engage bottom-up in policy, strategy design and not least implementation. It stands for designing solutions from an equity-lens to deliver equality for all and ultimately housing for all.

People at the Center: Communities are most crucial drivers of change. They are key partners for community transformation. Community mobilization and community partnerships on decision making, policy development, institutionalization, and financing are much significant. The existing scale of the challenge requires communities to be in the lead and contribute to build community assets and support transformation.

Leaving No Place Behind: Place matters for an individual or communities’ well-being and standard of living. Leaving no place behind addresses the spatial disparities within the cities, in peri-urban areas, and the rural-urban continuum. Bridging the gap between leading and lagging areas is crucial to ensure that no communities are spatially excluded from having equal access to adequate housing, basic amenities and infrastructure.

Strategy

UN-Habitat, India country office is promoting knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance and collaborative action for transformative and tangible outcomes in India’s diverse system of cities and human settlements. GoI-UN Sustainable Development Co-operation Framework 2023-2027, and UN Habitat Strategic Plan 2019-2023  are the guiding instruments in conceptualizing and implementing country level programmes and partnerships.

UN-Habitat India’s current portfolio is oriented on the following domains of change: (i) Reduced spatial inequality and poverty in communities across the urban - rural continuum; (ii) Enhanced shared prosperity of cities and regions; and (iii) Strengthened climate action and improved urban environment. The programme portfolio encompasses climate-resilient sustainable planning and financing, zero-waste MSW management and circular economy of waste, gender and youth mainstreaming in project programming, and SDG localization among others.