By Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Chairman of the Advisory Board of CCSI, University Professor at Columbia University, and Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Government should address informal settlement housing backlog in the country. Addressing challenges posed by informal settlements will help government to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals such as providing access to basic water and sanitation. Underlying socio-economic causes of informal settlements should be tackled. When addressing challenges posed by informal settlements, government should provide the urban poor with cost effective access to urban environments.

From 11-14 November in Bahrain, decisions are being made that will influence priorities of governments around the world.

In September 2015, at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, 193 countries endorsed the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals – known as the SDGs or Global Goals. This collection of 17 ambitious goals and 169 targets form a framework to address the global challenge of eradicating poverty. 

Ask a land rights defender if there is a human right to land, and she will likely say “Yes, without a doubt.” For people around the world, land is a source of food, shelter, and livelihoods; it’s an economic asset, a crucial safety net, a link with culture and social identity, even a living relative or ancestor. Given their importance, land rights are surely human rights.

By Mary Jane Ncube, Farai Shone Mutondoro and Manase Chiweshe

As political parties gear up for the 2018 national elections in Zimbabwe, urban land appears to be emerging as an important campaigning tool for ruling party Zanu PF. 

Amid recent mass public protests against corruption, economic decline and an import ban on basic commodities, young people who showed loyalty to the party werepromised land.  

By George McCarthy, President and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

By Oumar Sylla, Director of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN)

On behalf of UN-Habitat, particularly the Land and the Global Land Tool Network Unit, which also serves as the GLTN Secretariat, I was pleased to present some key messages at the third Preparatory Committee Meeting of Habitat III.

Blog by: Alyssa Fischer, WRI

Date: October 14, 2016

Source: WRI

Source: NCD Alliance

Public space interventions have the potential to contribute to progress across numerous Agenda 2030 goals and targets, not only SDG11 on Sustainable Cities. Kristie Daniel explores the opportunities public spaces present for different SDGs, and summarises the case for governments and communities to prioritise investing in them.