{"id":17682,"date":"2026-03-24T08:04:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:04:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/03\/24\/advancing-adequate-housing-wuf13-baku\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T08:15:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T08:15:39","slug":"advancing-adequate-housing-wuf13-baku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2026\/03\/24\/advancing-adequate-housing-wuf13-baku\/","title":{"rendered":"Advancing Adequate Housing at WUF13 Baku"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Urban Forum WUF13 Baku on Adequate Housing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tazeen Akhtar<\/strong> | Islamabad\"\"<\/p>\n

Adequate housing with a proper standard of living is a human right recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Housing is a foundation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. According to UN Habitat. It lies at the heart of SDG 11 \u2013 Sustainable Cities and Communities \u2013 and is essential for the realization of seven Sustainable Development Goals while contributing directly to another eight. It encompasses secure tenure, access to services and infrastructure, good location and affordability, as well as housing that is habitable, accessible and culturally adequate. It enables progress in health, education, dignity, safety and social inclusion and is therefore a cornerstone of human dignity, security and well-being. In short , Housing is not just shelter.
\nAlmost one third of the population of the world is living without such standardized housing that means the related standards are also compromised and the SDGs are hard to achieve in the prescribed time frame.
\nUN Habitat counts more than 2.8 billion people live in conditions of housing inadequacy, including 1.1 billion in informal settlements and slums and more than 300 million experiencing homelessness. \u00a0Rapid urbanization will intensify this challenge, with 68 per cent of the world\u2019s population expected to live in cities by 2050 \u2014 an increase of 2.5 billion people.
\nBaku, the city of winds, the beautiful capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan is preparing to host another International event , as many have already been hosted successfully and amicably here in the previous years. The upcoming global event is the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) from 17 to 22 May 2026 in collaboration with UN Habitat that has 170 countries as members from where 15 thousand participants are expected who have registered themselves with the org.
\nBy examining housing as a foundation for\u00a0inclusive,\u00a0resilient, and\u00a0sustainable\u00a0urban development, WUF13 will link shelter to integrated planning, climate adaptation, and inclusive governance. Taking place at the midpoint of the New Urban Agenda, WUF13 will play a pivotal role in shaping global discussions and will contribute to the 2026 UN Secretary-General\u2019s report on its implementation.
\nAzerbaijan as the Best place for the Forum
\nAzerbaijan & capital Baku are the most relevant country and city for this global conference presenting the urban development model in newly liberated territories and Baku as a combination of old and new city with adequate housing and modern living standards
\nAzerbaijan, having special connection with the theme of WUF13, is the most relevant country to host this global conference. This country itself is working upon adequate housing and urban development in her newly liberated territories of Karabakh. Therefore , Azerbaijan is among few countries in the world that are already working on this sector , possess experience and are mindful of policy matters as well.
\nPresident Ilham Aliyev has already signed an order declaring 2026 the “Year of\u00a0Urban Planning\u00a0and\u00a0Architecture” in the\u00a0Republic. The decision establishes a national framework focused on\u00a0urban planning\u00a0policy, architectural culture, and\u00a0sustainable\u00a0development. \u00a0The declaration aligns with\u00a0Azerbaijan’s growing engagement in international urban development agendas, including the New Urban Agenda and the\u00a0United Nations\u00a0Sustainable Development Goals, particularly\u00a0SDG 11\u00a0on\u00a0sustainable cities\u00a0and communities.
\nAzerbaijan is conducting massive, rapid reconstruction and urban development in its liberated territories (Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur), investing over $13 billion to rebuild infrastructure and facilitate the return of 150,000 residents by 2027. Key initiatives include building smart villages, international airports, highways, and industrial parks under the “Great Return” program.
\nThis reconstruction and rehabilitation by Azerbaijan is a model for the participants of the WUF13. Azerbaijan is more than ready to share her experience and welcomes international partners as well to take part in the restoration of the communities back in their native towns in these territories.
\nImportance for Pakistan
\nAccording to a report by the World Bank , Pakistan\u2019s urban areas face a looming housing crisis: 47% of households live in overcrowded housing units in informal settlements (katchi abadis) with inadequate infrastructure and services. In response to the growing housing shortage, the Government of Pakistan launched the ambitious Naya Pakistan Housing Program (NPHP) in April 2019 with the objective of providing 5 million housing units across the country in five years, prioritizing those in lower income brackets for whom affordable housing is out of reach. This project could not be completed due to political change in the country. But Pakistan has a full fledged ministry of housing whose representatives are expected to attend WUF13 and implement the recommendations in Pakistan.
\nNot only the gov sector but the private sector too must participate in this conference. In Pakistan the housing sector in the private sector is worth more than the GDP of many countries of the world. Every town and city of Pakistan has a new city in the suburbs with new design and planning. Many housing companies of Pakistan have earned international repute in urban development. Their officials are supposed to benefit from the ideas and research shared by international experts in WUF13.
\nAZ PK Cooperation in Urban Development
\nAzerbaijan and Pakistan are already partners in the many projects related to urban development and living near adequate facilities as is the theme of WUF13. For example , Azerbaijan is supporting beautification and restoration of three key places of Islamabad, including Melody Food Street, Srinagar Highway and Saidpur Village.
\nAnother remarkable joint venture, that is related to urban planning and facilitation for the citizens. It is called Asan Khidmat Center serving the citizens in Islamabad. It was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in January 2026. It is a one-stop digital hub offering over 60 public services\u2014such as NADRA, Passport, police clearance, and utility bill payments\u2014under one roof. , it aims to reduce waiting times from hours to minutes using a tech-enabled, Azerbaijani-inspired model.
\nObjectives of WUF13
\nThe conference will explore how governments at all levels, working with civil society and the private sector, can accelerate action to close the global housing gap and ensure that adequate, affordable housing becomes a reality for all. How the informal settlements and slums can be transformed into proper homes while \u00a0community-led models, livelihood-linked strategies and financing tools will be discussed that can improve services, strengthen resilience and support more inclusive and sustainable neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

( The writer is Islamabad based Editor of International media organization www.pakistanintheworld.pk having work on Central Asia , South Caucasus for about two decades. He can be reached at tazeen303@gmail.com )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explore how adequate housing will shape WUF13 in Baku, linking reconstruction, SDG11 and Azerbaijan Pakistan cooperation for sustainable urban futures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17682"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17685,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17682\/revisions\/17685"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}