The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
UN-Habitat report calls for post COVID-19 cities to lead the way to a fairer, greener and healthier future.
A new report by UN-Habitat published on Tuesday demonstrated how cities can reduce the impact of future pandemics and become more equitable, healthy and environmentally friendly.
The document - “Pandemics and Cities Report UN-Habitat” - describes how urban areas have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis.
“Ninety-five per cent of all cases” were recorded in cities in the first months of the pandemic, Maimunah Mohd Sharif, UN-Habitat Executive Director, said.
“Throughout this pandemic, it has been up to local governments and communities to move quickly and decisively to stop the spread of COVID-19 and ensure an effective response.” Sharif added.
Despite these pressures, many local governments and community leaders responded quickly and effectively to prevent the spread of the pandemic and mitigate its effects.
The UN-Habitat report recommends actions for a sustainable recovery based on evidence from more than 1,700 cities.
It found that patterns of inequality, owing to a lack of access to basic services, poverty and overcrowded living conditions, have been key destabilising factors in increasing the scale and impact of COVID-19.
Eduardo Moreno, Head of Knowledge and Innovation at UN-Habitat, said that because of the pandemic, an estimated “120 million people in the world will be pushed into poverty and living standards will reduce by 23 per cent”.
“The conclusion is that income matters,” he added.
According to the report, urban leaders and planners must rethink how people move through and in cities, using lessons from COVID-19.
This includes an increased focus at the local level on planning neighbourhoods and communities that are multi-functional and inclusive.
The report explores how well-planned cities combining residential and commercial with public spaces along with affordable housing can improve public health, the local economy and the environment.
It calls for cities to be at the forefront of moves towards a social contract between governments, the public, civil society and private sector.
This new deal should “explores the role of the state and cities to finance universal basic income, a universal health insurance, a universal housing,” said Sharif.
Claudia Lopez Hernandez, Mayor of Bogota, explained how in Bogota their new social contract prioritises women and children.
It is a “ social contract that includes women, that provides them with time, with time to take care of themselves, with time to educate themselves, and with time and education skills to come back to the labour market”.
“To have self-sustainable women is to have self-sustainable societies,” Hernandez explained.
The report outlines how a new normal can emerge in cities “where health, housing and security are prioritised for the most vulnerable not only out of social necessity, but also from a profound commitment to human rights for all”.
This requires governments to focus on policies to protect land rights, improve access to water, sanitation, public transport, electricity, health and education facilities and ensure inclusive digital connectivity.
The report recommends strengthening access to municipal finance to enable city leaders to build a new urban economy that reduces disaster risk as well as addressing climate change by developing nature-based solutions and investing in sustainable infrastructure to enable low carbon transport.
Pandemics and Cities Report UN-Habitat makes it clear that the way cities and towns recover from the pandemic will have a major impact on the global efforts to achieve a sustainable future for all and provides important recommendations on moving towards a more just, greener and healthier future.
ends
STORY: Post Covid-19 Cities Report UN-Habitat
TRT: 02 min 52s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: EMBARGOED UNTIL 30 MARCH 06:01 CET
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 30 MARCH 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations entrance and Place des Nations, a sunny day.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Maimunah Mohd Sharif, UN-Habitat Executive Director: “We have seen all how our cities and towns have been hit the hardest by the pandemic. Our data on the initial spread shows that 95 per cent of the COVID-19 cases were in cities and towns. And throughout this pandemic, it has been up to local governments and communities to move quickly and decisively to stop the spread of COVID-19 and ensure an effective response.”
- Exterior wide shot, The Knotted Gun sculpture in foreground and the Broken Chair to rear, Place des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Maimunah Mohd Sharif, UN-Habitat Executive Director: “This is why this report calls loud and clear for the need of a new social contract that can be initiated in cities. A social contract that explores the role of the State and cities to finance universal basic income, a universal health insurance, a universal housing. A social contract that should be concluded with all social, political and economy actors. The needs for an inclusive approach that involve local communities is today more needed than ever.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations building, side shot.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Eduardo Moreno, Head of Knowledge and Innovation, UN-Habitat: “The report provides some of the, I would say, initial conditions for the virus and the pandemic to spread in some specifier areas. 1.1 billion people live in inadequate housing, 1 million in a slum, 60 per cent of the workforce being informal force. And all this has created or exacerbated these conditions in a way that today UN-Habitat, using data from other UN agencies also, estimates that 120 million people in the world will be pushed into poverty and living standards will reduce by 23 per cent. The conclusion is that income matters.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations entrance, motorbike passing.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Claudia Lopez Hernandez, Mayor of Bogota: “Going to a social contract that includes women, that provides them with time, with time to take care of themselves, with time to educate themselves, and with time and education skills to come back to the labour market. To have self-sustainable women is to have self-sustainable societies. And that’s why the centre of our new social contract in Bogota is the system of care for women.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations building, UN flag.
- Exteriormedium shot, Palais des Nations entrance, people with bicycles entering.
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations building, UN flag flying.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made the following remarks to the Enhanced Interactive Dialogue on the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar at the 63rd Human Rights Council.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk today delivered an update on the global human rights situation to the 63rdsession of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Repeated attacks on humanitarian warehouses put vital medical aid at risk in Ukraine - WHO
A new airstrike overnight damaged one of the main warehouses used by the UN health agency to store humanitarian medical supplies in the Kyiv region, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This is the third attack to affect a WHO-used storage in the last three months.
2
2
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
Powerful El Niño heightens extreme-weather risks through 2027, as countries brace for impact - WMO
Fuelled by extraordinarily warm waters across the tropical Pacific Ocean, the El Niño climate pattern is expected to intensify in the coming months. Forecasters are almost certain that it will persist through February next year, with unusually warm conditions expected across the globe.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UN WOMEN , WHO
Nepal flood deaths near 1,000 as those spared struggle to survive – UN humanitarians
With the death toll in Nepal’s catastrophic flash floods inching towards 1,000, rescue workers are facing harsh conditions while survivors lack access to food, safe water and health care, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNDRR , IFRC , WHO
Nepal: Flooding disaster “not over” as humanitarians work around the clock
While search and rescue efforts continued Friday following flash floods and mudslides in northern Nepal, UN humanitarians are taking stock of the devastation amid concerns over more flooding to come.