The 13th session of the World Urban Forum in Baku concluded with a high-level Women’s Roundtable focused on advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in housing and urban development.
Building on the Beijing+30 Action Agenda and the New Urban Agenda, the two-hour discussion provided an action-oriented platform aimed at strengthening the right of women and girls to safe, adequate and affordable housing.
The session brought together policymakers, urban experts, civil society representatives and human rights advocates to share policy recommendations and practical examples from different countries. The outcomes are expected to feed into the WUF13 final outcome document and future policy processes.
Speakers highlighted how the global housing and climate crises are disproportionately affecting women, particularly through unequal land rights, insecure tenure, discriminatory laws and limited access to basic services.
Civil society representatives also shared personal experiences, drawing attention to the daily realities faced by women living in unsafe or unstable housing conditions.
The discussion emphasised that housing insecurity is closely linked to gender-based violence, with participants noting that a lack of safe and affordable housing can trap women in abusive situations or push them into homelessness and poverty.
Female-headed households were identified as especially vulnerable because of economic exclusion and restricted access to credit and housing systems.
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed attended the session and delivered opening remarks, underlining that access to housing is directly linked to dignity, safety, health and inclusion.
Participants called for stronger gender-transformative approaches to housing and land governance, urging governments to integrate women’s needs more effectively into national urban policies.
The roundtable also focused on strengthening women’s leadership in housing and land management, with recommendations aimed at improving participation in decision-making and policy design.
The session featured a multi-stakeholder panel presenting best practices and policy tools to support more inclusive housing systems. These proposals will be incorporated into the official WUF13 outcomes and used to guide future international urban policy discussions.
Like other stakeholder-driven sessions at WUF13, the roundtable was developed through a participatory process led by experts in women’s access to housing and gender equality, ensuring broad representation and diversity.
The Women’s Roundtable took place on the final day of WUF13, which brought together more than 40,000 participants from 182 countries under the theme “Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities”.
Throughout the week, the forum featured ministerial meetings, leaders’ summits, civil society assemblies, business sessions and thematic discussions on urban resilience, climate change, artificial intelligence in urban governance and sustainable development.
Among the key developments during the forum were discussions on the global housing crisis, the launch of new co-operation platforms and the expansion of international urban partnerships, including preparations for future World Urban Forum gatherings.
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The 13th session of the World Urban Forum concluded in Baku on 22 May after six days of discussions focused on housing, climate resilience, urban governance and social inclusion, bringing together tens of thousands of participants from around the world to shape the future of sustainable cities.
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