Adequate, affordable housing is the foundation upon which humans can build healthy lives, strong and resilient cities, and thriving national economies. Despite this, however, studies suggest that housing remains one of the least affordable human rights. Housing provision and land management are multifaceted issues, integrated amongst numerous disciplines. This calls for integrated and interdisciplinary approaches by the UNECE Committee on Housing and Land Management (CHLM) to achieve the goal ofensuring access to decent, affordable and healthy housing for inhabitants of the region.

The objectives of the Committee’s work fall under the broader aims of the Strategy for Sustainable Housing and Land Management 2014-2020, the New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals, specifically Goal 11, “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. However, due to the multidisciplinary nature of the issue discussed above the objectives overlap with many other SDGs.

The Committee provides an international platform for a high-level exchange on issues, such as sustainability, urban development, land administration and management, spatial planning and real estate market stability in the region. The Geneva UN Charter for Sustainable Housing and its four objectives “environmental protection; economic effectiveness; social inclusion and participation; and cultural adequacy” has resulted in the establishment of the first three UN Charter centres to be based in Albania, Estonia and the United Kingdom.

The Committee will hold a special session on 1-2 December 2016 at the Palais des Nations and will address these main objectives: the preparations for ministerial segment during the 78^th session of the Committee in 2017, including a draft Ministerial Declaration and other activities to mark the Committee’s 70^th anniversary.