Azerbaijan takes co-chair role in UN-Habitat Bureau for 2025–2026

Azerbaijan, alongside Somalia, was elected co-chair of the Bureau of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group for 2025–2026, established under the 2023 UN-Habitat Assembly resolution “Adequate Housing for All.”

The second session (OEWG-H2) of the Working Group was held on October 23 at the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, with Azerbaijan and Somalia taking over the positions previously held by Kenya and France, Caliber.Az reports, citing the press service of Azerbaijan’s State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture.

The Intergovernmental Working Group serves as the secretariat of the UN-Habitat Assembly, developing recommendations, coordinating the activities of member states, and facilitating the formulation and implementation of global policies aimed at ensuring safe, sustainable, and affordable housing for all.

Azerbaijan’s co-chairmanship in the Bureau will play an important role in strengthening the country’s involvement in global urban development initiatives and advancing international housing policy. This high-level mandate also provides a platform to promote the initiatives and outcomes of the 13th World Urban Forum (WUF13), which will be held in Baku on May 17–22, 2026, under the theme “Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities.”

Cooperation between UN-Habitat and Azerbaijan in the field of sustainable urban development has been growing steadily in recent years. In addition to hosting WUF13, Azerbaijan is a member of the UN-Habitat Executive Board. Experts from the State Committee on Urban Planning and Architecture and ADA University also contribute to the Working Group preparing the International Guidelines for People-Centred Smart Cities.

In 2023, World Habitat Day was organised by UN-Habitat in Baku, while the organisation had actively supported Azerbaijan’s National Urban Forums in 2022, 2023, and 2025.

By Jeyhun Aghazada