All What You Need to Know about the Intergovernmental Open-Ended Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All

The global housing crisis affects over 1.2 billion people living in informal settlements and slum-like conditions, with 2.8 billion more facing inadequate, unaffordable or insecure housing, and hundreds of millions experience homelessness. Addressing this crisis at scale requires coherent international policy frameworks, strengthened national commitments and sustained knowledge exchange.

At the second session of the UN-Habitat Assembly in June 2023, Member States adopted resolution HSP-HA.2/Res.7 — 'Adequate Housing for All' — establishing the Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing for All (OEWG-H). The OEWG-H is mandated to assess global progress on housing, identify policy best practices and develop recommendations to accelerate progress toward adequate housing for all. The OEWG-H represents the first dedicated intergovernmental platform within the UN system established to meet this need.

Since its establishment, the OEWG-H has convened two annual sessions, bringing together Member States, experts and partners to examine key housing challenges — including housing finance, tenure security, informal settlement upgrading, and social housing — and to develop evidence-based policy recommendations. Its work is organized in a structured cycle culminating in the submission of recommendations to the third session of the UN-Habitat Assembly in 2029.

The current cycle, under the co-chairship of Azerbaijan and Somalia, focuses on deepening the thematic work initiated in 2024–2025 and expanding Member State engagement. A critical priority is encouraging countries that have not yet participated to nominate focal points and contribute to the process — ensuring that the OEWG-H reflects the diversity of housing challenges, contexts and solutions from across the world.

This information session is therefore aimed at providing delegates and partners with a clear overview of the OEWG-H process, its mandate and governance structure, the outcomes of the October 2025 annual session, and the priorities and calendar of activities for 2026. It will serve as an entry point for new Member State engagement and a platform for broader knowledge exchange on global housing policy.