The thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 17 to 22 May 2026. The theme of WUF13 is: Housing the world: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities.
How can housing systems advance gender equality and empower women in all their diversity? The right to adequate housing is a cornerstone of dignity, health, safety, and inclusion. Yet systemic failures have left billions behind, including in the context of the global housing and climate crises. Women face additional hurdles in accessing adequate housing rooted in intersectional exclusions shaped by cultural, economic, and systemic inequalities. These are compounded for women in situations of marginalization, including female-headed households. The lack of, for example, secure tenure and equal access to land rights, often tied to patriarchal practices and discriminatory legal and policy frameworks, remains a critical obstacle for women and girls in their diversity. The lack of access to basic services, closely tied to adequate housing, disproportionately impacts women, including due to their obligations in unpaid care work. In contexts of gender-based violence, the absence of adequate housing forces women into impossible choices: remaining in situations of abuse, violence, and potential death, or facing poverty and homelessness. Female-headed households are further disadvantaged by economic exclusion, limited access to credit and restricted participation in housing policy. Building on the Beijing+30 Action Agenda and the New Urban Agenda, the WUF13 Roundtable on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women will serve as an action-oriented platform to advance the right to adequate housing for women and girls in their diversity. In this two-hour session, a multi-stakeholder panel will share recommendations and best practices for policy makers, urban professionals and advocates; strengthen participants' capacity to integrate gender-transformative housing approaches into national policies and contribute to agenda setting around women's leadership in housing and land governance. These will be integrated into the WUF13 outcome document, setting the basis for continuity and follow-up. As all WUF13 stakeholder-led sessions, this roundtable is developed through a participatory process led by specialists in women's access to housing and gender equality, to ensure representation and diversity. Guiding questions How can national, regional and local governments strengthen legal, financial and policy frameworks to guarantee women's land and housing rights? What partnerships or innovative models have proven effective in delivering adequate housing for women and girls? In contexts of climate change, conflict, and displacement, how can women's rights organizations support adaptive strategies that mitigate risks and protect housing security for women and girls? Expected outcomes Shape the WUF13 outcome declaration: key points from the discussion will inform the outcome document to address the rights of women in the context of adequate housing. Multi-stakeholder partnerships are strengthened and leveraged, identifying shared objectives and possibilities for collaboration. Build a community of practices: on gender equality in cities that will continue beyond WUF13. Objectives Elevate the perspectives of women and girls in their diversity: to ensure that all discussions and outcomes across WUF take a gender-transformative approach. Agenda-setting: on implementing gender-transformative approaches to adequate housing for all women and girls. Deliver recommendations and best practices: for policy makers, urban professionals and advocates for adequate housing for all women and girls based on the experiences of the speakers and the audience. Resources will be identified that can assist in follow-up action. Expand data and knowledge base: Strengthen participants' capacity to integrate disaggregated data and gender statistics into evidence-based housing policy making.
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