Gender

Equality
&
Human
Settlements
 Cities opportunities
• Pockets of poverty  General wealth
• Exclusion and  Enhance social
marginalization development

• Environmental  Employment
degradation  Sites of innovation
and creativity
• Sites of conflict
 UN-Habitat mandates & gender equality
 Habitat Agenda (par 46)
 Sustainable Development Goals (esp.
Goal 5)
 Convention on the Elimination of all
Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW)
 Beijing Platform for Action
 ECOSOC agreed conclusions 1997/2
and 2006-36 on gender
mainstreaming
 National gender policies and laws
 Forthcoming: Habitat III & the New
Urban Agenda
 Gender inequalities persist
Urbanisation affects
women and men in
different ways given the
different social roles
allocated to women and to
men

• 3/5 of the world’s • Exclusion of women • Women are twice as

billion poorest people from land contributes likely to be victims of
are women and girls. to poverty. violent aggression.
• Only about 2% of • Women are under- • Women earn 22% less
women in developing represented in in salaries than their
countries own land. decision-making. male counterparts.
UN-HABITAT’s 7 focus areas and gender equality
For urban women and girls differences in experiencing urban life give rise to
consequences that undermine their capabilities and aspirations.
UN-Habitat works to ensure gender equality and the empowerment of women in
7 focus areas:

Urban Legislation, Land and Governance

Urban Planning and Design
Urban Economy
Urban Basic Services
Housing and Slum Upgrading
Risk Reduction and Rehabilitation
Research and Capacity Development
 Urban Legislation, Land and Governance
National laws, customary practices and societal structures often create
differential treatment that result in discrimination and inequalities.

• Women make up
only 9% of
mayors and 21%
of councilors
worldwide
• Women make up
only 18% of
members of
parliament

Land and urban spaces must respond to the different and diverse needs of its
gendered inhabitants
 Urban Legislation and Governance
Objectives to bring systemic changes to urban legislation, land and governance

 Using participatory tools

to engage women and
men in urban  Training and capacity building for local
governance governments on gender mainstreaming
 Ensuring women and  Using high-profile events such as the World
men have equal rights to
Urban Forum and sessions on the
own land
Commission on the Status of Women for
advocacy
 Supporting women’s networks on advocacy,
training, and capacity building
 Urban Planning and Design
Migration and urbanization processes are
strongly shaped by gender roles and relations.
Women and girls face gender-based
discrimination in daily urban life in the
following forms:

• gender-based violence
• exclusion from political and socio-
economic participation
• limited access to services in the
context of economic development
and privatization.

• 1 in 3 women suffers violence from an intimate partner during her

lifetime
• Routines like long commutes and working as street sellers expose women
to the risks of sexual assault and violence
 Urban Planning and Design
Spatial design of cities has to consider gender-specific experiences and concerns,
in, in particular with respect to poor women and girls:
 Ensuring equitable access to transport
infrastructure and services for women
 Train local authorities and assistance and men
on gender-based approaches in  Reducing possibilities for gender based
policies and programmes violence and crime through improved
 Promote women’s participation in urban planning and design
each stage of city planning
 Gender-responsive urban planning
involves:
1. smart-mixed use of land
2. safe public space
3. active involvement of all
stakeholders
 Urban Economy
The gendered division of labour is socially constructed and reflected in the set-up of
economic institutions

Women
• dominate low-paid (or often unpaid)
reproductive labour
• are disadvantaged in rights and resources
that are essential for economic participation
and empowerment
• are absent or not equally represented in local
governance and economic decision-making

 Economic policies perpetuate social, legal and economic inequalities between

women and men
 Urban Economy
 Allowing equal access to education and
employment for women and men in both
formal and informal economies
 Ensuring equitable access to financial
 Affordable financing for housing services
and infrastructure upgrades
targeting women
 Planning safe transport for
women to attend work and
access opportunities
 Training women in non-
traditional sectors
 Planning for safe, affordable and
accessible trading areas
 Urban Basic Services
When women and girls are not taken into
consideration in planning the provision of basic
services (urban energy, transport and mobility
and water and sanitation) it affects their:

• time: many women and girls spend hours each

day collecting water, leaving less time for
education or paid work

• mobility: reducing women’s access to other

services and opportunities

• safety: poor security around public latrines or

the lack of them puts women at risk of sexual
assault
 Urban Basic Services
 Involving women and men in the design
and management of infrastructure and
basic services
 Providing access to better water and
sanitation facilities that serve both men
and women
 Sanitation and microfinance schemes
targeting women-led households
 Gender training for water and
sanitation policy makers and
decision makers
 Partnerships with national and local
governments to develop gender
assessment
 Housing and Slum Upgrading
Most women can only access housing through a relationship to men. When these
relationships break or cease to exist, women are left vulnerable and often unable
to find alternative housing for themselves and their dependents

• Women’s rights to land and housing

undermined by discriminatory norms and
practices
• Property grabbing from disinherited women
• Women living in poverty experience greater
tenure insecurity and forced evictions
 Housing and Slum Upgrading
 Integration of gender in laws and
policies on poverty, land, housing and
property rights
 Promotion of legal rights and forms of
tenure, such as joint titling, which
support women
 Gender-sensitive participatory slum
upgrading
 Empower urban women
entrepreneurs through housing
development and land rights
 Develop governance in water and
sanitation
 Publish reports and studies on land
and gender in various regions
 Develop pro-poor and gender
responsive policies, strategies and
approaches, together with partners
 Risk Reduction and Rehabilitation
Disaster responses tend to mirror gender roles, putting women and girls at risk
and making them particularly vulnerable during disasters

• Women have less access to resources

• Women are often caregivers – responsible for
care of children and the elderly, sick or
disabled leaving them with less mobility than
men
• Women’s levels of participation and decision-
making is low
• Women risk losing out in land and property
administration after crises
• Violence against women during and after
armed conflicts is increased
 Risk Reduction and Rehabilitation
 Involving women and men in
reduction of man-made and
natural disasters and
rehabilitation measures
 Identifying the different needs of
 Training on gender mainstreaming women and men in post-disaster
approaches in disasters: taking scenarios with appropriate
different needs and capacities into solutions applied
account
 Post-crisis reconstruction projects
actively promote women’s
participation
 Programmes to support financing for
women for flood mitigation
Research and Capacity Building
 Improved knowledge of equitable
and gender-responsive urban
conditions and trends
 Increased capacities of partners to
formulate and implement informed,
equitable and gender-responsive
project, programmes and policies
 Improved monitoring of gender
equality and women’s  Sex-disaggregated data sex and
empowerment in urban conditions disseminated in UN-Habitat
and trends reports and publications
 Data analysed from a gender
perspective for appropriate
interventions in projects,
programmes and policies