With high-level African participation, the World Urban Forum 2026 kicks off in Baku to address the housing crisis.

The 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) kicked off today in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, and will run from May 17 to 22, 2026, under the central theme “Housing the world: safe and resilient cities and communities.”.

This year’s forum is witnessing an exceptional and strong presence of African leaders and presidents, along with government delegations and international experts, with the aim of developing a comprehensive roadmap to address the escalating global housing crisis and develop infrastructure for sustainable cities.

African leaders take center stage

The strong African presence at this year’s edition represents a significant turning point; a wide range of African heads of state and government are participating, most notably Kenyan President William Ruto.

This high-level participation is driven by the desire to convey the outcomes of the “Second African Urban Forum” which was recently held in Nairobi, and to explore ways to finance infrastructure projects to address the rapid and unplanned urban expansion in the African continent.

The housing crisis and climate change

The forum focuses primarily on the “global housing challenge” in light of alarming United Nations statistics indicating that around 3 billion people worldwide live in inadequate housing conditions, with more than 1.1 billion people living in informal settlements.

African delegations are placing climate resilience, land tenure security, and green urban transformation at the forefront of their discussions to avoid the disasters of displacement and flooding that plague the continent.

New Urban Agenda Platform

The halls of WUF13 are witnessing intensive discussions to activate the “Africa NUA Platform”, an initiative that seeks to unite joint efforts between the continent’s leaders and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

The high-level sessions aim to produce the “Baku Call to Action”, which will serve as a reference document that will be submitted directly to the UN Secretary-General’s 2026 report on sustainable development.

Alongside the political sessions, the “Urban Expo” opened, setting a record for international participation. African countries and Azerbaijan showcased innovative models of low-cost, environmentally friendly buildings.

The events will also witness the launch of the “Affordable Housing Finance Fund for Africa” to open the door to private sector investments and bridge the financing gap for building the cities of the future.