The 2026 thematic focus, Safe Homes for All, is both timely and urgent.

 More than 2.8 billion people face some form of housing inadequacy — including 1.1 billion in informal settlements (UN-Habitat) and at least 330 million experiencing absolute homelessness (Institute of Global Homelessness).

 This burden falls most heavily on those already excluded: people on low incomes, women, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants, refugees, and racial and ethnic minorities.

Homelessness and inadequate housing show how quickly people lose access to basic rights when housing becomes unaffordable or inaccessible. Without a secure home, it becomes nearly impossible to exercise other rights or participate fully in society.

Housing systems increasingly exclude people in poverty. When land and homes are treated as investment assets rather than social goods, people are pushed into unsafe, overcrowded, or precarious conditions — not by choice, but by the failure of housing systems to serve human needs.

Homelessness and inadequate housing are manifestations of exclusion, inequality, and unequal power. The right to adequate housing must be understood as « safe homes » a fundamental right that relates to human dignity, equality, peace, and the conditions necessary for communities to live in a safe and sustainable habitat.