The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award was created by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) in 1989 to encourage and recognize the

countries A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state (polity), state, nation, or other polity, political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, so ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived f ...

s, and individuals who have made great contributions to the development of

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

. It is the most prestigious human settlements award in the world by the United Nations, given by the

United Nations Human Settlements Programme The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlem ...

(UN-Habitat), and has recognized 192 initiatives since its launch in 1989. The aim of the award is to honour and acknowledge initiatives which have made outstanding contributions in the field of human settlements, provision of housing, highlighting the plight of people living in poverty or who have been displaced, developing, and improving human settlements and the quality of urban life to leave no one behind echoing the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 with emphasis on Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. The award, a plaque engraved with the name of the winner, is handed over at the Global Observance of the World Habitat Day, the day the United Nations has set aside to remind the world that we all have the power and the responsibility to reflect on the state of our cities and towns and to shape the future. World Habitat Day was established in 1985 by the United Nations General Assembly through Resolution 40/202 and was first celebrated in 1986.

Eligibility

Individuals, organizations, the private sector, government, non-governmental, bilateral and multi-lateral aid agencies dealing with sustainable projects which have had great impact in society, and any Habitat Agenda partner who has improved the lives of people can be nominated for the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour.

Evaluation criteria

A Committee comprising from UN-Habitat experts and senior management makes the initial assessment of the nominations and submissions of the candidates and verify that the submission conforms to the standards outlined in the guidelines. After strict reviewing and screening materials of all the candidates, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme chooses the winners. In the past, every year the number of awards by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme depends, generally below ten. Since 2018 only five winners, ideally from each Region of the world, are selected. Past winners are outstanding in the international, regional or national level of human living and have extensive influences. On every World Habitat Day, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme will hold the award ceremony in a prior selected city.

Winners

Each year, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme receives a large number of projects nominated by governments after selection. Recommended candidates can be government organizations or agencies, individuals, or projects, and initiatives can address any aspects of human settlements, such as housing, infrastructure, urban renewal, sustainable human settlements development, or post-disaster reconstruction.