The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award was created by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) in 1989 to encourage and recognize the countries, governments, organizations, and individuals who have made great contributions to the development of housing.[1] It is the most prestigious human settlements award in the world by the United Nations, given by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (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.[2]