In Connection with world cities day: Urban agenda to urgent action

Last week’s event “Urban Agenda to Urgent Action” in connection with World Cities’ Day was informative and hopeful for the future as we continue to work towards prevention of evictions and homelessness during COVID-19. Forceful evictions are not in line with the United Nation’s goals and do not take into account the welfare of humanity. Around the world, people are suffering and as presented during the event, these issues are disproportionately affecting women who, in many parts of the world, lack the resources needed to access credit facilities and own land. IGH’s three strategic priorities surrounding these issues are to ‘see it’, ‘solve it’ and ‘share it.’ When approaching evictions and homelessness, we must work to define the issues at their root and do research that measures needs and goals of these communities. Next, we must back these statistics with tangible action that drives change. Finally, we must share this action and research to build networks that are not only aware of what is happening, but equipped  with the tools to dismantle these injustices. While situations are changing and life is unpredictable, we must breed awareness that de-stigmatizes homelessness and emphasizes solidarity. PhD students at the University of Connecticut shared one potential solution. After thorough research, they created a shared resource guide focusing on landlords and tenant relationships that has potential to create lasting change in preventing evictions. Evictions and homelessness look differently around the world. While in the US, we need to focus on tenant and landlord relationships, in other countries, there is a deeper need for establishing tenure security and greater potential for block titles. Through all of the research and initiatives presented, two points from the event were made clear: there is a need for shifting global policy and creating mediation strategies for lasting change.