UN-Habitat Names Five Winners of 2026 Scroll of Honour Award

Up to 3.4 billion people lack adequate housing worldwide, according to UN-Habitat's World Cities Report 2026 — and five organizations and leaders working to change that have received the agency's 2026 Scroll of Honour Award. The winners span Brazil, Myanmar, Pakistan, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom. UN-Habitat selected them from 101 nominations submitted across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

The Scroll of Honour, launched in 1989, recognizes individuals and institutions whose work advances adequate housing, sustainable urbanization, and improved urban life. It also honors efforts supporting the New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The scale of the problem keeps growing: UN-Habitat's SDG 11 Global Report 2026 finds that more than 1.1 billion people now live in informal settlements and slums, an increase of more than 130 million since 2015. The 2026 World Habitat Day theme, "Adequate Housing for All," underlined housing's role as a foundation for inclusive, sustainable, and resilient cities.

Who won the 2026 Scroll of Honour?

Housing NOW / Bago, Myanmar. This bamboo construction organization develops affordable housing and community infrastructure for people affected by conflict, displacement, poverty, and disasters. Its system combines locally available bamboo, traditional knowledge, and prefabrication, with components prepared using portable guides and assembled on site. The organization has applied the approach to homes, schools, preschools, community centers, and medical facilities, including projects for communities affected by the 2025 earthquake. UN-Habitat also notes that Housing NOW employs members of the communities it serves and provides illustrated construction guides to support local builders.

Aldeia do Espraiado – Tekoa Ara Hovy / Maricá, Brazil. The settlement provides a permanent home for a Guarani Mbyá community and holds the distinction of being Brazil's first Indigenous village established by a municipality. Thirteen families moved there in early 2025 after previously living within a state park without secure land tenure or access to several basic services. Developed with community participation, the village includes traditional homes, a bilingual school, a health post, a cultural center, a community kitchen, water infrastructure, and solar lighting in shared areas. The initiative combines municipal investment with community participation and traditional building practices.

Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency / Lahore, Pakistan. The government agency implements the province's Apni Chhat Apna Ghar housing program, launched in 2024 to support low-income households that own land but lack the resources to build. The program aims to facilitate 100,000 affordable houses and apartments across Punjab, with eligible households receiving interest-free financing to build on their own plots. Applications and parts of implementation run through digital systems, while the Bank of Punjab and partner microfinance institutions support the financing process.

Abdelmalek Ghannem / Bizerte, Tunisia. The sustainable construction specialist founded Société Industrielle de Blocs (SOIB) in Bizerte in 2009. SOIB produces compressed stabilized earth blocks and interlocking construction systems that incorporate residues from quarries and mining. The blocks require less cement and mortar than conventional masonry, and their composition can improve thermal performance in hot climates. According to UN-Habitat, the approach has been used in more than 100 building projects across Tunisia, with training provided for architects, engineers, and builders.

Mayor Sadiq Khan / London, United Kingdom. UN-Habitat recognized Khan for his work on affordable and sustainable housing and inclusive, climate-resilient urban development during his tenure as Mayor of London. His programs have funded new council housing and affordable homes through City Hall, alongside policies targeting housing for key workers. In January 2026, Khan launched the Key Worker Living Rent initiative, targeting the start of at least 6,000 rent-controlled homes by 2030, with rents linked to the incomes of nurses, teachers, carers, and bus drivers.

What comes next for housing policy?

The awards arrive amid a broader wave of housing initiatives. In Europe, the "Right to Housing! Now and Forever" European Citizens' Initiative launched its signature campaign in September, and the OBEL Award recognized the Balearic Social Housing Model for rethinking social housing administration. In the United States, the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act became law in July, revising federal housing programs, financing, construction regulations, and community grants.