World Habitat Day
Date: 1st Monday of October
On 17 December 1985, the United Nations General Assembly decided unanimously to designate the first Monday of October of every year as “World Habitat Day”.
The resolution, which followed an earlier recommendation by the Commission on Human Settlements, recognized that 1986 was the tenth anniversary of the 1976 United Nations Conference on Human Settlements held in Vancouver, Canada. To mark the anniversary and to commemorate the important contribution which the Conference made to national and international action in the field of human settlements, the first World Habitat Day was observed on Monday 6 October 1986.
World Habitat Day is an occasion to remember the homeless and those with inadequate shelter, including those whose housing conditions are incompatible with their human status, as they seek ways and means of improving their shelter and neighbourhoods. This annual event provides an opportunity for governments, communities and agencies to demonstrate and review national and international efforts to resolve shelter-related issues, and to share not only experiences from their successful initiatives but also the distinct problems they have encountered in trying to provide adequate shelter and basic services to all during the year. Above all, it is an occasion to do something to improve human settlements rather than just to talk about it.
For more information please go to http://www.unchs.org/whd
