Quezon City, Philippines
𝘼 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨.
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and UN-Habitat held a high-level bilateral cooperation meeting on 24 April 2025 in Quezon City, to reaffirm and strengthen institutional partnership and cooperation in addressing adequate housing and sustainable urban development challenges in the country.
In his opening message, DHSUD Undersecretary Henry Yap acknowledged the enduring partnership between the Philippine Government and UN-Habitat, which has yielded tangible and lasting outcomes.
“𝘛𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢-𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵,” Undersecretary Yap said.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach lauded the establishment of DHSUD as a significant “institutional progress” and “fertile ground for our renewed partnership”.
Ms. Rossbach shared an update on the final stages of the development of UN-Habitat’s new Strategic Plan 2026-2029, which she referred to as the “centerpiece of our operational side”, which will be submitted to the UN-Habitat Assembly in May 2025 in Nairobi. As the world faces a global housing crisis with over one billion people in informal settlements or slums, the new Strategic Plan will now focus on access to housing, land, and basic services, including the transformation of informal settlements for all.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘦: 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴,” Ms. Rossbach said.
Also present in the meeting were DHSUD officials led by Director Mylene A. Rivera of the Environmental, Land Use and Urban Planning and Development Bureau (ELUPDB) and Director Maria O. Amoroso of the Public Housing and Settlements Services (PHSS), as well as representatives from key shelter agencies, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) Acting Executive Vice President Maria Luisa M. Favila, Pag-IBIG Fund Vice President of the NCR – Sales Group Anthony L. Maglunsod and Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) Executive Vice President Atty. Junefe G. Payot.
UN-Habitat Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Kazuko Ishigaki also joined the meeting, together with UN-Habitat Philippines Country Programme Manager Cris Rollo, Regional Coordinator for Climate Change and Urban Environment – Asia Pacific Laids Cea, and the UN-Habitat Philippines team.
Ms. Rossbach expressed optimism in fostering stronger partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be entered into in the near future. She also encouraged the government to actively engage and participate in global platforms such as the World Urban Forum (WUF) and the Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Working Group on Adequate Housing.
In the Press:
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1248769
https://tribune.net.ph/2025/04/25/dhsud-un-habitat-forge-deeper-urban-sustainability-partnership
