In October 2016, the New Urban Agenda was unanimously adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III), serving as a new vision for our cities and municipalities for the next 20 years. UNDP demonstrated its full support to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda with the official launch of its Sustainable Urbanization Strategy.

A year later, UNDP welcomed its Strategic Plan 2018-2021 with the endorsement of Member States, providing strategic guidance to UNDP's policy and programmes for the next four years. The new Plan sets out the direction for a new UNDP to support countries to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality and achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Plan recognizes that rapid urbanization and changing demographic patterns are challenging conventional thinking on development pathways, and that addressing urban challenges requires cross-cutting, integrated applications of expertise and investment, customized for each country and circumstance and driven by global best practices and international standards.