OECD official Aziza Akhmouch: Housing must be addressed as a systemic issue, not in isolation

The housing problem is not isolated; it must be addressed systematically, stated Aziza Akhmouch, Head of the Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), at the event "From Policy to Impact: Scaling Up Housing Provision" organized within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) held in Baku, Report informs.

"The global monitoring of National Urban Policy that we have been carrying out together with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) for ten years covers more than 80 countries. Based on the latest monitoring conducted approximately two years ago – and this is very encouraging – more than 80% of countries report that National Urban Policy, thanks to the applied political leadership, has enhanced their capacity to manage urbanization and strengthen sustainability. Regardless of whether this policy is explicit or implicit, narrow or broad-spectrum, more advisory or directly action-oriented, there is a great diversity of institutional frameworks in member countries – what this policy does in all circumstances is to incorporate housing policy into a perspective that turns urbanization into a quality process. This is not simply a mechanical collection of separate sectoral initiatives," she noted.

Aziza Akhmouch added that this is a political choice: "If we are serious about this, governments must prioritize long-term outcomes over short-term gains. They must align incentives across ministries and different levels of governance, and invest in institutional capacity for stronger systems. These systems must address housing problems systematically, not in isolation. That is, this is a matter of both supply and demand, both quality and affordability, as well as governance and financing at the same time. That is why we need National Urban Policies (NUPs) that genuinely reflect the importance that housing provision carries for people's well-being."