President William Ruto has been named the Global Champion of Adequate Housing for All, a recognition of Kenya’s leadership in pushing solutions to the worldwide housing crisis.
The honour was bestowed on Wednesday during a high-level roundtable of Global Housing Champions held alongside the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The meeting brought together representatives from 25 countries, development partners, the UN, and financial institutions to adopt a landmark Call for Action on Adequate and Affordable Housing.
Among those in attendance were Botswana’s President Duma Boko, Ghana’s former President John Dramani Mahama, and UN-Habitat Executive Director Anacláudia Rossbach.
In his address, President Ruto urged the creation of a Coalition of Global Housing Champions a platform of world leaders committed to advancing inclusive housing policies. He emphasised that no single nation can tackle the housing crisis alone, highlighting the importance of political will, resource mobilisation, and stronger multilateral cooperation.
“The global housing challenge is too vast for one country to bear. We must harness collective strength through multilateralism. UN-Habitat is indispensable in linking global aspirations to local transformation,” Ruto noted.
He further called for housing to be embedded in national development plans, arguing that adequate shelter is not only a human right but also central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, building climate resilience, and fostering social equity.
President Ruto challenged the UN to be more responsive and results-oriented, saying it must adapt to current realities if it is to drive meaningful change in housing and other pressing global challenges.
