BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 21. Driven by conflict, violence, and systematic persecution, approximately 117 million individuals have undergone forced displacement worldwide, a vulnerability further compounded by escalating climate change disasters, Barham Salih, former President of the Republic of Iraq, said, Trend reports.
He made the remarks during a session titled "Housing at the Centre of Crisis Recovery and Reconstruction" held within the framework of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku.
Salih pointed out that empirical evidence gathered across diverse global geographies—including Chad, Brazil, Jordan, Colombia, Türkiye, and Syria—confirms a fundamental truth: the broader recovery cycle must begin with establishing a safe and livable physical space for affected populations.
"Concurrently, host communities continue to exhibit profound solidarity. Even when navigating extremely constrained domestic resources, they consistently share their homes, land assets, and essential municipal services with internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees," he emphasized.
According to Salih, the rapid escalation in global displacement figures demands entirely new operational methodologies. As rapidly expanding cities and townships absorb higher influxes of displaced persons, the compounding structural pressure on existing housing stock, public infrastructure utilities, and local social cohesion intensifies significantly.
"Absent adequate housing provision, the entire post-crisis rehabilitation trajectory stalls. The livelihoods of affected individuals remain highly volatile, access to foundational educational and healthcare networks suffers deep disruptions, and the path toward economic self-reliance becomes increasingly fraught," he noted.
The former president underscored that the primary turning point in engineering resilient recovery and reconstruction policies lies in placing the right to adequate housing at the absolute center of strategic planning frameworks.
"The conceptual blueprint of a home does not merely begin with erecting physical walls," Salih stated. "This process initiates with securing legal access to land plots, guaranteeing property tenure and spatial rights, and establishing robust documentation frameworks that collectively empower individuals to live with dignity, enter localized job markets, and rebuild their lives from scratch."
Salih emphasized that institutional shifts along this path have already begun emerging on the global stage. He highlighted that the "Human Settlements Commitment" spearheaded within the framework of the Global Refugee Forum actively promotes a progressive paradigm—treating forced displacement not as an insurmountable crisis, but as a structural window for inclusive spatial planning, localized development, and shared economic prosperity.
"Factual data demonstrates that when refugees secure direct access to stable housing frameworks and unhindered freedom of movement, they contribute substantially to the macroeconomic and social fabric of their host communities. Displaced populations should never undergo evaluation as a fiscal burden; they represent a core component of the structural solution," he added.
He cited several successful institutional precedents taking shape across diverse developing regions. Notable examples include the systematic transformation of humanitarian refugee camps into integrated urban centers across Kenya and Ethiopia, the deployment of inclusive governance models in Chad and Mauritania, and the execution of robust municipal management strategies across various European metropolitan zones.
"Cities must look beyond serving as mere passive management hubs handling migration inflows. They function as the primary incubators where legal protection, socioeconomic inclusion, and durable infrastructure solutions materialize," he noted.
However, Salih cautioned that local municipal authorities cannot bear this fiscal and operational weight in isolation. To succeed, local governments require clearly defined legislative mandates, sustainable long-term financing mechanisms, and deeply integrated collaborative partnerships connecting sovereign state organs, international development actors, the private sector, and local civil society groups.
Concluding his address, the former president called upon the international community to rapidly pivot away from obsolete temporary emergency shelter models, moving instead toward permanent, institutionalized housing solutions.
"We must systematically transition from short-term reactive measures to long-term structural strategies, and shift away from fragmented parallel tracking systems toward inclusive national policy frameworks. The window for execution is now. Our ultimate objective must extend beyond merely reconstructing what was lost, targeting instead the cultivation of stronger, more inclusive, and highly resilient communities for all," Salih concluded.
Today marks the fifth day of WUF13 in Baku.
The first day included a ministerial meeting dedicated to the New Urban Agenda, a ministerial roundtable, assemblies for women and civil society, business sessions, and discussions on urban prosperity. An official ceremony marking the raising of the UN and Azerbaijani flags also took place.
The second day stood out for the inaugural Leaders' Summit, featuring high-level discussions on the global housing crisis, urbanization policy, and urban resilience. Concurrently, the opening of the Mexico City pavilion took place, serving as a significant platform for expanding cooperation with the Latin American region and preparing for WUF14.
The third day of WUF13 featured a comprehensive program of events covering the global housing crisis, the formation of safe and inclusive cities, climate resilience, artificial intelligence and urban governance, green urbanization, social equity, and sustainable transport.
One of the highlights of the third day was the signing of a sister-city memorandum between the Azerbaijani city of Shusha and the Turkish city of Trabzon.
The fourth day of WUF13 featured a broad program of events dedicated to urbanization, climate change, inclusive urban development, housing policy, and sustainable governance.
One of the important events of the UN Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) Cities Forum, held on the fourth day, was the announcement of Almaty’s official accession to the “Declaration of Intent on the Establishment of the SPECA Smart Climate-Resilient Cities Forum.”
Also, for the first time in WUF history and at Azerbaijan’s initiative, the “WUF13 NGO Forum: Global Partnership and Decision-Making” was held.
WUF13, which has attracted more than 40,000 registered participants from 182 countries, will continue until May 22. Held under the theme “Housing the world: Safe and resilient cities and communities,” the forum brings together governments, international organizations, experts, and representatives of civil society to strengthen global cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development.
