Pakistan raises housing crisis at WUF13

May 18, 2026 (MLN): Pakistan has called for justice-centred urban policies, urging world leaders to treat affordable housing as a fundamental right and place vulnerable communities at the heart of city planning decisions.

Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Dr. Musadik Malik, delivered the country's National Ministerial Statement at the Thirteenth Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13) in Baku, Azerbaijan, held under the theme "Housing the World: Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities", according to a press release issued.

Addressing delegates, the minister drew a sharp link between climate change, urban inequality, and housing injustice, warning that while it can take two generations for a family to climb out of poverty, a single flood can erase that progress within days. He described the crisis not as a housing problem alone, but as a fundamental failure of justice.

Dr. Malik pointed out that nearly half of Pakistan's 240 million people now live in urban areas, with around 55% of that urban population residing in informal settlements. "Slums are not merely a policy category, slums are a life category," he said.

He cited the devastating Karachi heatwave of 2024, where temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius and an estimated 560 people died within seven days, the majority of them poor residents in informal settlements with no access to cooling systems or adequate healthcare.

On floods, he noted that Pakistan's four most recent major flood events claimed around 6,000 lives, injured or disabled nearly 20,000 people, and displaced approximately 40 million, a scale of human suffering he said rivals that of many armed conflicts.

The minister was pointed in his critique of how cities are designed and for whom, arguing that the communities most devastated by climate disasters have no seat at the table when policy decisions are made. He cautioned against sustainability becoming mere branding, stressing that housing must be built for people, not investors.

Concluding his address, Dr. Malik called on the forum's closing declaration, the "Baku Call for Action," to centre justice and inclusion in urban development frameworks and curb speculative housing practices, urging greater global cooperation to build cities that are safe, resilient, and equitable for all.

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