Global Civil Society & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Goal 11: Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Sustainable Cities & Communities


Goal 11 is about making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

Cities represent the future of global living. The world’s population reached 8 billion on 2022 over half living in urban areas. This figure is only expected to rise, with 70 per cent of people expected to live in cities by 2050. Approximately 1.1 billion people currently live in slums or slum-like conditions in cities, with 2 billion more expected in the next 30 years.

However many of these cities are not ready for this rapid urbanisation, and it outpaces the development of housing, infrastructure and services, which led to a rise in slums or slum-like conditions.

Urban sprawl, air pollution and limited open public spaces persist in cities.

Good progress has been made since the implementation of the SDGs began in 2015, and now the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies has doubled. But issues still remain and in 2022, only half of the urban population had convenient access to public transport.

Sustainable development cannot be achieved without significantly transforming the way urban spaces are built and managed.

Name Acronym Founded City HQ Country/Territory HQ Type I Type II

Africa Community Publishing and Development Trust

ACPDT 1995 Harare Zimbabwe G

Africa Community Technical Service

ACTS Comox BC Canada G

Africa Development Interchange Network

ADIN 1985 Douala Cameroon G

Africa Faith and Justice Network

AFJN 1983 Washington DC USA G

Africa Leather and Leather Products Institute

ALLPI 1990 Addis Ababa Ethiopia E gj

Africa Nomads Conservation

ANC Nairobi Kenya G

Africa on the Move

AFRiMOVE 2018 Kampala Uganda J

Africa Safe Water Foundation

Lagos Nigeria G f

Africa Transport Policy Program

SSATP 1987 Washington DC USA E g

Africa Travel Association

ATA 1975 Washington DC USA F

Africa Union of Architects

AUA 1981 Tunis Tunisia D

Africa Unite

AU 2001 Cape Town South Africa G

AfricaBio

1999 Pretoria South Africa D

African Aeronautics & Space Organisation

AASO Dammarie-les-Lys France G

African Bird Club

ABC 1994 Cambridge UK F

African Center for Science and International Security

AFRICSIS 2012 Accra Ghana G

African Centre for Community and Development

AFCOD Limbé Cameroon J

African Community Resource Center

ACRC 1984 Los Angeles CA USA G

African Conservation Centre

ACC Nairobi Kenya G

African Conservation Foundation

ACF 1999 London UK G f

African Conservation Tillage Network

ACT 1999 Nairobi Kenya F

African Conservation Trust

ACT 2000 Pietermaritzburg South Africa G

African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

1968 T g

African Development Aid Association

ADAA 1988 Addis Ababa Ethiopia G

African Diaspora Heritage Trail Foundation

ADHT Foundation Paget Bermuda N f

African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services

AFAAS 2005 Kampala Uganda F

African Forum for Urban Security

AFUS 1998 F

African Foundation for Urban Management

Dakar Senegal G f

African Heritage Research Library and Cultural Center

AHRLC 1988 Ibadan Nigeria F

African Human Rights Heritage

AHRH 1992 Accra Ghana G

African Institute for Community-Driven Development

Khanya-aicdd 1998 Johannesburg South Africa D j

African Institute for Policy Analysis and Economic Integration

AIPA 1992 Cape Town South Africa N j

African King Foundation

Newark NJ USA N f

African Library and Information Associations and Institutions

AfLIA 2013 Accra Ghana D

African Maritime Safety and Security Agency

AMSSA 2007 J

African Network of Women Shelters

ANWS 2012 Kigali Rwanda F

African Parks

AP 2000 Bryanston South Africa F

African Plant Nutrition Institute

APNI 2019 Ben Guerir Morocco D

African Population and Health Research Center

APHRC 1995 Nairobi Kenya E

African Rainforest Conservancy

ARC 1991 New York NY USA G

African Regional Centre of Technology

ARCT 1977 Dakar Senegal E g

African Relief in Action

ARIA International 1995 Houston TX USA G

African Rights Initiative International

ARII 2007 Madina Ghana G

African Safari Lodge Foundation

ASL Foundation Parkview South Africa F f

African School of Architecture and Town Planning

1975 Lomé Togo F g

African Trade Insurance Agency

ATI 2000 Nairobi Kenya E gyt

African Travel and Tourism Association

Atta London UK N

African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection

2014 T g

African Union for Housing Finance

AUHF 1983 Parkview South Africa D

African World Heritage Fund

AWHF 2006 Midrand South Africa F g

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