Build Change Statement: High-Level Meeting of the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda

Open Session following Multi-Stakeholder Panel 2: Unlocking Delivery: Financing Sustainable Urbanization at Scale

High-Level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on the Midterm Review of the New Urban Agenda, July 2026

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Thank you Mr. moderator, excellencies and distinguished delegates. 

My name is Ariana Karamallis, Director of Global Engagement at Build Change, a global leader in resilient housing. Housing and financing sustainable urbanization are one agenda, not two–and sustainable urbanization will not be achieved if we overlook those living in informality — the majority of the world’s urban residents.

Across the Global South, self-built and informal housing is the norm, not the exception. The severe consequences of disasters impacting these communities is not a given — it is due to the failure of systems that leave self-built homes unprotected from floods, storms, and earthquakes. 

We welcome the Declaration’s commitment to incremental housing and secure tenure over displacement — but recognition is not resolution. With African urban populations set to double by 2050, financing for informal housing will determine whether the New Urban Agenda succeeds.

Financing incremental, resilient upgrading of existing housing — through subsidies, private finance, and ODA — will unlock sustainable urbanization at scale, reducing disaster losses while saving carbon and land.

With this in mind, we ask stakeholders to act on five points.

First, channel climate and disaster finance to homeowner-driven upgrading, and release disaster risk financing based on vulnerability — before disasters strike, not after.

Second, innovate housing finance: expand ODA and blended finance, develop mortgage and credit mechanisms for the informal majority, and scale subsidies for resilient upgrading, not new-build alone.

Third, recognize self-builders as primary risk managers and co-financiers — formalizing technical assistance, secure tenure, and disaster-resilient building practices for the majority who build their own homes.

Fourth, operationalize the platforms this Declaration already names — resource the Informality Task Force and the Global Action Plan for Slum Transformation, and strengthen the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Housing.

Fifth, scale digital technical assistance — tools like Build Change’s BCtap platform, putting resilience engineering and financing expertise directly into local hands, enabling resilient housing at the scale this crisis demands.

Housing financed today will shape the resilience of tomorrow’s cities. Build Change stands ready to partner with Member States, stakeholders, and financial institutions to get this right.

Thank you.