Homelessness serves as a reminder that “Humanity is still falling woefully short of putting its universal declarations and principles into practice”. Holding this conference in one of the most populous countries of the world also serves as a reminder that the inexorable process of urbanization will soon turn our planet into a predominantly urban world. Indeed, and according to most experts, 2006 will mark the turning point in demographic history as more than half of humanity will live in towns and cities. While urbanization brings many benefits to society, it is unfortunately synonymous, in many developing countries, with poverty and social exclusion, the most extreme form of which is homelessness.

The facts and figures that are facing us do not call for optimism. Today more than 1 billion people are living in substandard and inhuman shelter conditions. And this figure does not include transient populations who do not have even a roof to protect them from the hardships of nature. They number in the millions and are ignored by statistics simply because they are not identified as citizens. Many of them are in the prime of their youth. More than half of them are women or girls, often in charge of younger children and siblings. They wander our streets. They are among us. They live with us. And, they form part of our social fabric.

At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, the world’s leaders decided to recognize the living conditions of slum dwellers as one of the major issues facing humanity. They resolved to “improve significantly the living conditions of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020”. While this goal, in and of itself, is a positive step because it puts the urban poor at the forefront of poverty reduction strategies, as a target it is much too modest considering the scope of the problem. It also obfuscates the issue of the homeless.