Addis Ababa, 13 March 2025 (ECA) - This year, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is set to mobilize stakeholders in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe to improve urban living conditions through UN-Habitat’s Quality of Life Initiative.
As African cities grow rapidly, ensuring that urbanization leads to better living standards remains a pressing challenge. The Quality of Life Initiative equips local authorities with the data and insights they need to ensure that urban expansion benefits every resident.
Central to the Initiative is the Quality of Life Index, which gives local authorities a pulse-check of urban life across nine critical domains, including access to basic services, housing and economic opportunities.
What sets the Index apart is its adaptability. It combines global benchmarks from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with local priorities identified by city stakeholders, enabling each municipality to develop a bespoke index that reflects its unique context, values and priorities. This evidence-based approach enables local authorities to make targeted decisions and measure their precise impact.
A collaborative approach
At the request of participating countries, ECA will bring together diverse stakeholders, including policymakers, urban planners, national statistical office representatives and community leaders, in the coming months to discuss the core elements of a good quality of life and identify areas for improvement.
“Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, and Zimbabwe are at the forefront of Africa’s urban transformation,” said Ms. Atkeyelsh Persson, Chief of ECA’s Urbanization and Development Section. “Urban growth is inevitable, but the quality of life it delivers is not guaranteed. Metrics like GDP might tell us how an economy is performing, but it says nothing about whether people in cities have clean water, safe public spaces or reliable public transport.”
“Without real data on the human experience, decision-makers are left navigating urban development in the dark,” said Mr. Giuseppe Tesoriere, ECA’s focal point for the Quality of Life Initiative.
“But there’s a strong appetite for change. City leaders want better tools to understand what truly improves daily life — and how to make it happen. That’s where our Quality of Life Initiative comes in. We look forward to working with stakeholders in these four countries to explore urban policy proposals that put people first,” he added.
Data-driven decision-making
Despite a growing global focus on people-centered urban development, many African cities face major challenges, such as fragmented efforts, competing priorities and data gaps, that hinder effective decision-making.
The Quality of Life Index addresses these challenges by integrating with Africa’s expanding Voluntary Local Review (VLR) process — a city-led assessment that monitors progress on the SDGs and fosters multi-stakeholder collaboration.
The Index creates synergies with the VLR data to create an actionable tool that local authorities can use to gain a clearer picture of urban life and make data-driven improvements in the lives of city residents.
ECA works in close collaboration with the Quality of Life Initiative to scale up the Index in cities across Africa. The Quality of Life Initiative actively engages with the UN Regional Economic Commissions to mobilize the participation of cities and local governments globally, providing technical support and capacity-building to help them adopt and implement the Quality of Life Index as a tool for urban development and policymaking.
This work is part of a broader collaboration among UN Regional Economic Commissions together with the Quality of Life Initiative, which includes a forthcoming position paper on a joint commitment and testimony from the Regional Economic Commissions on Enhancing Quality of Life in Cities: A Unified Inter-Regional Perspective, led by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
Find out more about the Quality of Life Initiative.
About ECA
Established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN's five regional commissions, ECA's mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development. Made up of 54 member States, and playing a dual role as a regional arm of the UN and as a key component of the African institutional landscape, ECA is well positioned to make unique contributions to address the Continent’s development challenges.
About the Quality of Life Initiative
Implemented by UN-Habitat and sponsored by the Quality of Life Program, the Quality of Life Initiative is a global project transforming how cities understand and improve urban well-being by harnessing human-centered data to capture what people truly value. The Initiative invites cities to undertake an assessment of their residents' quality of life to identify key areas for monitoring and improvement. By going beyond numbers and using an inclusive approach, the Initiative empowers people to pioneer a better future by providing new insights and knowledge to create more resilient, compassionate, and thriving communities. This innovative approach paves the way for a more inclusive future, where multiple dimensions of quality of life are brought to light, driving improvements in urban governance, design, and investment.
About UN-Habitat
UN-Habitat is the United Nations entity responsible for sustainable urbanization. It has programmes in over 90 countries supporting policymakers and communities to create socially and environmentally sustainable cities and towns. UN-Habitat promotes transformative change in cities through knowledge, policy advice, technical assistance, and collaborative action. To know more, visit unhabitat.org or follow us on X @UNHABITAT.
Media contacts
Sophia Denekew
Media Relations Lead
ECA
denekews.uneca@un.org
Kathleen Sullivan
Senior Communications Lead
Quality of Life Initiative
UN-Habitat
kathleen.sullivan@un.org