Call for nominations for the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award on the occasion of the global observance of World Habitat Day on Monday 5 October 2020.

The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour award was launched in 1989 and is one of the most prestigious human settlements awards in the world. It aims to acknowledge initiatives which have made outstanding contributions in the field of human settlements, provision of housing, highlighting the plight of people living in poverty or who have been displaced, developing and improving human settlements and the quality of urban life to leave no one behind echoing the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 with emphasis on Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Award 

TheUN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award, a plaque engraved with the name of the winner, will be presented during the Global Observance of World Habitat Day on 5 October 2020.

Eligibility 

Individuals, organizations, the private sector, government, non-governmental, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies dealing with sustainable projects which have had a great impact in society, and any Habitat Agenda partner who has improved the lives of people can be nominated for the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour.

These include:

• Government and inter-governmental organizations or agencies, including bilateral aid agencies
• Local and Regional Governments or their associations
• Civil society organizations
• The private sector
• National Habitat Committees or focal points
• Research and academic institutions
• Public or private foundations
• Multilateral agencies (United Nations Agencies, World Bank, etc.)
• The media
• Individuals

Submission 

Candidates for this year’s UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award should submit details of their achievements by 17 August 2020. Submissions should not exceed 5 pages, however, there is no limitation on supporting material that can be attached as annexes. All submissions should have the following format:

• Background: Substantive information about the organization or individual nominated, including mission, goals, history and duration of experience in the field of human settlements.
• Description of the initiative or project: Situation or problem addressed, objectives, target beneficiaries, investment in the project in terms of capacity, material, and financial resources, activities are undertaken, duration of the project, achievements and outputs (provide photographs/evidence of outputs), lessons learned, best practices from the project.
• Main partners: List partners and their roles and levels of participation in the planning, design, implementation, and funding of the project.
• Impact: Estimated number of beneficiaries, types of beneficiaries e.g. women, children, people living in poverty, victims of displacements, etc. Impact on beneficiaries’ living conditions e.g. social, economic, environmental, health, education, employment, the security of tenure, crime reduction, community involvement in decisions/ governance, etc. Provide quantitative and qualitative values.
• Sustainability: Describe how the initiative has created lasting change (by enacting new legislation or policy, by promoting capacity building and community empowerment, by strengthening the institutional framework, by enforcing efficiency, accountability and transparency etc.). Indicate how long the positive impact has been sustained so far. If there is an ongoing investment to maintain the positive results, give details of how this is secured, and its commercial and social sustainability.
• Transferability and upscaling: Indicate whether this is a replicable best practice and explain the process of replication where applicable.
• Innovation: Describe the main innovative aspects of the initiative.
• Recognition of the initiative: Provide a list of references, articles, publications, media reports about the initiative starting with the most recent ones and where possible send copies of the articles as an annex.

Selection Process 

• Selection will be made by a Committee comprising from UN-Habitat experts and senior management.
• UN-Habitat will make an initial assessment of the nominations and submissions and verify that the submission conforms to the standards outlined in the guidelines. Qualifying submissions will be sent to the Selection Committee which will be guided by the World Habitat Day theme for 2020, Housing For All: A better Urban Future.
• The Committee members will make their recommendations to the Executive Director outlining their reasons for the selection of a maximum of five winning initiatives.
• UN-Habitat’s Executive Director, based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee, will make the final selection of the UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour winners.
• The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour nominees will be notified by 2 September 2020 on the outcome of the selection.
• The winners will receive their awards during the global celebration of the World Habitat Day observance on 5 October 2020.