A key function of UN-HABITAT in fulfilling its mandate is the monitoring of global trends and conditions and the assessment of progress in implementing the Habitat Agenda at the international, regional, national and local levels. The monitoring function is done through two main instruments: Global Urban Observatory and Statistics and Best Practices. By working at all levels and with all relevant stakeholders and partners, the agency contributes to linking policy development and capacity-building activities with a view to promoting cohesive and mutually reinforcing social, economic and environmental policies. On the request from the Human Settlements Commission the agency has devised a monitoring system. The UN-HABITAT monitoring system has three main components:

The Statistics Programme which regularly collects data from member countries and cities

The Urban Indicator Programme which regularly collects indicators from more than 200 cities

The Best Practices Programme, which has compiled over 1,100 best practice cases in 600 cities

The agency is participating in tracking Millennium Declaration goals by providing 4 indicators and slum index based on them for Goal 7, target 11. Those indicators are:

Percentage of people with access to sanitation  

Percentage of people with access to safe water  

Percentage of people with secure tenure

Percentage of people in permanent housing/dwelling