Funding for tackling homelessness is absent from international development budgets, report finds

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Efforts to tackle escalating levels of homelessness globally are largely missing from international development budgets, the first-ever analysis of international and development funding to tackle homelessness finds.

Published today by global homelessness NGO Depaul International, the report finds that global development investment targeting housing policy and low-cost housing has fallen sharply since 2019. Official Development Assistance (ODA) that targets housing-related activities now accounts for less than 0.09% of total funding - and only a tiny fraction of this specifically addresses homelessness - despite evidence showing that investing in affordable, safe, and decent housing improves climate resilience, health and education outcomes.

The global picture is stark. Estimates of the number of people experiencing homelessness vary, but if the global population of people thought to be living on the streets or in temporary shelter were counted as a single country, they would number in the hundreds of millions - comparable in size to the United States of America.

The report is published as the climate crisis continues to drive homelessness globally, with more than 20 million people each year forced to leave their homes due to extreme weather events including heavy rainfall, droughts and cyclones. For those experiencing homelessness, a lack of shelter means that they are more exposed to the worst effects of climate emergencies.

Investing in climate-resilience social housing can reduce homelessness caused by extreme weather events, minimise carbon emissions and save lives. Yet, the report's analysis of OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) funding finds that climate finance rarely addresses homelessness directly.

Matthew Carter, Group CEO Depaul International said: "As global development budgets come under huge pressure, homelessness must not be treated as an isolated social challenge, but recognised as a fundamental barrier to improving climate resilience, health and education outcomes.

"By integrating homelessness explicitly into development financing and programmes, there is a real opportunity for funders, philanthropists and development banks to have a transformative impact on the lives of those experiencing homelessness around the world, ensuring that nobody is left behind in the global push for progress."

Just 0.21% of health projects in the OECD DAC database mentioned homelessness or supporting homeless populations, despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) highlighting that housing is integral to achieving universal health coverage. Those experiencing homelessness face some of the worst health inequalities worldwide, including reduced life expectancy, much higher rates of infectious diseases like Covid-19, tuberculosis and HIV, and increased risk of physical and mental health challenges.

Recommendations in the report include better recognition of homelessness in global development strategies, investment in climate-resilient social housing that supports those most at risk of homelessness, better targeting of the needs of those experiencing homelessness in funding allocated to sectors such as health and education, and integrated cross-sector efforts to prevent those at risk from becoming homeless.

There are substantial challenges to estimating the global scale of homelessness, which the report explains, including lack of a universally-adopted global definition, different methodologies for collecting data, and different national political agendas which affect who is counted as homeless and why. As of 2024, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) reported that between 1.6 billion and 3 billion people around the world are without decent housing, with The Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH) estimating that at least 330 million people experience absolute homelessness.

The report presents the first analysis of global international development funding to tackling homelessness. Spending patterns were assessed through analysis of the OECD Development Assistance Committee's Creditor Reporting System (OECD DAC CRS) database - a comprehensive database used to report donor spending on climate and development programmes.

Depaul International oversees a group of leading homelessness NGOs, working across the world since 1989 with a mission to end homelessness, supporting the most marginalised and improving the lives of those affected by homelessness.

Access the full report HERE