​UN-Habitat is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities and communities. As such, UN-Habitat has been at the forefront of supporting countries to have access to reliable data and information on urban conditions and trends, and to efficiently monitor and report on global agendas (e.g. 2030 Agenda, New Urban Agenda). This includes developing tools and approaches such as the urban observatory model, the City Prosperity Initiative and the national sample of cities approach, building capacities of national and local governments, establishing local, regional and global urban monitoring mechanisms and supporting urban data collection, analysis and dissemination.