Selman Ergüden

Chief of the Housing Policy and Development Section in Shelter Branch, Global Division of United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT)

Mr. Ergüden is also Coordinator of the UN Housing Rights Programme (UNHRP) jointly formulated and implemented by UN-HABITAT and OHCHR, as well as the Focal Point of the Organization for "human rights" covering topics such as aging-older persons, and indigenous peoples and issues.

He graduated from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey in 1969 with a B.S. and M.S in city and regional planning. He was granted a mid-career research scholarship by MIT in 1979 as one of the pioneering participants of the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Programme. From 1976-1984, Mr. Erguden held several senior positions in the Government of Turkey.

He joined the UN-HABITAT in 1984 and has served in the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), then located in Baghdad, the Habitat Headquarters in Nairobi, and as the Head of the Habitat Information Office for North America and the Caribbean in Ottawa, Canada.

As the focal point for aging and older persons, he has organized research studies on “Improving the quality of life of the elderly and disabled people in human settlements”(1993), and “Living conditions of low-income older persons in human settlements”(1999).