The Governing Council meets every two years to examine UN-HABITAT's work and relationships with its partners. The Council is composed of 58 member states. It is a high-level forum of governments at the ministerial level during which policy guidelines and the organisation's budget are established for the next two-year period.

The Governing Council reports to the General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which coordinates the work of the subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly. The governments have representatives in Nairobi with whom senior UN-HABITAT officials meet regularly throughout the year in the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR).