ROLE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AS PARTNERS IN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE EMHASIZED, HABITAT II CONFERENCE TOLD
Press Release
HAB/126
ROLE OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES AS PARTNERS IN HOUSING DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE EMHASIZED, HABITAT II CONFERENCE TOLD
19960606 ISTANBUL, 6 June -- The role of local authorities in meeting housing needs should be emphasized, the Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) was told this morning in its fourth day of general exchange of views on the state of human settlements, including strategies for their improvement.While recognizing the importance of cities, several speakers said that governments must be committed to decentralization which would make it possible for local communities to manage themselves. Central governments should ensure that local authorities become partners in the development of sustainable human settlements. Resources must also be made available to local and regional authorities to enable them to develop their communities.
Statements were made by the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan; the Minister for Supplies, Land Transportation, Urbanization and Habitat of Senegal; the Minister for Urbanism and Habitat of Mali; and the Minister for Community Development of Seychelles.
The Conference also heard statements from the Assistant Minister for Local Government, Lands and Housing of Botswana; the Under-Secretary for Living and Urbanization of Chile; the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Croatia; the Secretary-General of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of the Philippines; and the President of the Council for National Housing of Venezuela. A representative for the city of Vienna spoke on behalf of Ausria.
Also making a statement was the Deputy Director-General, International Labour Organisation (ILO). The Director, External Relations Department of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies also spoke.
Speaking on behalf of local authorities were the Mayor of Kampala and Chairman of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum; and the Deputy General Secretary, Member of the Senegalese Parliament and Mayor of Rufisque, Senegal.
The representatives of non-governmental organizations who spoke were the Co-Founder of the Women Environment and Development Organization and the President and Founder of Habitat for Humanity International.
The representative of Armenia spoke in exercise of his right of reply.
General Exchange of Views
MARGARET NNANANYANA NASHA, Assistant Minister of Local Government, Lands and Housing of Botswana: Botswana published its first national housing policy in 1981 to ensure safe housing for all. The number of urban dwellers has grown from 17 per cent of the population to the current 46 per cent. To handle that growth, the Government has instituted such plans as the self-help housing agency programme, the accelerated land servicing programme, the major village infrastructure development programme and the rural sanitation programme. The self-help housing agency, for instance, provides free serviced land to low-income households. The National Development Bank, building societies and commercial banks are encouraged to lend to all income categories.
Botswana's small Basarwa population (the San), who live as hunter-gatherers in the Kalahari Desert, are being encouraged to change their nomadic lives for a settled existence. The Government is doing so despite international pressure for the preservation of the nomadic lifestyle, the objective of which is to keep the Basarwa as a tourist attraction and part of the fauna of the Kalahari.
HANNES SWOBODA, Executive City Councillor from the City of Vienna, (Austria): Sustainable human settlements will create equal opportunities. People-centred politics must create the conditions for all social groups to lead a life that meets their needs. Particular attention should be paid to deprived population segments and other groups in need of specific support. Those groups include women, young people and migrants. Cultural pluralism and the dismantling of prejudice are basic to a well- functioning society. Policies integrating foreign migrants require sensitivity.
The Austrian Government reaffirms the right to adequate housing as fundamental to people-centred development. Austria's socially oriented housing policy rests on two pillars: a strong legal protection of tenants' rights and consistent subsidies for housing. Sustainable human settlements development requires national and international cooperation and information. The Austrian Government will continue to support sustainable settlements projects.
SERGIO GALILEA, Vice-Minister for Housing and Urban Development of Chile: Chile is implementing a national settlement plan for sustainable economic development and the improvement of the quality of life for its people. It has taken steps to encourage decentralization so as to facilitate cooperation between the public and private sectors and to incorporate non-government sectors in discussing the issues of human settlements. The
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participation of citizens, the improvement of decentralized management and the role of the regional and local governments are also being promoted.
Habitat II is important to Chile's aim of carrying out an open debate on human settlements problems and how to solve them. The aim is to achieve a consensus on the country's problems and make a formal commitment towards a plan of action. Latin American and Caribbean countries should develop a common proposal for action to address their high rates of urbanization, intraterritorial diversity between rural and urban areas and the wide gap in income distribution.
MATIJA SALAJ, Assistant Minister, Ministry for Physical Planning, Building and Housing of Croatia: Over the past 30 years, the urbanization process in Croatia has been manifested in population movements from smaller towns and rural areas into larger towns, particularly into Zagreb and three large regional towns. There are about 120 towns populated by some 80 per cent of the country's total population out of the total of 6,694 statistically defined settlements. About 66 per cent of the population lives in urban areas, about 15 per cent in transitional urbanized areas and about 19 per cent in rural areas.
Croatia has initiated a post-war reconstruction process with the assistance of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). The revitalization of towns and settlements is a complex task under conditions of post-war reconstruction. It is time-consuming and requires substantial and thorough preparation and expertise. It also needs international cooperation and assistance. In the case of Croatia, the required resources exceed the country's capacities.
ANTONIO A. HIDALGO, Secretary-General, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of Philippines: Efforts to implement urban development policies and strategies are made at the local level -- the cities, towns and municipalities. The Philippines is crafting a national urban policy to encourage a more focused development of cities, urban centres and urbanizing municipalities. Its national plans will stress the Conference's themes -- "adequate shelter for all" and "sustainable human settlements in an urbanizing world".
The issue of migration should be addressed during the deliberations on the Habitat Agenda. Apart from rural-urban migration which swells the cities, international migration should be adequately considered. The international community, particularly countries that host migrants, should pay attention to the basic needs of housing, health, social services and employment for migrant workers and their families.
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LANDING SANE, Minister for Supplies, Land Transportation, Urbanization and Habitat of Senegal: The African region has prepared extensively for Habitat II. Through forums organized by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), and national governments, African governments have adopted a coherent policy for the planning and management of human settlements and the improvement of living standards of rural and urban dwellers. Their commitments were adopted in the Johannesburg Declaration in October 1995. Senegal prepared extensively by convening a number of regional and subregional forums and by taking action at the national level.
In the field of human settlements, Senegal has created a Habitat bank to mobilize domestic savings to finance housing with the cooperation of the private sector and cooperatives. Funds were raised which facilitated the construction of more than 12,000 homes. Other programmes include the development of building sites by both the public and private sector and the development of a land regularization policy.
KATHERINE HAGEN, Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO): The majority of the jobs that will be needed to match population growth will have to be created in the cities. Local public-private sector alliances for employment should be set up to create jobs, and employment-intensive growth pursued. Employment-intensive investment policies are among the most powerful tools at the disposal of municipal authorities for creating jobs since developing countries, for instance, invest $200 billion annually in infrastructure. Building municipal infrastructure in a labour-intensive manner can be a cost-effective alternative to traditional equipment-based investment policies. Habitat II and the ILO aim to reverse the divisions between the rich and the poor, the employed and the unemployed and between good jobs and bad jobs. The Conference should strive to advance the objectives of adequate shelter for all by committing itself to creating and protecting full, productive and appropriately-paid employment.
RASHIM AHLUWALIA of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: The themes of Habitat II are of direct relevance to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies because the organization's mission is to improve the situation of the most vulnerable. With increasing population and increasingly scarce resources, the number of vulnerable people is rising. At the same time, government's capacity to ensure access to basic services, food, health and housing is declining. Organizations such as the International Federation face a mounting challenge to ensure that the most vulnerable are receiving the assistance they require.
The International Federation and its member national societies will assume their share of work within the Habitat Agenda and to assist the most vulnerable. Governments should recognize the special role of national Red
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Cross and Red Crescent Societies and help to create a beneficial environment in which they can operate.
SY KADIATOU SOW, Minister for Urbanism and Habitat of Mali: Uniform cities should not be imposed as models for everyone. All nations should be innovative and creative enough to develop cities that reflect their own cultures, needs and resources. Measures should be introduced to ensure the harmonious development of cities and villages. The shortage of drinking water should be tackled. Many people do not have houses due to the high cost of building materials, lack of knowledge, poor trade and excessive centralization of authority in the cities. Decentralization and democratization will involve more people in the search for solutions and make housing more available. It will also enable the formation of more balanced and dynamic alliances and partnerships between the public and private sectors and other organizations. The Istanbul Conference should strive to improve living conditions and the environment, especially for the poor whose rights should be protected at all times.
ABID SHARIFOV, Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan: The country faces three major problems, the solutions of which will allow the Azerbaijani Government to achieve a national programme of action for the steady development of human settlements. The first problem, in a country with a population of 7.5 million, is the return of a million refugees and displaced persons to their native land, the restoration of destroyed villages and infrastructure in 20 per cent of the territory occupied as a result of aggression by Armenia. The consequences of the transition period leading to the transformation to a new socio-economic society and State is another major challenge. The third is the effect of the rise in the level of the Caspian Sea. The estimated cost of the resulting damage exceeds $12.2 billion. In the occupied territories, the estimated cost of damage done is $22.2 billion.
Reforms in the area of human settlements are being pursued while the country is experiencing an economic crisis. More than 17 per cent of the population live in intolerable conditions and in primitive dwellings. Countries in transition need international assistance and financial support to achieve the sustainable development of settlements.
MIGUEL ROJAS NARANJO, President of the Council for National Housing of Venezuela: Venezuela's national plan of action has ratified the right to shelter, which has been included in the nation's constitution. Efforts should be made to eradicate poverty by accumulating more income in the hands of the poor. Local communities should be mobilized to have a greater share of socially produced property. The competence of centralized States should be reorganized to devolve more power to local authorities. The role of non-governmental organizations and local bodies, in the efforts to meet the
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housing needs of the population, should be emphasized. Segregation in the provision of human settlements should be discouraged.
Equitable development should be seen as a process to make a majority of the population upwardly mobile. Venezuela viewed the inclusion of a position document from Latin America as a significant contribution to the deliberations at the Conference.
DOLOR C. ERNESTA, Minister for Community Development of Seychelles: As a small island State, Seychelles' potential for pursuing sustainable human settlements depends on maintaining the quality of limited natural resources, including ensuring water supply and protection from coastal erosion and environmental degradation. The Seychelles Development Plan and and a number of sectoral plans seek to strengthen the country's economic base; develop supportive institutions and a legislative framework to reinforce human settlements policies; develop a housing policy that addresses the needs of the entire population; and formulate a national population policy.
The 1993 Seychelles Constitution recognizes the right of every citizen to adequate and decent shelter and the need to facilitate partnership between public and private organizations. Some initiatives to achieve adequate shelter include mobilizing domestic savings for housing, creating a land bank project and a national geographic information system. Domestic resources and international resources will have to be mobilized to implement the national plan.
CHRISTOPHER IGA, Mayor of Kampala and Chairman of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum: The Forum brings together almost 100 local government associations, national ministries and key local government stakeholders in more than 30 Commonwealth countries. It promotes the need for good local governance, notably in respect to the process of democratization and decentralization. It is ready to cooperate with the follow-up of the outcome of Habitat II. Next month, it will hold a high-level pan-Commonwealth seminar in Accra on the management of local government reforms to take stock of the Conference's recommendations. To help them do so, a representative of the Centre for Human Settlements should attend.
MBAYE-JACQUES DIOP, Deputy-General Secretary, Member of the Senegalese Parliament and Mayor of Rufisque: Local authorities are the representatives of democracy at the grass-roots level. Their greatest contribution would be to establish a fruitful dialogue to make it possible for democracy to move forward. States must ensure that the claims of local authorities are not against the will of the State. There should be a basic principle of subsidiarity so that development will take place in partnership with local communities. Although the importance of the city is recognized, States must be committed to decentralization which makes it possible for local communities
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to manage themselves. They should ensure that local authorities become partners by adopting special procedures. The authorities should also be given resources to carry out their development programmes. An international fund for the development of human settlements should be established.
BELLA ABZUG, Women, Environment and Development Organization: Habitat must make it a habit of stressing the rights of women in the issue of human settlements. Women should be given access to credit, housing and the right to inherit property. They should not be forced into homelessness by fleeing from abusive spouses or parents or after the death their husbands. The Conference should try to create a level playing field for women. Globalization, the pressures of the market, migration and poverty threaten to crush the future of children, especially young boys and girls who are sexually exploited. Habitat II cannot be just about city traffic but also about trafficking in women, a modern form of slavery which must be abolished. Women need political power to fight poverty and other problems. They should be allowed to take part in all levels of decision-making and granted equal access to all resources.
MILLARD FULLER, Founder and President of Habitat for Humanity International: The Christian organization, founded 20 years ago, is providing solutions to the problems of inadequate housing and homelessness, as part of the United Nations Habitat family. Habitat for Humanity will, by the end of l996, have affiliates in more than 2,000 locations in over 40 countries and will complete its 50,000th house in September. It builds more than 12,000 houses per year and its decisions on construction are made at the local level. The organization depends on volunteers, the most famous of whom is the former President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. The use of local materials and local construction expertise will keep costs down. Houses should have simple designs and be decent and durable. Poverty in housing should be eliminated.
Right of Reply
The representative of Armenia: The politicized statement by the delegation of Azerbaijan is out of place in this Conference. Armenia is not a party to the war Azerbaijan referred to. Rather, Armenia and other entities are seeking solutions to the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict. A solution will soon be found. Many of the points made by Azerbaijan are open to dispute.
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