ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF HABITAT AGENDA

Press Release
ECOSOC/5903

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF HABITAT AGENDA

The need to focus on human settlements of all sizes was clear, including on the rural dimension of sustainable urban development, William Corbbet, Chief of the Shelter Division, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), told the 2000 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council this afternoon, as it began its consideration of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda which was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (Istanbul, 1996).

Introducing the Secretary-General’s report on the issue, Mr. Corbbet said the Commission on Human Settlements had endorsed Habitat’s new focus on policies and strategies to reduce urban poverty. Habitat currently had two flagship campaigns. The Global Campaign for Secure Tenure recognized that the new builders of cities in the world today were the urban poor themselves. It promoted recognition of their permanence based on the premise that secure tenure was an essential element of a sustainable shelter policy. The Global Campaign for Good Urban Governance focused on proper management of cities and human settlements as a pre-condition for economic efficiency and sustained action against poverty.

The representative of Nigeria, speaking on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, said the inability to implement commitments made by relevant organizations and agencies of the United Nations, including the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as a distinct group of partners to the Habitat Agenda in Istanbul had created a serious lack of financial resources to support the agencies involved in the implementation of that Agenda. The United Nations Commission on Human Settlements was limited in its capacity as a focal point for implementing the Agenda. The support of the international community had been more or less on an ad hoc basis

The representative of Norway said using a task manager system should not diminish the role of the Commission on Human Settlements as a focal point, but rather strengthen its central function of coordinating the commitments and activities of the United Nations system. The focus must be on streamlining the reporting system and improving the exchange of information. That was all the more necessary since it was becoming increasingly clear that many of the activities that were being undertaken were not being reported.

Brazil's representative said a new century was being entered with old problems, such as difficulties in providing adequate shelter, services, infrastructure and employment. Although both urban and rural areas were affected,

Economic and Social Council - 1a - Press Release ECOSOC/5903 19th Meeting (PM) 11 July 2000

those difficulties proved to be more severe in large urban agglomerations, mainly in developing countries. The extent and the diversity of urban and rural problems required not only global actions, but also specific measures geared to specific areas.

The representatives of France, on behalf of the European Union and associated States, China, Colombia and Croatia also spoke.

Genevieve Domenach-Chich, Chief, Towns and Human Settlement Unit, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) addressed the Council as well.

The Council will meet again at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 12 July, to continue its consideration of the item.

Council Work Programme

The Economic and Social Council met this afternoon to continue its consideration of the policies and activities of the specialized agencies and other bodies of the United Nations system related to the sectoral theme, in particular: coordinated implementation by the United Nations system of the Habitat Agenda, which was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (Istanbul, 1996).

The Council had before it a report of the Secretary-General (document A/55/83-E/2000/62) on the Habitat Agenda, which reviews the commitments and action areas of the Agenda, as well as its relevance to the work of the United Nations in the socio-economic development field. It also provides information on the special session of the General Assembly for the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda.

As elaborated in the report, the two themes of the Habitat Agenda -– namely adequate shelter for all and sustainable urban development -– are excellent vehicles for advancing the wide scope of United Nations global commitments in socio-economic and environmental issues, particularly at national and regional levels. The organization's agencies are called upon to enhance the capacity for coordinated and complementary action and to make such efforts visible at regional, national and local levels, with a view to supporting sustained implementation of the broad range of commitments agreed upon at Istanbul in 1996.

The report states that, in order to strengthen both integrated and coordinated implementation of the Agenda, the Council could: reaffirm that the Council, together with the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Settlements, constitutes a three-tiered intergovernmental mechanism to oversee implementation. The Council could also lend its active support to the system wide establishment and functioning of an urban forum of bilateral and multilateral support agencies engaged in urbanization issues.

Addressing priorities for system-wide action, the report states that the Council could call upon local authorities and their international association to strengthen their role and contributions to implementing the Agenda. It might also consider inviting the United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities to contribute to the work of the Council in coordinating the follow-up of international conferences and world summits. Another priority would be to highlight the particular significance of the commitments of the Agenda with regard to cross-cutting issues and take them into account when setting up working agendas of future coordination segments of the Council.

The report also outlines recommendations on coordination of the United Nations system in preparing for the special session of the Assembly for the five- year review of the outcome of the Istanbul conference. Annexed to the report are: an illustrative framework for the Habitat Agenda task manager system; and a draft Habitat Agenda task manager's reporting format.

Also before the Council was a letter dated 27 April 2000 from the Permanent Representatives of Algeria, Egypt and Portugal to the Secretary-General (document A/54/855-E/2000/44). The letter transmits to the United Nations, the Cairo Declaration and Plan of action adopted by the Africa-European Summit held from 3 to 4 April under the aegis of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the European Union.

Introduction of Secretary-General’s Report

WILLIAM CORBBET, Chief of the Shelter Division of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), speaking on behalf of Klaus LAUS TOEPFER, Habitat’s Executive Director, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on coordinated implementation by the United Nations system of the Habitat Agenda (document A/55/83-E/2000/62). Mr. Corbbet began by noting a number of steps taken recently to coordinate activities between Habitat and the United Nations system, including with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi since its revitalization process. Habitat had a clearer focus in helping member States deal with the dramatic demographic shifts and the urbanization of poverty witnessed over the last decades. The need to focus on human settlements of all sizes was clear, including on the rural dimension of sustainable urban development. The Commission on Human Settlements had endorsed Habitat’s new focus on policies and strategies to reduce urban poverty.

With the profile of an advocacy agency, Habitat’s approach had become rights-based, he continued. It currently had two flagship campaigns. The Global Campaign for Secure Tenure recognized that the new builders of cities in the world today were the urban poor themselves. The Secure Tenure Campaign promoted recognition of their permanence, based on the premise that secure tenure was an essential element of a sustainable shelter policy, which unleashed the energies of the poor themselves. The Global Campaign for Good Urban Governance focused on the elements needed to properly manage cities and human settlements, as a pre-condition for economic efficiency, in a city-wide framework for sustained action against poverty.

Also, he said, Habitat was continuing to explore ways to improve coordination regardless of the severe constraint of a resource shortage. An initiative of Habitat with the World Bank, for example, had led to the 1999 Cities Alliance in Berlin, focused on slum upgrading and city development strategies. The Secretary-General had clearly endorsed that initiative in his report to the Millennium Assembly. Habitat was in a strong position to play its central role in the Habitat Agenda, which itself was a powerful mandate dealing with very real issues. The 2001 special session of the General Assembly would consider the progress made in implementing it.

Statements

OSITADINMA ANAEDU (Nigeria), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said relevant organizations and agencies of the United Nations, including the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as a distinct group of partners had made commitments to the Habitat Agenda. The inability to implement those commitments had created a serious lack of financial resources to support the agencies involved in the implementation of that Agenda. The United Nations Commission on Human Settlements was limited in its capacity as a focal point for implementing the Habitat Agenda. It had been playing that role without adequate representation and effective participation in all the relevant policy coordination mechanisms of the Organization.

He said the Commission was thus unable to adequately utilize the established framework to systematically review the role and contribution by relevant organizations and agencies of the United Nations. As a result, there was a lack of information on who was doing what, and where. The support of the international community had been more or less on an ad hoc basis, without a coordinated means of identifying gaps, overlaps or opportunities for meeting the demands and support requirements for implementation. What was lacking, as well, was the coordinated implementation of projects.

He said the task manager being proposed should not replace the United Nations Commission as a focal point for coordination. Its primary purpose should be to address the gaps in information on the activities of other agencies of the Organization. It was equally relevant that the Commission should be strengthened institutionally.

CATHERINE GRAS (France), spoke on behalf of the European Union and the associated States of Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.

She said she was convinced that synergies present in the United Nations processes would have a major impact on the participatory approach to environment and development in the future. Only by prolonged, determined and persistent efforts could urban structures be made to evolve in the desired directions. Five years after Istanbul, the international community could not expect spectacular steps forward.

The Union was very keen on having the upcoming special session adopt a declaration on human settlements, which would extend and amplify the conclusions of Habitat II. The session should solidify the commitments made at Istanbul. The international community must be able to share information on relevant developments, as well as difficulties and problems that had to be identified.

She said adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlement in an urban world should be given the same special consideration as they were given at Istanbul. The Union was also convinced of the need to mobilize the various partners of civil society and, therefore, extend the procedural and accreditation rules adopted at Habitat II. It also approved of the project on a world charter for local self-government.

LUIZ TUPY CALDAS DE MOURA (Brazil) said a new century had been entered into with old problems, such as the difficulties in providing adequate shelter, services, infrastructure and employment. Although both urban and rural areas were affected, those difficulties proved to be more severe in large urban agglomerations, mainly in developing countries. The extent and the diversity of urban and rural problems required not only global actions, but also specific measures that varied from region to region, country to country, city to city. The active involvement of local authorities and civil society in that process was essential.

His country had been implementing the principles of the Istanbul Global Plan of Action, he said. Brazilian urban policy aimed at the elimination of social inequalities, the decentralization of initiatives and programmes to grant more autonomy to municipalities, and the commitment to partnership, based on the acknowledgement that the fight against human settlement problems was a matter of concern to society as a whole. Urban policies had conceived urban development in a broad and coordinated perspective, and took into account the concept of "habitability", which encompassed such elements appropriate environmental conditions, security, privacy, sanitation, infrastructure and provision of social services.

As a concrete expression of the importance it attached to the question of human settlements, his country was actively participating in the follow-up process in the Conference in Istanbul. The "spirit of Istanbul" must be kept alive, he said, so as to make all human settlements healthier, safer, equitable and sustainable. In so doing, they would be allowed to fully play their role as centres of civilization, promoting economic, social, cultural and scientific development.

ZHANG YUE (China) said the question of human settlements was involved with many other development issues. The United Nations reform had materialized into two major themes, which were adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements. The goals of Habitat II had been integrated into the programme of work. Agencies had joined hands in developing and implementing projects. The Commission should take the lead in implementing the Habitat Agenda.

Coordination was essential for Habitat II goals to be attained, he said. The function of the Commission as the lead agency for the Habitat Agenda should not be undermined. Coordination should go beyond the mere allocating of work. Each part of the United Nations system should submit more detailed reports on the work carried out and how it related to the Agenda.

The topics of urban governance and secure tenure were important elements in the Habitat Agenda, but those themes had not been included in the second preparatory committee. It was inappropriate to exaggerate the role of any partner without appropriate regard for the views of others. It was the Secretariat that should provide Member States with appropriate and correct information. The Habitat Agenda would be reviewed and its focus for the future would be determined. Local reviews should be completed quickly toward that end.

ÅGE BE GRUTLE, Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, said the Council was invited to make recommendations for strengthening the mechanisms of coordination in tackling the massive challenges of urbanization, rising urban poverty, increasing social exclusion and the growth of slums. Using a task manager system should not diminish the role of the Commission on Human Settlements, but rather strengthen its central function of coordinating the commitments and activities of the United Nations system.

He said the focus must be on streamlining the reporting system and improving the exchange of information. That was all the more necessary, since it was becoming increasingly clear that many of the activities that were being undertaken were not being reported. A task manager system would, therefore, help the Commission on Human Settlements, in light of the location of its headquarters. Another critical factor in strengthening mechanisms of coordination would be to grant membership in the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) to the Commission. His Government supported the inclusion of that proposal in the draft- agreed conclusions.

He said that yet another factor that could contribute to the strengthening of mechanisms of coordination was the role played by the Advisory Committee of Local Authorities, as reflected by the Council’s invitation to that body to contribute to its work. The proposed establishment of an urban forum could also provide a platform for a more holistic and coordinated approach to the elaboration of urban issues in the United Nations system, and thus be an important element in the strengthening of a coordination mechanism.

GERMAN GARCIA DURAN (Colombia) described the Habitat preparatory committee meetings for the 2001 special session and said the high-level segment had addressed the local, regional and larger scope to the Habitat questions, including the role of the various parts of the United Nations systems in carrying out the agenda. Among the resolutions adopted was one advocating policies supporting the family.

For the special session to succeed, he said was it was important to focus on the basic objectives established by the Istanbul Conference, including housing for all and good urban governance. The creation of the Inter-agency Coordination Committee had contributed to realizing that agenda. Habitat had been included in those planning sessions whenever issues of Habitat's involvement arose. Habitat had also been revitalized. Its statement on the role of cities in the new millennium should be considered an outcome of Istanbul "Plus Five".

The Advisory Committee of Local Authorities had been meeting since last year, he said. It had contributed to the preparatory committee. The role of that group should be strengthened.

GENEVIÈVE DOMENACH-CHICH, Chief, Towns and Human Settlement Unit, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said that in addressing the theme of “making cities human”, citizens needed to be placed at the centre of urban projects. Space for enterprise and the creativity of inhabitants must, therefore, be created. The UNESCO’s participation in Habitat’s progress was guided by its mandate -– the importance of education, culture, social and human sciences, natural sciences and communication in building viable human services and fully understanding the physical and social environment of humans.

She said UNESCO based its actions on its partnerships with municipal actors, businesses, private foundations, professionals and urban planners among others. The objective was to build bridges among the worlds of decision-making, knowledge and action. Since June 1996 action had focused on the themes of urban poverty, and democratization and participatory urban governments seeking to improve living conditions and participation in urban life. The UNESCO also acted as a catalyst and initiator among partners that were not prepared to work together.

IVAN SIMONOVIC (Croatia) said the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, adopted at the "City Summit" in Istanbul, was of particular importance given that the "Urban Millennium" had started, as the Secretary-General had pointed out in Berlin last week. But the Habitat Agenda could not be looked at in isolation from the work of the earlier conferences, whose achievement was to highlight the linkages among different issues.

His country had included all recommendations from the Habitat Agenda in its basic development strategy documents, the Strategy and Programme for Physical Planning in Croatia, which took into account the integral issues of sustainable development, settlement planning and sustainable settlement at the national level. Progress in achieving the goals of the Habitat Agenda was monitored through the follow-up documents and information system on physical planning. His Government supported the participation of civil society, local authorities and the private sector in the implementation and the application of national plans of action. The use of modern information technologies had a significant role in the development of settlements, he said.

* *** *