ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL CONTINUES CONSIDERATION OF HABITAT AGENDA IMPLEMENTATION

Press Release
ECOSOC/5904

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL CONTINUES CONSIDERATION OF HABITAT AGENDA IMPLEMENTATION

Ensuring the fulfilment of the right to adequate housing to all and working to improve the conditions and management of human settlements had to be an integral part of efforts to provide a higher quality of life for all, India's representative told the 2000 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council this monring, as it continued its consideration of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (Istanbul, 1996).

The magnitude of the problem could be gauged from the fact that an estimated 1 billion people did not have access to safe and adequate shelter and sanitation, she continued. The approach to human settlements could not be separated from the general economic situation of a country. Sustained economic growth would provide the resources required to invest in human settlements. Enhanced international cooperation, particularly through provision of financial resources and technology transfer, would be necessary to supplement the efforts of developing countries.

The Vice-President of Private Sector Development and Infrastructure of the World Bank, Nemat Shafik, said the Bank had focused on providing basic services to the urban poor at an unprecedented scale, creating a healthier urban environment and strengthening urban management and finance. As a result, the Bank had developed a new approach towards its work, undertaken a more rigorous analysis of projects at the local level, and instituted changes at the operational level. The strategy had been based on the aims of providing adequate housing for all, helping cities develop, participating in national urban strategies and contributing to the expansion of capacity-building at the local level.

The Bank had taken a number of approaches, including the establishment of a central national fund that would loan to local players. The Bank was also learning the importance of monitoring, of developing and using urban indicators and making use of opportunities provided by new technologies. It was forging partnerships with the private sector and persuading them to provide services to the poor.

The Chief of the Shelter Division, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), William Corbbet, and the Secretary of the non-governmental organization Committee on Human Settlements, Narelle Townsend, also spoke.

The Council will meet again today at 2:30 p.m., for the panel discussions on "Examples of Integrated and Coordinated Support by United Nations Country Teams in Implementing Cross-Cutting Conference Goals." The first panel, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., will focus on Bolivia. The second, from 4 to 5 p.m., will focus on Ghana and Madagascar.

Council Work Programme

The Economic and Social Council met this morning 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 implementation of the Habitat Agenda, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) (Istanbul, 1996).

Statements

VIJAY THAKUR SINGH (India) said ensuring the fulfilment of the right to adequate housing to all and working to improve the conditions and management of human settlements had to be an integral part of efforts to provide a higher quality of life for all. The magnitude of the problem could be gauged from the fact that at least an estimated 1 billion people did not have access to safe and adequate shelter and sanitation.

Her country's National Housing Policy acknowledged that shelter and development were mutually supportive, she said. Housing formed an important part of the strategy for the alleviation of poverty and employment generation. Her Government had set a target of constructing 2 million houses every year, with emphasis on the poor and the deprived, and had provided for direct intervention and support from the State to improve the housing situation of the poorest sections and the vulnerable groups. The aim was to eradicate homelessness, improve housing conditions of the inadequately housed, and provide basic services to all.

The approach to human settlements could not be separated from the general economic situation of a country, she said. Sustained economic growth would provide the resources required to invest in human settlements. That drew attention to the question of international cooperation, particularly through provision of financial resources and technology transfer. Enhanced international cooperation and support would be necessary to supplement the efforts of developing countries.

NEMAT SHAFIK, Vice-President, Private Sector Development and Infrastructure, World Bank, said the Bank’s commitment to Habitat II in Istanbul had focused on providing basic services to the urban poor at an unprecedented scale, creating a healthier urban environment and strengthening urban management and finance. As a result, the Bank had developed a new approach towards its work. It had also undertaken a more rigorous analysis of projects at the local level and instituted changes at the operational level. The strategy had been based on the aims of providing adequate housing for all, helping cities develop, participating in national urban strategies and contributing to the expansion of capacity-building at the local level. It had required collaboration among the Bank, the government and the private sector.

The Cities Alliance had been launched last May as an alliance of cities and development partners to reduce poverty, she said. In December, the Cities without Slums initiative had been launched, with Nelson Mandela as a patron. Those kinds of undertakings were teaching the Bank to work at both the local and national

level, when it had traditionally worked with central governments. The Bank took a number of approaches, including the establishment of a central national fund that would loan to local players. The Bank was also learning the importance of monitoring, of developing and using urban indicators and making use of opportunities provided by new technologies. It was forging partnerships with the private sector and persuading them to provide services to the poor.

The Cities Alliance strategy was directly linked to two main goals of the Habitat Agenda, she concluded. By adopting a strategy in common with the Agenda, the Alliance partners had committed themselves to a coherence of effort to improve the lives of an unprecedented number of urban poor. Success depended on the extent to which a broad coalition of partners was mobilized.

NARELLE TOWNSEND, Secretary of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Committee on Human Settlements, said NGOs accredited to the Council, dealing with human settlements issues and programmes, had been invited to submit a brief report on their relevant work during the Habitat II conference and its follow-up activities. A compendium of the reports received up to 31 May 2000 had been submitted to the Council NGO Section.

Reporting NGOs were: Commonwealth Human Ecology Council; International Architects Designers Planners for Social Responsibility; International Council for Caring Communities, Inc.; International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres; International Federation of Surveyors; International Real Estate Federation; International Union for Land Value Taxation and Free Trade; Olof Palme Peace Foundation; Rotary International; Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues; World Information Transfer; and World Psychiatric Association.

She said an additional human settlements NGO activity concerned the “Worldwide Study of Living Conditions of Poor Older Persons in Urban Areas”, a worldwide survey undertaken by members of the NGO Committee on Human Settlements, with the cooperation of the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements.

Three major NGO initiatives of the seventeenth session of the Commission on Human Settlements (5-14 May 1999) were the launching of the Global Housing Foundation, the establishment of the Commonwealth Consultative Group on Human Settlements, and the series of resolutions on effective management of land and property resources, with particular reference to developing countries and countries in transition, by the International Federation of Surveyors, she said.

A most significant development for NGOs, she added, was the establishment of the Human Settlements International NGO Caucus at the beginning of the first preparatory committee for the Istanbul review conference (8-12 May 2000), representing the regional and sectoral diversity of civil society through the participation of groups across regions. The substantive concerns of NGOs participating in the process ranged from the provision of affordable shelter with security of tenure and a significant reduction in homelessness -- as prerequisites to peace and security -- through concerns for livable cities and gainful livelihoods, to capacity-building and participatory development.

WILLIAM CORBBET, Chief, Shelter Division, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), said establishing linkages among the goals of various conferences was vital. That was the Council’s function in monitoring the Habitat Agenda. The review conference for Istanbul offered an opportunity to rethink the concept of cities, housing and poverty. It gave an opportunity to move beyond rhetoric. Two major lessons had been learned since Istanbul. One was that, in dealing with poverty, the energy of the urban poor needed to be mobilized. They needed to be better understood by the international community. The other lesson was that the greater the role of women in urban development, the quicker sustainable development would be attained.

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