Daily report for 24 April 1995

The Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the Habitat II Conference wasofficially inaugurated Monday morning by Kenya's Vice President Prof. GeorgeSaitoti. After opening statments, general debate continued through the day in Plenarywhile Working Group II began consideration of the Draft Statement of Principals andthe Global Plan of Action.

PLENARY

Martti Lujanen, Chair of the PrepCom, stated that this session is of decisiveimportance because it will decide the approach, elements and outline of the maindocument for Istanbul. This session must also transform the inputs compiled fromrecent seminars, conferences and meetings into workable policy recommendations.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General of the United Nations: WallyN'Dow, on behalf of the UN Secretary-General, noted that almost 100 nationalcommittees had been established. Habitat II must be a Conference for commitmentsby: governments to improve capacity and performance in dealing with problems onshelter; the private sector to play a stronger role in addressing social, economic andenvironmental problems; and the community of NGOs to enhance the ability of thepublic to act as agents of social and economic development.

Wally N'Dow, Secretary-General of Habitat II, stated that resolving housingand shelter problems necessitates: fundamental shifts in public policy and land reform;concerted and urgent efforts to develop equitable and rational policies that guaranteesecurity of tenure; new ways to combine financing strategies and the use of localmaterials; partnerships between the public and private sectors and the communities;and an enabling environment.

H.E. Prof. George Saitoti, Vice-President of Kenya, stated that thedeterioration of human settlements results not only from economic hardship,overpopulation and growing urbanization but from an absence of sound policies andinsufficient capital investment in shelter. He urged that UNCHS be maintained as a'distinct and separate entity' during UN restructuring and that its institutionalcapabilities be strengthened.

TURKEY: Yigit Guloksuz, President of the Housing DevelopmentAdministration, summarized Turkey's preparations to host Habitat II in Istanbul. TheHabitat II Conference should strengthen participation, consultation and enhancement ofpartnership, as well as integration of theoretical and methodological frameworks onhuman settlements for scientific analysis and policy making. INDONESIA:State Minister for Housing Akbar Tanjung pointed to the need to formulate urbandevelopment policies that promote rural-urban linkages while improving the ability ofrural and urban populations to promote their own development. He called for increasedmutual technical cooperation, especially South-South, to strengthen national andcollective self-reliance. ZIMBABWE: L.P. Tavaya stated that the DraftStatement of Principles and Global Plan of Action formed a good basis for work. Thegovernment has set up a coordinating committee comprising various sectors.

JAPAN: Takayuki Hara, Deputy Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination,stated that Japan is formulating a new Comprehensive Development Plan, improvingthe supply of public rental housing, and promoting international exchange in thehuman settlement sector. NIGERIA: Hon. Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, Ministerof State for Works and Housing, said Nigeria's preparatory activities for Habitat IIinclude a national steering committee, workshops to introduce Habitat II locally and aprogram to alleviate poverty and increase equity. SOUTH AFRICA: Hon.Sankie Mthembi-Nkondo, Minister of Housing, noted that in South Africa housing wasonce a means of repression which tore towns and communities to pieces, and now isthe time to bring together what belongs together. She stated that Habitat II can raisethe awareness of housing issues, but warned against putting quantity of housing overquality of life.

MEXICO: Amb. Arturo Gonzales noted that the document goes beyond theConference's terms of reference given to the Committee in addressing issues such aseducation, human rights and democracy. The Global Plan of Action should focus oncommitments and organize international support for housing and human settlements.SRI LANKA: Minister for Housing Herman Leonard de Silva describedactivities undertaken to address Habitat issues, particularly among the poorest of thepoor. Special legislation will be developed to provide access to housing for eachfamily. EUROPEAN UNION: France's Amb. Michel Rougagnou, on behalfof the European Union (EU), said the final output should be a single documentintegrating the Statement of Principles and Global Plan of Action with a preamble thatindicates the Conference's political ambition. Sustainable urban development shouldaddress all issues related to development, including historic, economic and geographicfactors.

POLAND: Amb. A. Kowalewski stated that Poland's preparations forHabitat II coincide with their efforts toward democratization and their transition to amarket economy. He urged particular attention to the global aspects of urbanization.INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ARCHITECTS: Tony Rigg stated that thedifference between an enabling and an alienating world lies in planning and design ofhuman settlements. He stressed the need for a new vision of urbanization.NORWAY: Per Nygaard said the documents should focus on: global issues,all types of human settlements, sustainable human development, political commitmentsand implementation and a framework for sustainable action.

FINLAND: L. Tarasti supported the EU and added that it is essential toreach consensus on the structure and contents of the Statement of Principles andGlobal Plan of Action, and that there are still basic problems in the document.SWEDEN: Amb. Lars-G”ran Engfeldt stressed the need to address humansettlement problems from the household and city-level perspective and to translatepolitical commitments into workable and understandable concepts. THENETHERLANDS: Amb. Ruud J. Treffers stated this session should concentrateon land-use management, sustainable urban development and the financial managementof human settlements.

US: Hon. Michael Stegman, stated that the negotiations should completesubstantive work on national preparations linked to a clear international framework,assure that Habitat II has both philosophical and practical content, and capture publicattention. ITALY: Amb. Roberto Di Leo stated that the rights of individualsand security of land tenure are essential components of equity and justice. Italy haspledged $86,000 for the participation of developing countries. GERMANY:Dr. Michael Krautzberger, Deputy State Secretary, noted that the Germany is preparingan international workshop on 'Urban Governance' in Berlin in late October that willadd to the Habitat II process.

NAMIBIA: Libertina Amathila, Minister of Regional and Local Governmentand Housing, noted that Namibia's 'Build Together' national housing program wasselected as a 'best practice.' The program targets the lowest income groups andallows them to initiate action, take decisions and implement the program.UK: Mr. John Zetter said the UK has commissioned a study of thecountry's planning experience as its National Report and established the UK NationalCouncil for Habitat II. UGANDA: Minister for Housing, Hon. Eric Adriko,reported on the outputs of the Eastern and Southern African Ministerial meeting heldin Kampala in February 1995. The sub-regional declarations of Kampala, Brazzavilleand Dakar meetings will be consolidated into an African Common Position during anupcoming meeting of African ministers responsible for housing and shelter.

PROCEDURE OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS

ELECTION OF THE COMMITTEE: Amb. H.L. de Silva (Sri Lanka) andAmb. Eldar Kouliev (Azerbaijan) were elected as the Vice-Chairs representing theAsian region and Eastern European States, respectively.

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK: Inpresenting Agenda Item 1 contained in document A/CONF.165/PC.2/1, the Chair drewattention to paragraph 2, preparations for the conference, to which four sub-items wereadded for consideration: (a) provisional agenda of the Conference; (b) provisional rulesof procedure of the Conference; (c) structure of the Conference including theestablishment of committees and organization of work; and (d) the relationshipbetween the NGO forum, round-tables and other special events and the outcome of theConference. The agenda was adopted.

ORGANIZATION OF WORK: The Committee then considered theproposals for the organization of work as contained in Annex I and Annex II ofdocument A/CONF.165/PC.2/1/Add.1, Annotations to the provisional agenda. Thechair proposed a new timetable contained in documentA/CONF.165/PC.2/1/ADD.1/CORR.1 to facilitate early consideration of Agenda Item3, the Draft Statement of Principles and Global Plan of Action, by Working Group II.Consideration would start Monday afternoon with an additional session Fridaymorning. The Working Group I meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon wascanceled. Working Group I will start its work on Thursday morning with Agenda item2. It will not meet on Friday morning but in the afternoon, and will continuediscussion of Agenda Item 2 on Monday morning of the second week. The Group willtake up Agenda Item 4 on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. The documentwas adopted.

Lujanen then proposed the following Chairs for the Working Groups, which wasadopted without objections: Working Group I, Pamela Mboya (Kenya); WorkingGroup II, H.L. de Silva (Sri Lanka); and Eldar Kouliev (Azerbaijan) to assist the Chairin running the session.

WORKING GROUP II

Chair Amb. de Silva (Sri Lanka) stated that the mandate of the Group is to consider,approve and report on the Draft Statement of Principles and Global Plan of Action(A/CONF.165/PC.2/3). Dr. N'Dow explained that this Plan of Action is important notonly for Habitat II, but as a way to transform the promises of other major initiatives(Rio, Cairo and Copenhagen) to the local level. The four basic philosophies used indeveloping the document were: 1) civic engagement; 2) sustainability; 3) equity; 4)enablement. The Secretariat is looking for consensus on the framework for thisdocument and views on this draft.

France, on behalf of the European Union (EU), said Conference documents must bemore action-oriented to support government actions. The provisions should specificallydefine sustainable urban development. He circulated an EU memorandum stating thatthe current draft does not sufficiently focus on the Conference themes, lacks asubstantive base and should be revised according to an EU outline. Turkey said astatement on urban ethics should be added to the document. She proposed adding aprinciple of 'liveable settlements,' based on performance criteria. She alsorecommended adding a definition of settlement rights. Italy said the plan of actionshould include more emphasis on security of land tenure.

Pakistan, supported by Egypt and Sudan, said the document does not reflect theoverriding responsibility of the international community. The problem has been left tonational governments, local authorities and the private sector, but they will not havethe fiscal, technical or financial resources to meet the commitments. Egypt said thedocument should emphasize the notion of finance and include innovative financialoptions. Denmark suggested that an important part of the solution is in the rentedhousing sector. The World Bank said that the use of existing domestic resources isimportant.

Kenya said the Plan needed more emphasis on land use practices, building materialsand the construction industry. Tanzania said declarations from regional meetingsshould be incorporated and that more 'good practices' should be in the document.

An NGO, Women and Shelter, said the role of women in urban settlements has beenoverlooked and the document contains no details on the negative effects of structuraladjustment programs (SAPs). UNICEF emphasized poverty eradication and said thatreferences in the document to women should include both children and youth. Theconcept of enablement is overstretched, giving a low role to governments. Sudan saidthat five areas need more emphasis in the document: rural settlements; internationalsupport; city ethics; consumption; and reconstruction of war-torn areas.

Habitat International Coalition said the present document is unsuitable and needs to berestructured fundamentally. The new principles and commitments are insufficient, thebasic principles are more romantic than precise, and the right to housing is mentionedonly in passing.

The Chair said discussions would continue in an open-ended, informal working groupled by Dr. G.A.C. Khonje (Zambia) with a view to preparing a more detailed andcomprehensive document for Friday's formal session.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY

PLENARY: General debate will continue in the afternoon.

WORKING GROUP II: The open-ended, informal working group chairedby Dr. Khonje will meet at 2:30 p.m.

UNCHS: The UNCHS opens its 15th session in the morning with statementsfrom the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Executive Director of UNEP, Secretary-General of Habitat II and will consider organizational matters.