Curtain raiser

The Second Session of the Preparatory Committee to the United Nations Conferenceon Human Settlements begins today in Nairobi, Kenya and will continue until 5 May1995. This session of the PrepCom will: begin negotiations on the draft Statement of Principles and Commitments and the Global Plan of Action; review national, regionaland international preparations for the 'City Summit'; continue work on the 'State ofHuman Settlements' report; and make arrangements for the Third Session of thePrepCom, scheduled for January 1996. More than 500 delegates, NGOs and UNagency representatives are expected to attend.

Editor's Note: The Earth Negotiations Bulletin will publish daily issues during thistwo week session, reporting on the work of the PrepCom and the treatment by theCommission on Human Settlements of those agenda items specifically related topreparations for Habitat II. At the conclusion of the Second Session we will publish acomprehensive report of the meeting, which will be available by post and on theInternet.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF HABITAT II

The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) will beheld in Istanbul, Turkey, from 3-14 June 1996 ' the 20th anniversary of the firstHabitat Conference in Vancouver in 1976. Habitat II received its impetus from the1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and GeneralAssembly resolution 47/180. The Secretary-General of the Conference is Dr. WallyN'Dow. The objectives for Habitat II are: (1) in the long term, to arrest thedeterioration of global human settlements conditions and ultimately create theconditions for achieving improvements in the living environment of all people on asustainable basis, with special attention to the needs and contributions of women andvulnerable social groups whose quality of life and participation in development havebeen hampered by exclusion and inequality, affecting the poor in general; and (2) toadopt a general statement of principles and commitments and formulate a relatedglobal plan of action capable of guiding national and international efforts through thefirst two decades of the next century.

ORGANIZATIONAL SESSION

The organizational session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for Habitat II washeld at UN Headquarters in New York from 3-5 March 1993. Delegates elected theBureau and took decisions regarding the organization and timing of the process.Members of the Bureau include: the Chair, Martii Lujanen (Finland); Vice ChairsPamela Mboya (Kenya), Wijepala Dharmasiri Ailapperuma (Sri Lanka) and Rufat N.Novruzov (Azerbaijan); and the Rapporteur, Marjorie Ulloa (Ecuador). Turkey, thehost country, is an ex officio member of the Bureau.

PREPCOM I

The first substantive session of the PrepCom was held in Geneva from 11-22 April1994. Delegates agreed that the overriding objective of the Conference should be toincrease world awareness of the problems and potentials of human settlements asimportant inputs to social progress and economic growth, and to commit the world'sleaders to making cities, towns and villages healthy, safe, just and sustainable. ThePrepCom also took decisions on the organization of the Conference and financing, inaddition to the following:

• National Objectives: Each participating country should design, adopt and implement a national plan of action, which will address the issue of human settlements in both urban and rural areas, taking into consideration environmental issues, and which will involve the full participation and support of the public and private sectors, and of non-governmental and community-based organizations. Countries should also strengthen the capacity of institutions, at all levels, to monitor shelter conditions and urbanization processes using a minimum set of substantially uniform and consistent indicators.

• International Objectives: The preparatory process should: present a State of Human Settlements report; produce a Statement of Principles and Commitments based on a new international consensus on policies and goals for shelter; produce a Global Plan of Action to mobilize international resources to assist countries to implement and monitor the goals of sustainable human settlements and shelter for all and to protect the environment against unwarranted and undesirable impacts of urbanization; and make available the broadest range of information concerning shelter strategies, technologies, resources, experience, expertise and sources of support.

• Participation: Governments of each participating State should establish national committees with broad participation from all sectors, including government, civic leaders, academia and professionals, grassroots leaders, non-governmental and community-based organizations and the private sector. These committees should formulate, adopt and implement a work programme including the production of a national report, discussion on priority issues, organize local and country consultations and forums, and prepare and present audio-visual documentaries of examples of best practice in human settlement development.

• Draft Statement of Principles and Commitments: The Statement should reaffirm and be framed within the general goals of the UN, contain a reference to the Principles adopted by Habitat I as well as reference to the Rio Declaration; and introduce the rationale for the new principles and commitments that will guide national and international action on human settlements for the next 20 years.

• Draft Global Plan of Action: The Global Plan of Action should be structured around the following two themes of the Conference: adequate shelter for all; and sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world. The following multi-sectoral issues should be considered: settlements management; poverty reduction; environmental management; and disaster mitigation, relief and reconstruction. Cross-sectoral issues that should be considered include: women, the urban economy and employment; social and economic dimensions of urbanization and shelter development; education and capacity building; and equity and vulnerable social groups.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY HIGHLIGHTS

The Second Committee of the UN General Assembly addressed Habitat II from 8 - 16November 1994. Dr. Wally N'Dow, Secretary-General of Habitat II, said that at theturn of the century, only one in 10 people lived in cities; when it ends, half of theworld's population will be urban dwellers. Today the bulk of urban population growthoccurs in developing countries.

A draft resolution on the 'United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HabitatII)' (A/C.2/49/L.27) was first tabled by the co-sponsors, Algeria, on behalf of the G-77 and China, and Turkey. After informal consultations by members of the SecondCommittee, the Vice Chair, Raiko Raichev (Bulgaria) submitted a new draft resolution(A/C.2/49/L.61). This resolution was adopted as orally amended by the Committee onFriday, 9 December 1994. The operative part of the resolution, as contained in L.61,takes note of the reports of the PrepCom on its organizational session and firstsubstantive session and endorses the decisions contained therein. The resolutionapproves the PrepCom's recommendation that a third substantive session of thePrepCom be held at UN Headquarters early in 1996 to complete the preparatory workfor the Conference. The resolution also:

• welcomes the recommendations made by the PrepCom on preparations at the country, regional and global levels, the draft statement of principles and commitments and the draft global plan of action;

• takes note, with interest, the call by the UN Secretary-General to give the Conference the dimensions of a 'city summit,' and reaffirms its decision that the Conference should be held at the highest possible level of participation;

• recommends that the global plan of action of Habitat II take into account the outcome of all relevant UN global conferences;

• requests that all relevant organs, organizations, agencies and programmes intensify their efforts and cooperate closely in preparation for the Conference;

• recommends that sustainable human settlements be given appropriate attention within the agenda for development;

• expresses appreciation to those States and organizations that have made or pledged financial or other contributions in support of the Conference and renews its appeal to all Governments and UN organizations, agencies and programmes to contribute to the voluntary fund;

• requests that the work of the PrepCom and the Habitat II Secretariat should continue to be funded within existing UN budgetary resources to ensure that the Conference will be treated adequately with respect to other global international UN conferences; and;

• encourages relevant interested NGOs to participate in and contribute to the Conference and its preparatory process and to contribute to increasing world awareness of the problems and potential of human settlements.

INTERSESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

MAYORS MEETING IN DAKAR: An African meeting of Mayors washeld in Dakar, Senegal, from 30 September to 1 October 1994. The meeting reviewedand adopted the resolutions of the enlarged meetings of the Group of the fourInternational Associations of Local Groups. Their declaration is contained in documentA/CONF.165/PC.2/INF.7.

MINISTERS MEETING IN DAKAR: African Ministers responsible forhousing and urban development met on 3 October 1994 in Dakar, Senegal, during thecommemoration of the World Habitat Day. Outputs from this meeting are contained inthe declaration, available as A/CONF.165/PC.2/INF.5.

MINISTERS MEETING IN KAMPALA: The African Ministersresponsible for housing and urban development in the Eastern and Southern Africansub-region met from 26-28 February 1995 in Kampala, Uganda. They reviewed the in-country preparatory processes for HABITAT II and endorsed the decisions of theDakar declaration. They also resolved to utilize the framework and resources of theirsubregional institutions to improve the conditions of human settlements in the sub-region. Their declaration is contained in document A/CONF.165/PC.2/INF.6.

EXPERTS MEETING IN ABIDJAN: The meeting held from 21-24 March1995 brought together policy-makers, experts and professionals in urban landmanagement to assess the methods and practices in urban land management in Africaand to explore new, efficient and realistic policies, based on an evaluation of thepolicies and practices of 21 African countries.

MINISTERS MEETING IN BRAZZAVILLE: African Ministersresponsible for housing and urban development from the Central African sub-region,the Comoros, Djibouti, Uganda and Senegal met from 10-12 April 1995 in Brazzaville,Congo. They resolved to take the necessary steps to facilitate the implementation ofthe two objectives of HABITAT II.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY

PLENARY: Mr. Martii Lujanen, Chair of the Preparatory Committee, willopen the session. Dr. Wally N'Dow will deliver a statement on behalf of UNSecretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and will also speak as Secretary-General ofHabitat II. Kenya's Vice President George Saitoti will then deliver a welcomingaddress. After the adoption of the agenda and organization of work, delegates willbegin general debate in the Plenary.

WORKING GROUP II: The Group is expected to begin work immediatelyMonday on Agenda Item 3, Draft Statement of Principles and Commitments, and Global Plan of Action, contained in document A/CONF.165/PC.2/3. The WorkingGroup is expected to meet throughout the week.

IN THE BREEZEWAYS: Until late last week, the draft plan of action wasstill not available due to last minute editing on the final version. Some delegates have mentioned that the earlier version of the document prepared by the Secretariat was toopractical and lacked the general UN terminology. Some NGOs who have seen copiesof the earlier draft considered it the best that the UN has ever produced.