ENB:11:25
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III. COMMITMENTS
Although delegates made progress on this section, negotiations were not completed in time for Plenary review and the entire section will go to Istanbul in brackets. The section contains commitments on adequate shelter for all, sustainable human settlements, enablement, financing shelter and human settlements, international cooperation and assessing progress. Each of these commitments is followed by specific objectives.
The section on adequate shelter reaffirms the commitment to the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing. Delegates debated the references to tenure options. The US promoted "legal" tenure options and the G-77 and China proposed "a diverse range of tenure options." The EU submitted a proposal specifying types of discrimination, when the G-77 and China objected to "sexual orientation." In reference to groups needing shelter, the Philippines supported measures regarding access to social services by migrants. The US also submitted a paragraph on equitable access to quality education, the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, access for all to primary health care.
This section also reaffirms the goal of sustainable human settlements and lists objectives including: promoting socially integrated human settlements; promoting changes in production and consumption patterns; preserving productive land; reducing the impact of natural and human-made disasters; and enabling competitive and sustainable economic development. The Subgroup agreed on most proposals regarding the goal of sustainable human settlements.
The commitment on enablement contains objectives on, inter alia, exercising public authority with accountability, decentralizing authority, promoting institutional and legal frameworks, and promoting equal access to reliable information, utilizing modern technology and networks. On this commitment, the EU proposed language on local leadership, and the US proposed "gender-sensitive" institutional frameworks. Canada proposed a paragraph on gender equality that notes the objective of integrating gender perspectives in human settlement policies, and developing methodologies for incorporating gender perspectives in shelter planning.
Some of the amendments for the commitment on strengthening existing financial mechanisms and developing new mechanisms for financing implementation of the Habitat Agenda were completed by an informal group. The objectives include stimulating national and local economies, strengthening fiscal and financial management capacity, strengthening frameworks to enable markets, and promoting increased equitable access to credit.
On the commitment regarding international cooperation, proposals call for enhancing partnerships that will assist in the implementation of the national and global plans of action. Delegates disagreed over several proposals, particularly the references to ODA targets. The Subgroup bracketed this section.
The commitment to assessing progress calls upon governments to monitor and evaluate efforts to implement national plans of action and enhance the role and institutional capacity of UNCHS as an agency of coordination and cooperation. The EU proposed referring only to the UN framework, but the G-77 and China objected.