Press Release
HAB/IST/18
Conference on Human Settlements HAB/IST/18
12th Plenary Meeting (PM) 11 June 1996
"CITY SUMMIT" CONCLUDES GENERAL EXCHANGE OF VIEWS
Begins Three-day High-level Segment Wednesday
The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements
(Habitat II) this afternoon concluded its general exchange of
views on the state of human settlements, including strategies
for their improvement, after hearing about 180 statements.
The Conference will convene tomorrow for a three-day, high-
level segment to give world leaders a platform to declare
their commitment to improving settlements.
Statements on the general exchange of views dwelt
primarily on the Conference's two themes "adequate shelter for
all" and "sustainable human settlements development in an
urbanizing world". They discussed national reports and
experiences; the right to adequate shelter for all; the need
for international cooperation to mobilize resources; and the
requirement for broad partnerships and participation for local
authorities and communities in decision-making. The
relationship between rural dwellers' needs and urban problems
and the plight of women, children, migrants and indigenous
people were also highlighted.
This afternoon's meeting heard statements from the
Minister for Public Works and Equipment of Burundi; the
Secretary of State for Public Labour, Habitat and Transport of
Chad; the Minister for Urbanization and Habitat of Congo; the
Under-Secretary, Ministry for Housing, Municipality and
Environment of Bahrain; the Minister for Housing of Malawi;
the Secretary of State for Housing and Country Planning and
Urbanization of Equatorial Guinea; and the Minister for
Industry, Energy and Minerals of Djibouti.
Statements were also made by the representatives of
Israel, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Mauritius and Cambodia.
The Administrator of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) also addressed the meeting.
The Conference heard from the Mayor of the Metropolitan
Municipality of Bursa, Turkey, speaking for the International
Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.
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Also speaking were the representatives of the following
non-governmental organizations: International Islamic Relief
Organization; Rainbow Istanbul Women's Platform; Right to
Housing and Land Now Coalition; Health and Environment
Caucus; Carter Center; and the Gaia Trust.
The representatives of Turkey and Cyprus spoke in
exercise of the right of reply.
The meeting decided to allow an observer for Palestine,
the Youth Caucus and a local authority to take part in the
high-level segment.
The Plenary will meet again at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, to
begin its high-level segment.
General Exchange of Views
URSULA OELSNER (Israel): Israel is committed to making
housing available to every family. It supports extensive
mortgage programmes such as long-term, low-interest loans and
favourable loans for new immigrants and vulnerable groups.
Israel's housing purchase assistance programme has enabled
about 65 per cent of all new households to become homeowners
within three years of marriage. Over 70 per cent of the more
than 500,000 migrants to Israel between 1989 and 1994 own
their housing. The country also rehabilitates many if its
settlements and deteriorating neighbourhoods.
It is regrettable that some speakers have raised regional
and political issues that do not belong in the Conference
discussions. The issue of human settlements cannot thrive
under conditions of conflict, terror and insecurity. All
sides should embrace the Habitat Agenda's perspective globally
and regionally and strive to fulfill its vision.
YIANNOS PAPADOPOULOS, Director of the Town Planning and
Housing Department, Ministry for the Interior of Cyprus: The
displacement in 1974 of almost 200,000 Cypriots from their
ancestral homes had devastating planning and socio-economic
consequences for the population of Cyprus. The major urban
areas also experienced an influx of refugees. Most of the
serious planning problems faced today by the four major urban
centres have been caused by their unprecedented growth. The
Government has given high priority to improving the depressed
rural areas. Great efforts have been made during the last 20
years to accommodate displaced families and implement an
effective housing policy for low and middle income groups.
Today, housing in Cyprus is satisfactory in terms of
quantity and quality. Between 1982 and 1992, the stock of
dwellings increased by 37 per cent while the population
increased by 18 per cent. About 58,000 displaced families
have been provided with shelter or assist in acquiring a new
home.
JAMES GUSTAVE SPETH, Administrator for the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP): The United Nations and the
Bretton Woods institutions have been organized around five
thrusts in concerted effort to follow-up on major conferences.
They provide basic services; encourage jobs and sustainable
livelihoods for all; sustain the natural
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12th Plenary Meeting (PM) 11 June 1996
resource bases on which the poor depend; try to empower women;
and create the "enabling environment" of macroeconomic
policies and good governance. In each area, the United
Nations has formed interagency task forces at the Headquarters
level to support its country teams. At the country level,
United Nations Resident Coordinators are organizing United
Nations agencies around these themes in support of country
plans. An integrated approach is essential and UNDP
programmes must focus on selected areas and work in
cooperation with a broad range of partners. It will work with
local authorities, city associations, non-governmental
organizations and the public and private sectors in urban
development. Adequate resources should be made available.
BERNARD BARANDEREKA, Minister for Public Works and
Equipment of Burundi: Burundi has a population of more that
6 million inhabitants and one of the highest population
densities and growth rates in Africa. It is essentially a
rural country with only 7 per cent urban growth. Since 1979,
much progress has been made in the implementation of
settlement and housing policies. However, since 1993, the
national crisis in Burundi has adversely affected the results
attained. The result has been a great loss of lives, refugees
and displaced persons and the destruction of settlements.
That crisis continues but Burundi is determined to
restore the social fabric that has been torn apart by social
and political cleavages and then to resettle the numerous
displaced persons, rebuild social and infrastructural services
and promote decent housing. The international community is
urged to assist the Government and people of Burundi in this
vast undertaking.
HERMAN LEONARD DE SILVA (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka's
achievements in housing and human settlements are unique, in
the sense that the country does not face the acute problems of
pseudo-urbanization. The estimated rise of urban population
to 50 per cent of the world's inhabitants by the year 2000 may
not be correct for Sri Lanka. The cities are not yet
developed as centres of growth. Rural housing needs can be
addressed with traditional and local techniques, which are
cost-effective and affordable. Since those techniques will be
limited in urban settings, the country requires international
cooperation in the in form of increased investments and
technology transfers.
DJIBRINE ALIFA, Secretary of State for Public Labour,
Habitat and Transport of Chad: Ways and means should be found
to enable countries to ensure decent housing for all.
Villages should be developed in a balanced manner and
democracy established in relation to urban development. Chad
is determined to deal with such urban problems as unplanned
urbanization. Cities contribute to growth of economies,
accounting for about two-thirds of the economies of many sub-
Saharan countries. The international community should provide
Chad with technical and financial support to enable it to
pursue its settlements policies and programmes.
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GEORGY I. ONYSHCHUK, Head of the State Committee for
Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine: Ukraine is
undergoing a difficult transitional process. It faces
numerous problems, including poor infrastructure, an
unsatisfactory environment and the need for the reconstruction
and modernization of its housing stock. As a result of rapid
urbanization, the country faces difficulties in providing
housing. The Government has adopted a new housing policy to
provide quality housing and to change the structure of the
housing fund.
Ukraine is one of the most highly urbanized countries in
Europe, with 68 per cent of the population living in urban
areas. Despite its economic and political difficulties, the
housing stock has increased as a result of heavy capital
investment. The Government is developing the necessary
instruments for financing housing construction and for the
coordination and management of housing. The Conference must
address the housing and settlement problems of the countries
in transition.
AMRA HADZI MUHAMEDOU, President of the Executive Board of
the National Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to the group of Eastern
European countries that is undergoing the complex process of
transition in its economic and political systems. The
aggression against the country has led to destruction in all
cities and to their populations being killed or expelled. In
addition, 475 villages were completely destroyed or burnt and
57 towns were occupied or besieged.
Although the country's problems are numerous, sheltering
the homeless is a priority. Housing must be provided for
persons who remained in the country and for refugees who are
now in over 100 countries. Another priority must be the
reconstruction of the countries cultural-historical heritage.
However, it is not possible to rehabilitate everything
destroyed by aggression without the help of the international
community, and especially friendly countries.
TEMADUTH RAMDIN (Mauritius): Three-quarters of Mauritian
households are owner-occupiers. Habitat II will further
strengthen the links of cooperation in the Eastern and
Southern African region, which shows a keen interest in
housing issues. Mauritius is ready to share its experience
with its neighbours. Its five towns contain about 50 per cent
of the population. Mauritius is seeking the cooperation and
support of local authorities, non-governmental organizations
and the private sector in addressing the issue of sustainable
development of human settlements. Some of the country's non-
governmental organizations are attending the "City Summit."
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JULIEN BIKOU, Minister for Urbanization and Habitat of
Congo: Congo has been developing its rural areas to curb the
flow of migrants to the urban areas. It is also trying to
involve all citizens in the process of social development.
The Government has established a plan of action to modernize
the rural areas and to lessen the role of the State to that of
a regulator and facilitator. The State should reduce its
intervention and give local authorities more say in the
sustainable development of human settlements. A housing bank
has been established to help finance shelter provision.
Policies for the rehabilitation of displaced persons and the
promotion of the use of local materials are being pursued.
The Summit should borrow from Congo's experience.
The various actors in society must work together to build
better settlements. The international community should help
African and national institutions tackle urban problems.
Housing should be seen as the inalienable right of all. The
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and the
United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development should
be engaged in follow-up to the Conference.
SISOWATH SIRIRATH (Cambodia): The millions of land-mines
in Cambodia's countryside and the slow socio-economic advance
in the villages pushes peasants into the cities. Despite
growing foreign investments in the cities, most people live
without safe drinking water or sanitation. Phnom Penh, the
capital, was built for about half a million people before the
war in 1970, but 25 years later, it has almost 2 million
inhabitants. It is a deteriorating urban environment. The
Government is working with non-governmental organizations to
plan and mobilize resources and investments for all aspects of
sustainable development of human settlements.
ABDUL LATIF JASSIM KANOO, Under Secretary of Housing,
Municipality and Environment of Bahrain: In Bahrain, urban
development is a reflection of the Government's efforts during
the past two decades. In the face of increased urbanization
during that period, urban and housing development has been a
priority of the State. A Ministry for Urbanization and
Housing was set up and has been providing decent housing for
poor families. Thousands of homes, numerous residential
suburbs and a number of model cities have been constructed.
The Ministry's settlements planning has focussed on the
planning of all towns and villages and the carrying out of
programmes to ensure future balanced urbanization. The
Ministry's programmes to improve human settlements have
included making housing loans available, providing credits
for construction and the purchase of houses, distributing
housing lots and preserving agricultural land. Loans have
contributed to 23 percent of housing units built in Bahrain.
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T.S. MANGWAZU, Minister for Housing of Malawi: Although
Malawi is one of the least urbanized countries in Africa, its
urban population will more than double over the next fifteen
years, rising from 1.5 million people to over 3.8 million.
Over this period, the national population will increase from
10.6 million to l6.8 million. Poverty has been the root cause
of the country's human settlements problems. Malawi's
priority areas of human settlements development include
improved access to land, infrastructure and finance,
especially for the poor; capacity building within human
settlements institutions; community participation; and the
development of an appropriate regulatory framework.
In addition, the participation of the public sector, non-
governmental organizations, local governments and the private
sector in human settlement development is being enhanced.
Policies and programmes on decentralisation are being
prepared.
ALFONSO NSUE MOKUY, Secretary of State for Housing and
Country Planning and Urbanization of Equatorial Guinea:
Equatorial Guinea's most pressing problem is the growth of
shantytowns around cities, which did not give the Government
the time it needed to regulate their emergence. The problem
of housing is compounded by the fact that many construction
materials are imported. The international community and the
non-governmental organizations should not leave the search for
solutions to those problems to the Government alone. About 40
per cent of the population live in overcrowded areas and the
standards of many houses are low. Some 60 per cent of the
people lack drinking water, 45 per cent share community
toilets, while another 10 per cent entirely lack even such
facilities.
International corporations, financial institutions, the
European Union, regional and subregional organizations and
other donors should provide the $300 million Equatorial Guinea
needs to build 1,000 housing units and provide water and other
services.
ALI ABDI FARAH, Minister for Industry, Energy and
Minerals of Djibouti: Land should be used rationally and the
environment should be well protected. Djibouti's urban
population has doubled since the 1976 Vancouver Conference,
partly due to the inflow of a large number of refugees from
neighbouring countries. The international community should
aid the country to implement the programmes in its national
plan of action. The Second United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements (Habitat II) should facilitate the provision of
such assistance.
ERDEM SAKER of the Metropolitan Municipality of Bursa,
Turkey, and the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives (ICLEI): More than 200 local authorities are
members
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of the International Council for Local Environmental
Initiatives. Last November, 192 local authorities of the
organization, from 62 countries, signed the Kanagawa
Declaration in Japan, committing themselves to implement
sustainable development through the local Agenda 2l process.
The Declaration was presented to Habitat II. The ICLEI has
also asked local authorities to pass a formal resolution in
their city councils, making specific commitments to the
Habitat Agenda. Those resolutions are being passed.
The degree and breadth of the commitments of some urban
centres around the world to implement the Conference's
objectives include: participatory municipal decision-making
in Bursa, since 1995; the management of natural areas in
Lahti, Finland, to increase biodiversity within that city; the
resolve of Newcastle, Australia, to maintain strategic
alliances internationally to improve its environment.
MEHLIKA MISIROGLU of the International Islamic Relief
Organization: Sustainable development cannot be implemented
without a grassroots foundation. That foundation is the
family which has been in existence since the beginning of
time. Forming a family and having children is a natural need
of humankind.
The differences in contemporary societies must be recognized
and acknowledged or else there will be failure and frustration
in the efforts to improve social conditions.
Habitat II's global plan of action should respect this
diversity and ensure a pluralistic approach. The document
must avoid the error of making "the other" identical with the
standard, hence spoiling the multiculturalism and the
diversity of people. An agenda claiming to take the world
into the coming millennium must have a balanced perception,
present a holistic approach, abandon marginal language and
concentrate on urgent issues rather than controversial ones.
Assisting women and children who suffer from hunger and
natural disasters must be a priority.
SELIME SANCAR, Rainbow Istanbul Women's Platform: Urban
problems are not caused only by lack of financial resources,
but also by the "strong" claiming the majority of resources
and preventing "the weak" from gaining from them. This
struggle can be seen between economically developed northern
States and economically less-developed southern countries.
The international community must work in partnership to
eradicate that problem. Everyone has the right to food,
housing, clothing, education and health care. The need for
moral, spiritual and religious values should be recognized.
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DANIEL GALAND, the Right to Housing and Land Now
Coalition:
The group organized a peaceful protest on 6 June in Istanbul
in order to take action and move beyond rhetorics.
Governments should stop forced evictions and enact laws to
prevent it and give those threatened with eviction the right
to legal redress. They should reaffirm the right to
accessible housing and land as legally enforceable human
rights to be enacted in the constitutions and or relevant laws
of all United Nations Member States. States should adopt and
submit to the United Nations an international convention on
the right to housing and land and enact laws to grant free
access of women to inheritance, property and credit.
CHRISTINE DURBANK, Health and Environment Caucus: Housing
is a basic need that must be met. When individuals cannot
feed or house themselves, governments should enact laws and
programmes to grant public assistance since it is in their
interest to do so. Governments should also protect the health
of all by, for instance, recognizing the primacy of children's
health needs. The cooperation of governments, businesses, the
medical establishment, educators, religious leaders and non-
governmental organizations is required to secure each child's
right to housing and food.
LAURIE WEISBERG of the Carter Centre, speaking on behalf
of former United States President Jimmy Carter: Human rights
to adequate housing, food, education, and other economic,
social, and cultural rights deserve greater attention than
they receive. Numerous treaties and conventions have been
signed in support of human rights, and the right to housing
has been firmly upheld in international human rights
mechanisms.
Each nation must make the right to housing concept a
reality within its own borders. Through its government, non-
governmental organizations, the United Nations and the private
sector, each nation must develop specific, comprehensive
strategies that will lead to acceptable living conditions for
its citizens. As leaders, Governments have the power to
facilitate or hamper progress. Policies should be analyzed,
debated freely and improved. Action must follow in terms of
creative and responsible investment strategies, strong
legislation, and direct involvement by an active and
unhindered civil society.
HELENA NORBERG-HODGE of the Gaia Trust: One response to
the human settlements crisis has been to build small
communities or eco-villages providing a high quality of life.
These eco-villages are being created without public support by
people with few personal resources. A global eco-village
network of communities in the North and South has been formed
to exchange experiences and share its vision.
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Gaia Trust and the network are calling for support for a
$100 million project -- "The Earth is Our Habitat" -- which
will build about 50 small sustainable communities. If just a
fraction of the funding used for infrastructure for megacities
were used to support existing village communities, economic
activity would be more sustainable. The international
community has a rare opportunity now to take an unorthodox
approach to the crisis facing human settlements by supporting
this pioneering movement.
Right of Reply
The representative of Turkey: A representative had made
statements that distort the Cyprus issue. The division of the
island took place in 1963 when the Greek Cypriots expelled the
Turkish Cypriots out of the island's administration and
destroyed the 1960 partnership Republic of Cyprus. Between
1963 and 1974, Turkish Cypriots suffered when one-fourth of
them were driven from 103 villages and squeezed into 3 per
cent of the island. Nearly four-fifths of Turkish-Cypriots
have become refugees. In 1974, Turkey intervened to prevent a
bloody final takeover of the island through a coup organized
by a third country. Turkey's action accorded with its right
under the Treaty of Guarantee and was legitimate.
The question of displaced persons was settled in a 1975
agreement the two sides reached in Vienna under the auspices
of the United Nations, whereby they agreed to regroup
populations in their own respective territory: Turkish
Cypriots in the North and Greek Cypriots in the South. That
was meant to pave the way for a bi-zonal federal settlement.
The earlier representative's statement abuses forums for
political purposes and is a barrier to the Secretary-General'
efforts to find common ground. The Turkish Cypriot side is
committed to a negotiated settlement of the Cyprus question.
The representative of Cyprus: The provision of facts on
housing problems warranted an unavoidable reference to the
event of 1974, which is the main cause of the displacements
that have taken place. The intention of the presentation was
not to abuse forums for propaganda purposes. The previous
speaker has made a statement of a political nature.
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