Press Release
HAB/IST/23
Conference on Human Settlements HAB/IST/23
16th Plenary Meeting (PM) 13 June 1996
POVERTY ERADICATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTED
AS 'CITY SUMMIT' HIGH-LEVEL SEGMENT CONTINUES
The eradication of poverty and the development of the
rural areas were highlighted by several speakers this evening,
as the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements
(Habitat II) continued its high-level segment. The segment is
meant to give world leaders a platform from which to declare
their commitment to improving the settlements in their
countries.
Poverty must be eradicated to ensure an improvement in
living conditions for all and ensure international peace and
security, it was stated. Rural development will help prevent
or deter rural-urban migration and its attendant problems.
The Conference heard statements from the Deputy Prime
Minister of Lesotho; Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria; and
the Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova.
Statements were made by the Minister for Habitat of
Algeria; State Secretary for Housing, Planning and Environment
of the Netherlands; Minister of Local Government and Labour of
Norway; Minister for Housing and Urban Development of
Swaziland; Minister of Urbanism and the Habitat of Guinea;
Federal Minister for Environment, Youth and the Family of
Austria; Minister for Housing and Urban Development of Iran;
Minister for the Environment of Ireland; Minister Equipment
and Transport, in charge of Urbanism and the Habitat of
Senegal; Minister for Urbanism and Habitat of Congo; Minister
for Public Works and Housing of Mozambique; Minister of State
of Bahrain; Minister Urban Development of Venezuela; Minister
of Housing of Luxembourg; and the Minister for Housing of
Malta.
Also speaking were the Minister for Equipment and
Infrastructure of Niger; Minister of Public Works and
Minister of State for Housing Affairs of Kuwait; Minister for
Housing and Settlements of Trinidad and Tobago; Minister for
Construction and Transportation of Nicaragua; Minister for
Environment of the Slovakia; Minister for Housing and Physical
Planning of Nepal, Minister for Public Construction and
National Housing of
(more)
Zimbabwe; Minister for Interior of Cyprus; Senior Minister in
Charge of Culture and Fine Arts, Land Management, Urbanism and
Construction of Cambodia; Minister for Home Affairs of
Vanuatu; and the Minister for Works and Urban development of
Ethiopia.
The Minister of State for Works and Housing of Nigeria;
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine;
Deputy State Secretary, Ministry of the Interior of Hungary;
and the Deputy Minister for Environment, Physical Planning and
Public Works of Greece also made statements.
The representatives of the Solomon Islands; the
Philippines; India; Thailand; Panama; Bangladesh; and Egypt
also spoke.
The representatives of Turkey and Cyprus spoke in
exercise of the right of reply.
At the beginning of its meeting, the Plenary adopted a
resolution approving the report of the Credentials Committee.
The Plenary will meet again at 10 a.m., on Friday, 14
June, to continue with its high-level segment.
ABDULLAHI ADAMU, Minister of State for Works and Housing
of Nigeria: Nigeria tackles the challenges of human
settlements at the local and national levels. At the local
level, it has undertaken several measures to encourage
community-based organizations and local governments to embark
on projects that fall within its human settlements goals. At
the national level, a national housing policy was adopted in
1991 and a national housing fund established recently to
provide housing loans to more than 250 primary mortgage
institutions in the country. A national housing programme was
initiated in 1994 to build 121,000 houses all over Nigeria.
The core perspective of the Habitat Agenda should call
for enhanced cooperation from the international community in
global partnerships and implementation. Nigeria implores
other States to support the recommendations directed at
fulfilling the aspirations for sustainable, equitable and safe
human settlements. The United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (Habitat) should be supported in its coordination
of global efforts.
KAMEL HAKIMI, Minister for Habitat of Algeria: There is
a need to implement policies that will deter migration from
the rural areas into cities and improve the standard of living
for both areas. The imbalance in development between the
urban and the rural areas and the issues of transport, housing
and employment should be addressed. The situation in Algeria
is marked by a demographic explosion which is affected by
rapid population growth, with 90 per cent of the people
concentrated near the coast. Even though the housing stock
has doubled since 1966, there is a substantial shortage of
shelter, which has been exacerbated by migration from the
rural areas to the cities. The proportion of dwellings to
the number of inhabitants has worsened over the years despite
the efforts to build more houses. The State has introduced
various policies to cope with the problem and allocated
substantial financial resources to social housing. In spite
of all that, sustainable development of human settlements has
not been attained.
Due to the State shortage of finances, it is necessary to
seek and mobilize new sources of funds to provide houses. The
new approach tries to ensure the participation of all actors
in the society. Algeria seeks greater international
cooperation in providing decent housing.
D.K.J. TOMMEL, State Secretary for Housing, Spatial
Planning and Environment of the Netherlands: The partnership
concept is essential for developing cities and towns into
sustainable places. Partnership means sharing ideas,
responsibilities and resources among the national, regional
and local levels. It is needed with local authorities,
women's organizations, non-governmental organizations, trade
unions and the private sector and at the international level.
Measurable goals must be set at the conclusion of Habitat
II. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) has set the goal of reducing urban poverty by 50 per
cent by the year 2015. At the national level, priority must
be given to democratic and transparent governance; the
protection of human rights and respect for the rule of law.
The progress of the Habitat process must be monitored and
evaluated. That implies the full revision of the Habitat
Centre's mandate as well as its restructuring to adapt to the
orientations in the Agenda. Also important is stimulating
'the best practices' and capacity building and using
guidelines.
REX S. HOROI (Solomon Islands): Eighty-one per cent of
the 400,000 people of the Solomon Islands live in settlements
of under 300 persons. The people of the Solomon Islands are
concentrated in villages and small towns. Throughout the
islands housing is inadequate, electricity is unavailable or
erratic, safe water is sufficient and sanitation risky. The
extended family is the bedrock of the social and economic
systems. Rural development and strong family life will help
to prevent or to counter the problems such as the rural-urban
drift.
To achieve adequate shelter for all in the Solomon
Islands, its indigenous resources must be mobilized and
managed in ways that are people-centred, sensitive to family
structure and economically and environmentally sound. That
can be achieved if policy and action for housing are
integrated with those designed to promote sustainable human
and economic development. However, achieving sustainable
human settlements is a formidable challenge for a least
developed country such as the Solomon Islands.
GUNNAR BERGE, Minister for Local Government and Labour of
Norway: Governments must play an active facilitating role to
enable people to solve their own housing problems. It is
urgent for women to take part, on an equal basis, in planning
and decision making since they are closest to the needs of
their families and children than men are. Children's special
needs must be emphasized. Wealthy countries must reduce their
abundant waste of energy, water and other resources and
increase their efforts towards achieving sustainable
development. Poverty affects everyone, not only the poor, and
must be eradicated if international peace and security are to
be achieved.
In countries which experience internal security,
evacuation is sometimes necessary to protect lives.
Government programmes to compensate evacuees and to provide
them with assistance to return to their homes are of great
importance. "We must not forget our common, global
responsibilities, especially towards the least developed
countries." "For our part we are ready to share."
SENATOR JOHN CARMICHAEL, Minister for Housing and Urban
Development of Swaziland: Swaziland's national objective of
social justice has two main thrusts. It entails a concern for
a fair distribution of the Kingdom's development and that
every inhabitant should be allowed a minimum living standard,
consistent with good health and human dignity. The programme
justifies the special emphasis being placed on efforts to
enhance opportunities for the country's poorest citizens and
the socio-economic advancement of women. Swaziland has
democratized local government and decentralized decision-
making to the local level to enable communities to determine
their priorities and develop their own programmes. Policies
and laws in this regard were developed in consultation with
all stakeholders. The major challenges before the country are
capacity building and human resource development, which would
enable local authorities to provide more and better services
to their constituencies.
Colonel JEAN TRAORE, Minister for Urbanism and the
Habitat of Guinea: Guinea will make greater efforts to
provide adequate shelter for its growing population. In doing
so, it will need cooperation with all actors in the society,
such as the non-governmental and community-based organizations
and local authorities. It will also encourage cooperation
between the public and private sectors. The international
community and the United Nations family should adopt a
concrete global plan of action and that will be supported with
firm political will and commitment. Guinea will endeavour to
cooperate with other partners to ensure the successful
implementation of the plan of action.
MARTIN BARTENSTEIN, Federal Minister for Environment,
Youth and the Family of Austria: The Habitat Agenda will
improve the situation of human settlements while the
Conference breaks new ground by highlighting the importance of
international cooperation among cities. Cooperation plans
were made last week between Vienna and Tirana, Sarajevo, Gaza
and Beirut. The international community must work together to
address the fact that out of 1 billion people living in
extreme poverty, 100 million entirely lack housing.
The Conference must press for transportation systems that
will protect the environment. To address transport-related
environmental effects, it is necessary to reduce the demand
for transport, improve vehicle technology, enhance
infrastructure and optimize transport operation in
environmentally sound ways. The reaffirmation of the right to
adequate housing is an important achievement of Habitat II.
The Habitat Agenda's implementation will depend on the
involvement and participation of all actors concerned with
human settlements, particularly the local authorities. Since
the local level is the primary arena for action,
decentralization of responsibilities to the local level is an
important condition for the Agenda's implementation.
VOLODYMYR HANDOGIY, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Ukraine: Ukraine has participated actively in the Habitat II
participatory process which has allowed it to make use of new
ideas in the improvement of human settlements. Ukraine, like
other countries in transition, faces the complex task of
transformation to a democratic market economy. The Chernobyl
disaster caused the evacuation of two towns and a zone of 200
settlements and adversely affected extensive areas of land and
forests. Over 140,000 people are now being resettled at
considerable cost. In the light of Ukraine's experience, the
Conference should stress the importance of planning for
disasters.
Ukraine has developed a national plan to the year 2010,
the implementation of which is largely dependent on
international cooperation. The State is pursing reform in
urban planning and increasing new mechanisms for local
government participation in improving human settlements.
ABBAS AKHONDI, Minister for Housing and Urban Development
of Iran: The important objectives of Habitat II cannot be
achieved unless all sectors of civil society have a part in
decision-making and implementation processes. The
international community has a duty to provide financial and
technological support for developing countries' national
efforts. A favorable international economic environment is
important for the realization of the Habitat Agenda.
Otherwise, developing countries, faced with indebtedness,
resource shortages, poverty and unemployment, that are mainly
due to the prevailing international environment, would not be
able to fulfil the Agenda commitments.
Iran's achievements in improving the quality of life of
its citizen since the Islamic Revolution, have included
preparing national and regional physical plans for the
balanced distribution of the expected 130 million population
in the year 2021 and creating 18 new towns to house some 4
million population.
BRENDAN HOWLIN, Minister for the Environment of Ireland:
The Irish Government is preparing a national sustainable
development strategy that will address land use, urban
sustainability and the balance between urban and rural areas.
The Government is implementing measures to encourage action at
the local level. For example, a local Agenda 21 initiative
was launched among local authorities to translate sustainable
development principles into practical action. The
establishment of local partnerships between the public and
private sectors, trade unions and community-based groups are
part of those efforts. The partnerships focus on countering
social problems found in inner cities. After five years of
operation, the model has introduced innovative techniques of
training and placement for the long-term unemployed. Other
States could learn from it.
Ireland will assist developing countries' efforts to
achieve urban sustainability. It is particularly committed to
helping the least developed countries, as reflected in its
bilateral aid programme focused on six African countries.
LANDING SANE, Minister for Equipment, Transport, Urbanism
and the Habitat of Senegal: The promotion of partnerships has
been a useful innovation of the Conference, which has allowed
local authorities, non-governmental and community-based
organizations and other sections of civil society to
participate. Senegal is undertaking ambitious programmes to
counter urban poverty, strengthen partnerships and encourage
the private sector in providing shelter. The three main areas
being pursued are the improvement of management, the
construction of adequate, accessible housing and the
improvement of the State's regulatory role. Partnerships
between developers, the private sector and commercial banks
will be initiated and more authority devolved from the central
Government to local authorities.
Senegal will adopt a national plan to ensure that the
aims of the Conference are pursued in the country. Women must
enjoy the same rights and access, as men have, to housing and
other services. The international community and the donor
countries should help provide the financial resources to
implement national plans on shelter development. They should
cancel or reduce the debts of African countries.
PETER GURTNER (Switzerland): Despite the country's
general prosperity, Switzerland faces problems such as the
need to address signs of urban decay and a high level of
unemployment, by Swiss standards. It also contributes to
alleviating urbanization problems in the economically
disadvantaged countries. That policy focuses on promoting
equal development of rural and urban areas, concentrating on
medium-sized or intermediary cities. It addresses the poorest
city-dwellers -- a priority of Swiss Federal Law on
Development Cooperation. It also facilitates a degree of
legal security for the most vulnerable groups by encouraging
initiatives for obtaining or improving housing and basic
infrastructure.
Switzerland advocates loans as a way of supporting
community efforts and as a method which can trigger a
mini-revolution. Loans must be given to poor people. Banks
must see them as trustworthy as other clients. They also need
to recognize women as particularly honest customers.
DIONISIO C. DE LA SERNA, Chairman of the Housing and
Urban Development Coordinate Council of the Philippines:
Meaningful progress in achieving sustainable human settlements
cannot be achieved unless development is people-centred.
Respect for the right to a better quality of life and the
right to adequate housing are enshrined in the Philippines'
Constitution. The eventual recognition of the right to
housing by the Conference is a "gesture of brotherhood" and a
strong manifestation of all governments resolve towards
shelter for all.
The Philippines Government accepts its responsibilities
towards the fulfillment of this right by promoting greater
civic consciousness, value formation and attitudinal change as
part of a national moral recovery programme. The Philippines
is ready to take on the challenge of implementing the Habitat
Agenda. It welcomes the idea of setting up regional financial
facilities that will pool technical expertise and resources
and extend such facilities to those in need.
P. MOSISILI, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development of Lesotho: While
Lesotho endorses the objective of adequate shelter for all and
the right to housing, Government alone cannot assure that
right. It will empower local communities, the private sector
and non-governmental organizations in order to release the
energies of all stakeholders to contribute to housing. Women
should be involved in decision-making, enabled to own property
and given access to formal credit. The Law Reform Commission
is aimed at removing all forms of discrimination against them.
Lesotho has embarked on a privatization programme to
mobilize domestic and foreign investment in human settlements.
Its land laws, which allow private housing estate development,
they will be amended to facilitate a more attractive climate
for foreign investments. A credit system has been established
to enhance access to land for individual households. Rural
development is a priority and Lesotho has embarked on an
integrated rural development programme to reduce poverty.
ROBERTO COSTLEY-WHITE, Minister for Public Works and
Housing of Mozambique: The Government's priority is to
rebuild destroyed infrastructure in both urban and rural
areas. In rural areas, its main effort is to resettle
displaced people in environments that have basic
infrastructure. A programme of infrastructure rehabilitation,
including feeder roads and water and energy distribution has
been started. In urban areas, the Government is committed to
poverty alleviation by providing access to and tenure of land,
finance or subsidies for housing and the implementation of
programmes to extend water and power facilities to those
areas. The international community should increase its support
for Mozambique's programmes.
The Government is establishing and strengthening a
favourable environment for national and foreign investments.
It recently adopted measures to promote the participation of
the private sector in managing public infrastructure like
water supply and transport. Laws are being reformed to
consolidate the right to property to attract private
investments in real estate.
PAL KARA, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry for
Interior of Hungary: If the Habitat Agenda is implemented,
it could serve as the key to improved living conditions for
everyone. Individual countries have different conditions and
problems to tackle. It is nonetheless very important they all
agree on principles and overall objectives which may serve as
the driving force of joint action. Habitat II's
recommendations will help Hungary to achieve its modernization
objectives, planned urban development and sustainable
development. Hungary is prepared to carry out the tasks
defined in the global plan of action. The Commission on Human
Settlements should continue to consider the best practices of
modernization of settlements and housing policy.
JAWAD SALIM Al-ARAYED, Minister for State of Bahrain:
Although Bahrain is not a large country, its capital has one
of the highest urban densities in the world. The largest
development efforts undertaken by the Bahrain Government have
resulted in the planned development of two totally new cities.
In that process, Bahrain has learned that cities cannot be
built in isolation from other communities.
The whole social and economic fabric of the society must
be taken into account in planning new developments. It is
therefore critical in the urban planning process to
understand, evaluate and plan for the interconnectedness
between population centres. Architects and urban planners
seem to forget that people live in cities. It is crucial to
humanize architecture by building the essential and unique
facets of the social fabric into urban designs.
IGENIERO FRANCISCO GONZALEZ, Minister for Urban
Development of Venezuela: Venezuela has undertaken urban
planning and has attempted to develop functional links between
its cities. The country has enacted a law that calls for 5
per cent of the national budget to be invested in improving
conditions for vulnerable groups. The wage earner must
contribute 1 per cent of his/her income and 2 per cent must
come from the employer. That formula has contributed vast
amounts of funds to the improvement of inner city housing.
The regional action plan for Latin America and the
Caribbean for sustainable human settlements recognizes the
existence of great inequity and poverty in the region's
settlements and stresses the need to tackle them as highest
priorities. It proposes measures to decrease the housing
shortage for the poorest. The Conference should adopt the
regional plan which calls for joint action to seek genuine and
useful solutions to the problems of human settlements. The
Conference should also emphasize that economic strategies
based solely on fiscal issues, and which do not take account
of urban issues, will be shortlived.
FERNAND BODEN, Minister for Housing of Luxembourg:
Decentralization should devolve authority to the local level.
New means of communications should be ensured and
environmentally sound transport modes encouraged. Appropriate
means should be deployed to ensure that the quality of air and
water is protected. The optimum use of natural resources
requires increased cooperation between the central and local
authorities at all levels.
The right to adequate housing is a priority. To
facilitate that right, the Government is increasing the
availability of socially accessible housing, making available
unoccupied dwellings, improving backward neighbourhoods and
encouraging the integration of individuals in decision-making.
It has enacted a law to ensure the rational use of energy.
Particular attention should be paid to the promotion of
education. International cooperation is necessary to ensure
the achievement of the objectives of improving the
environment.
ELISSAVET PAPAZOE, Deputy Minister for the Environment,
Physical Planning and Public Works of Greece: Greece does not
face a housing problems as more than 75 per cent of its
population own their homes, a European record. However, after
the changes in Eastern Europe, about half-a-million
undocumented immigrants entered Greece from neighbouring
countries and created temporary pressures in the housing
sector. Even though the country does not have mega-cities, it
is facing traffic congestion and air and noise pollution. It
is, therefore, trying to improve its infrastructure by
building a metro, a system of peripheral highways and a new
international airport. Greece could multiply its efforts to
improve its cities if it was not obliged to spend more than 7
per cent of its budget on defence, due to continuous threats
against it.
The country has over 15,000 kilometres of coastal zone
and has undertaken an initiative under the United Nations
system to promote coastal zone policies which include land use
controls and water management.
CENSU GALEA, Minister for Housing for Malta: Malta has
one of the highest population densities in the world, with
nearly 400,000 persons earning their living and finding
shelter on the three small islands of 316 square kilometers.
The urbanization problem has been reversed by the absence of
divisions between the towns and the rural areas in terms of
infrastructure and services. The Government's housing policy
can be summed up in two basic principles: each family should
own its home as far as practicable; housing should be adequate
for families and of acceptable standards. Nearly 70 per cent
of dwellings are owner- occupied.
Home purchase financing is within the reach of the
majority of the population, through reasonable interest rates,
longer repayment terms and subsidies. The housing and
development policy acknowledges the role of the private and
public sectors. The role of the "third sector" -- non-profit
organizations -- is encouraged.
DONTCHO KONAKTCHIEV, Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria:
Bulgaria is ready to make more concrete efforts towards
achieving sustainable human settlements in the twenty-first
century. The Government has prepared a strategy for
territorial and urban development to the year 2010. The new
approach requires structural changes in the economy.
Important aspects of the development of sustainable human
settlements are decentralization and greater coordination of
all groups in the planning process. Human settlement policies
should be synchronized with broader policies for territorial
development. Although Bulgaria has a good ratio of
population to housing, meeting housing demands remains an
important part of economic planning.
K. S. SHARMA, Secretary to the Ministry for Urban Affairs
of India: India's national housing policy acknowledges that
shelter and development are mutually supportive. Rural
shelter development is a priority as nearly 75 per cent of the
population still live in villages. Housing forms an important
part of the government's strategy for poverty alleviation and
employment generation. It is an integral part of an overall
strategy to improve human settlements and promote economic
development.
The national housing policy also provides for disadvantaged
groups such as rural landless labour, victims of natural
calamities, scheduled castes, widows, single women and women-
headed households. The importance of the informal sector must
be recognized and it must be given access to basic services
such as credit. Land availability is one of the critical
elements in the development of sustainable human settlements.
Developing countries recognize the need to strengthen the
fiscal and financial management of their economies. Their
national efforts have to be supplemented by greater
international co-operation to enable them to access new and
additional resources, emerging technologies, and global
markets.
VALENTIN CUNEV, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of
Moldova: The national report of Moldova indicates the
country's strategic aims and principal policy bases in the
field of the settlements development. Civic responsibility
and social equity form the basis of the Government's housing
concept. International cooperation and the help of the United
Nations and its specialized agencies are important to Moldova.
Although international assistance cannot be a panacea for
Moldova's problems, it could be an effective catalyst for the
development of the capacities of State and private
organizations and for more active popular participation in
improving living standards.
The Republic of Moldova's problems are caused not only by
lack of financial mechanisms but also by the shortage of
experience in regional and municipal planning and city
management. The Government is addressing that problem.
CHERIF CHAKO, Minister for Equipment and Infrastructure
of Niger: The Centre for Human Settlements should be
strengthened to follow-up on the recommendations of the
Conference. Habitat II should recommend that attention should
be paid to improving old houses in aging urban centres.
Funding is crucial to the improvement of the environment and
settlements and assistance will always fall short of needs.
Therefore, the Conference should appeal to the international
community to turn attention to the funding of human
settlements in general and particularly to the improvement and
upgrading of existing stocks. Habitat II should bring about
more international awareness of the problems of human
settlement and encourage partnerships to mobilize resources.
The Conference must pay attention to the rural areas. The
Global Plan of Action should promote partnerships and
encourage equitable and lasting land management and help
combat urban poverty.
SURAPONG POSAYANOND (Thailand): The effective
implementation of the Habitat II global plan of action
would greatly improve the condition of human settlements in
Thailand. The economic and social development of Thailand in
the next five-year plan (1997 to 2001) will emphasize Habitat
II's objectives such as: enabling the potential of the people;
enhancing social stability by strengthening family and
community ties, increasing community participation in national
development; and promoting well-balanced economic growth.
Strategies designed to achieve those objectives include
ensuring the well-being of the people, especially of the
vulnerable groups and distributing development and growth in
regional and rural areas.
Thailand's urban population will increase from one third
to about 50 per cent by the year 2005. The Government will
take a number of measures to promote sustainable human
settlements in rural areas by creating new towns and satellite
towns outside the extended Bangkok areas and developing them
as clusters sharing the regional infrastructure.
HABIB J. HAYAT, Minister for Public Works and Minister of
State for Housing Affairs of Kuwait: The attainment of
sustainable human settlements must be a common goal. Kuwait's
constitution stresses that the family is the foundation of the
society. It also enshrines the State's obligations to improve
the quality of life. The Arab world must be protected because
of its historical significance. The provision of shelter
implies attention to all members of the family, but
particularly to women and youth. The promotion of fundamental
human rights is the foundation of sustainable development.
The Kuwaiti State has established the Supreme Committee
for Cities as the instrument to ensure a more balanced
development and urban policies which include promoting small
and medium-sized cities. Priority must be given to the
reconstruction of States which have experienced war, and
particularly the resettlement of those who are displaced from
their homes, such as Kuwaitis held as prisoners by Iraq. The
historical city of Jerusalem and other such world heritage
cities must be protected.
JOHN HUMPHREY, Minister for Housing and Settlements of
Trinidad and Tobago: The market, with its fruits monopolized
by a minority, is not responding favourably to the needs of
the majority of the world's population. Having agreed that
shelter is the right of all and resolved to search for a
formula to ensure secure living, what are the next steps to be
taken? The United Nations is organizing an international
conference on food, which will be the last of the great social
summits of the century. It should hold a summit on the
international monetary system in order to find out why the
magic that is expected to allow the world to redirect its
resources to solve its problems has not worked. If such a
conference examines the conditions of the current trading and
economic system, it might find solutions that will allow fund
to flow towards solutions to the world's problems. It might
find ways to create an economic environment which will allow
the allocation of resources for development.
PABLO VIJIL ICAZA, Minister for Construction and
Transportation of Nicaragua: Since its election in 1990, the
Government has been reconstructing and rehabilitating the
country. It is building houses for demobilized combatants and
other citizens as part of its pacification process, with the
help of various non-governmental organizations and
international agencies. The Government has started
institutional reforms and a modernization process to rebuild
the housing sector. Its new housing policies aim to reduce
poverty and create employment for vulnerable segments such as
women, the elderly and indigenous groups. The plan will be
put into effect in three phases and involve investments of
some $250 million. International cooperation would be
required to address the problem of financial resources.
Nicaragua needs multilateral and bilateral cooperation to
implement its housing plans. Nicaragua is committed to
ensuring the right to housing as an integral part of human
rights.
JOSEF ZLOCHA, Minister for the Environment of Slovakia:
Slovakia is trying to tackle the problems the Conference is
addressing. In the past six years, housing construction has
decreased. Following an analysis of the housing situation,
the Government declared full support for housing development
with emphasis on the construction of apartments for low-income
groups. The goal is to revitalize housing construction by
supportive economic policies. The Project of the State
Housing Policy to the year 2000, adopted in November 1995,
shifts the responsibility for providing housing to the
citizen. The State and communities are obliged to create
technical, legislative and economic conditions that will
ensure the availability of housing to the population as well
as the provision of adequate shelter based on income
categories.
BALA RAM GHARTI MAGAR, Minister for Housing and Physical
Planning of Nepal: In Nepal, the cities have attracted a
continuing influx of migrants. The consequences of this
phenomenon -- overcrowding, environmental pollution, lack of
basic urban services, housing shortages, widespread poverty,
slums in the urban areas, and lack of productive employment in
rural areas -- have become major problems.
To improve human settlements, Nepal has undertaken
specific poverty-reduction programmes to bring people below
the poverty-line into the mainstream of development. National
plans on the environment and disaster management are being
implemented and a national shelter policy has been adopted.
The country is at the threshold of its ninth development plan.
The national plan of action together with the Habitat Agenda
will lay a solid basis for formulating plans and programmes
for the next five years and beyond in such priority sectors of
human settlements development as shelter, urban poverty, urban
planning and development, the environment, disaster
management, local governance, and cultural heritage.
C. CHIKOWOKE, Minister for Public Constructions and
National Housing of Zimbabwe: The aims of Zimbabwe's plan of
action are to provide an environment that is conducive to
increased investment, to improve the living conditions of
women and other vulnerable groups, to strengthen rural
economies and to promote effective environmental protection
and land use planning. The Government will invite local and
foreign investors to form joint ventures with the public
sector in the housing industry.
The Government's homestead development programme for
rural areas aims at developing the capacity of local
institutions to implement development projects, improving the
incomes of rural dwellers, imparting environmentally friendly
construction technologies, and creating gainful employment for
the local people. The project is financed from the people's
own resources, matched with government loans. Non-
governmental organizations and international donors should
support the initiative by providing training, finance and
technical know-how.
DINOS MICHAELIDES, Minister for the Interior of Cyprus:
The progress Cyprus achieved after its independence in 1960 as
halted by the Turkish invasion of 1974, the subsequent
occupation of 37 percent of its territory and the expulsion of
200,000 people from their homes. About l75 of its
settlements, representing 36 percent of the housing stock, are
in the occupied area. The properties left behind by Greek
Cypriots were distributed by the occupying forces to others,
including Turkish soldiers and illegal settlers from Turkey.
The Government provided the refugees with temporary
accommodation in tents and increased houses. While the
emphasis is on the displaced population, there are programmes
to assist others. In the early 1980's the Government
established a finance corporation after realizing that the
market could not provide adequate housing to low- and middle-
income families. The Government's long-term objective is to
create conditions for providing housing for all Cypriots.
While the Government continues to tackle the housing
problem of refugees, a political solution of the Cyprus
problem remains its most important priority.
VAN MOLYVANN, Senior Minister in Charge of Culture and
Fine Arts, Land Management, Urbanism and Construction of
Cambodia:
Cambodia has now embarked on a period of reconstruction and is
addressing the question of the human settlements as a central
aspect of development. The country has to deal with the
problem of 360,000 repatriated refugees who have now swelled
the numbers of the urban poor.
Twenty per cent of the urban population exists in
precarious housing, while 80 per cent live in overcrowded
conditions. A pilot participatory project will soon be
launched to tackle the problems of a very poor part of Phnom
Penh. Such projects and the Habitat Agenda will serve as
guidelines as Cambodia defines its own policies for
sustainable human settlements. The role of non-governmental
organizations has increased in Cambodia in the last three
years. They are acting as fullfledged partners, supportive of
the State's role. However, they barely meet the intense needs
of the urban habitat.
CHARLIE NAKO, Minister for Home Affairs of Vanuatu:
Eighty per cent of Vanuatu's population lives in coastal areas
and depends on the resources of the sea to satisfy their
needs. Their future is uncertain because of the rise in the
sea level and the impact of natural disasters, such as
cyclones. The Vanuatu administration lacks the financial
resources necessary to satisfy the population's needs. The
country has limited material resources. The international
community, therefore, urged to assist the country to attain
sustained economic development. The country's land and sea
resources are being heavily exploited, which is a threat to
endemic species in the Pacific. The needs of the environment
must be integrated into the development of urban centres.
There is need for long-term planning to contain the
spread of poverty and provide homes for low-income groups. An
urban strategic planning process is being initiated. There is
a need for clear strategic guidelines for urban solutions
which should not be too technical but reflect the specific
nature of each country.
LEONARDO KAM (Panama): Humankind has the means to
successfully confront its social challenges and build
sustainable, healthier and secure cities. However, political
will, the spirit of fairness, solidarity and concern for the
plight of the poor and the dispossessed are necessary to
enable the world to solve its problems. The manner in which
the developed world treats the developing countries should be
improved. Such a change in attitude should be demonstrated
through an increase in the flow of resources from the
industrialized to the poor nations. The commitment to grant
0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNP) as assistance to
the developing countries should not be ignored as the
provisions of such resource would help ensure that the
Conference's conclusions become concrete results. The biggest
challenge now is the implementation of commitments that are
made in Istanbul.
HASINUR RAHMAN (Bangladesh): Regional and global
cooperation is necessary in tackling rapid urbanization and
its accompanying problems. The Government's priorities
fulfill the national objectives of poverty reduction,
community development, adequate housing, the development of
sustainable urban and rural settlements and massive
infrastructure development. The national plan of action
proposes to undertake interrelated projects to achieve these
objectives.
Bangladesh, like all developing nations, hopes to leave
this Conference with solid commitments. It needs technical
and financial assistance from bilateral, institutional and
United Nations sources for the implementation of the projects
and programmes in its national plan of action.
OSCAR KAFATTI (Honduras): Honduras is transforming the
structure of the State in order to reduce centralization and
promote municipal autonomy to allow the members of
municipalities to address their local problems without waiting
for help from the central government. The Government has set
up mechanisms to mobilize resources and encourage the
participation of the private sector in the provision of
shelter. A private contributions regime was set up to finance
houses for the low-income groups. Those resources are,
however, not sufficient for Honduran needs. Therefore, the
international community should extend more assistance to the
country. While international cooperation is important, all
nations should strive to achieve economic growth. The
industrialized world should provide more favourable market
terms to allow the developing countries to grow and solve
their own problems.
HAILE ASSEGIDE, Minister of Works and Urban Development
of Ethiopia: The human settlement problems of developing
countries are very critical. Although national efforts are of
primary importance, international cooperation is essential in
the areas of technical assistance towards achieving capacity
building in the implementation of sustainable human settlement
development programmes. Ethiopia's experience is different
from many other developing countries because of its experience
of twenty years of civil war. The resettling and
rehabilitation of displaced persons, in addition to the half-a-
million demobilized soldiers, and the transformation and the
reconstruction of the economic sector are still under way.
The Government has launched a reconstruction and recovery
programme. Economic activities are gradually improving.
Concrete growth and progress have been achieved in the
economic sector.
Problems of human settlements should be resolved in light
of specific country conditions. Countries should be allowed
to formulate their own policies, strategies and plan on human
settlement development and management.
Right of Reply
The representative of Turkey: The representative of
Cyprus does not represent Cyprus in its entirety; he could
speak only for Greek Cypriots. Since 1974, there has been no
single authority on the island. The Turkish Cypriots live in
the north of the island. The north is a sovereign state but
has been denied the right to be represented in the United
Nations. The representative of Cyprus should also have made
mention of displaced Turkish Cypriots, who were driven out of
their homes in 1963, and that would have given the proper
interpretation of the problem of Cyprus.
The representative of Cyprus: The Minister for Interior
of Cyprus did not address the Cyprus problem as an
intercommunal conflict in the way it was presented by Turkey's
representative. His comments had dealt with the
responsibilities of a Government which invaded Cyprus in 1974
and has been occupying the country since that time. Cyprus is
recognized internationally and is accepted in all
international organizations. The interpretation of Cyprus'
history by the Turkey's representative is incorrect. The
Minister had ended his presentation tonight by expressing his
desire for a resolution of the Cyprus problem.
The representative of Turkey: The representative has
again misrepresented facts about Cyprus. Nothing can change
the fact that the problems started in 1963 when the Greek
Cypriots forced Turkish Cypriots out of the Government. The
two entities on the island must find an acceptable negotiated
solution to their problems.
The representative of Cyprus: On the events of 1963, the
representative should read the report of a United Nations
mediator, Galo Plaza, written in 1964/1965. Security Council
resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984) condemn the secessionist
State created by force.
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