ISTANBUL, 12 JUNE — The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), which has been serving as the secretariat for the Habitat II Conference, has committed itself to promoting and supporting gender issues in all its work after the Istanbul meeting. Speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General of Habitat II, Dr. Wally N’Dow, the coordinator of the Women in Human Settlements Development Programme at Habitat, Ms. Catalina Trujillo, said that the Centre had pledged itself to “not only listen to what advice it gets from the Huairou Commission, but to act on that advice”. The Huairou Commission, appointed by Dr. N’Dow during the Fourth World Conference in Beijing, has an advocacy and advisory role to ensure that gender concerns are carried forward to the Istanbul Conference.
Ms. Trujillo said that Habitat has committed itself to “continue supporting women’s networking at the grassroots, local, national and regional levels” and to “supporting horizontal exchanges between agencies and organizations, particularly those in the developing world”. She further stated that the Centre was committed to promoting human settlements and urban development which “responds to the needs of women and men, girls and boys”. The Centre is also committed to ensuring that the Habitat Agenda which comes out of the Istanbul Conference has a clear gender perspective. Habitat will also support capacity-building and lobbying skills among women.
The Norwegian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asbjoern Mathieson, said that his government was committed to promoting women’s development and had assisted several African women to attend the Habitat II Conference. He said that Norway would continue promoting women’s concerns because “women are the most important resources for development in this world”.
Ms. Bella Abzug, a veteran women’s rights activist, thanked Dr. N’Dow for his enthusiastic support for gender issues, particularly of the Huairou Commission, which she referred to as “a fantastic new instrument — one of the most powerful civil movements seen in the last decade”.
For more information, please contact:
Catalina Trujillo
Harbiye Cultural Centre
Tel: 290 1140
or
Rasna Warah
Media Centre
Tel: 290 3024