HABITAT II
1 JUNE, ISTANBUL — Dr. Wally N’Dow, Secretary-General of Habitat II, said today that the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Habitat II was crucial to the success of the Conference. Addressing NGO representatives at the NGO Forum at Istanbul Technical University, Dr. N’Dow added that the effort and the impact of NGOs on the Habitat II process had redefined the role for civil society in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, Habitat II’s Global Plan of Action.
“We here at Habitat already have been the beneficiaries of your ideas and your work — almost from the moment that the General Assembly first decided to convene the Istanbul Conference. We have welcomed your participation and directly encouraged it. From the onset, we realized that the 185 Member States of the UN simply could not do all the planning by themselves for our common urban future,” said Dr. N’Dow.
“This gathering is a refusal to accept that we live compartmentalized lives in which governments and NGOs have separate goals and roles. One of the most important goals we must accomplish in Istanbul is to improve on ways that civil societies will be able to work with governmental authorities in the planning, management and development of urban and rural settlements. That means removing the prior constraints that have impeded those relationships and creating strategies that enable civil society to become a full partner in the process.”
Referring to himself as the “NGO representative in the United Nations system” Dr. N’Dow added, “We’re not here to be bystanders — we’re here to be central actors in this human drama. I believe that the NGO involvement in Habitat II will be both a symbolic and substantive reminder to the world community of the importance of these UN Conferences in embracing previously uninvolved partners. This experience will only widen and enlarge the UN’s constituency.”
Mr. Han van Putten, Chief Co-ordinator of the NGO International Facilitating Group, commended women’s groups and youth for their contribution to the preparatory process. He also appealed to the Turkish authorities to be sympathetic to the NGO request for reduced police presence around the NGO Forum.