Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka as Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements — UNCHS (Habitat) — in July 2000. On assuming responsibility as head of the Centre in Nairobi on 13 September, her first action was to support the Secretary-General's call to action to realize the goals set out in the Millennium Declaration. "With over half of humanity already living in cities and towns and the increasing urbanization of poverty", she said, "the work of Habitat, as the agency responsible for human settlements, will be critical if the number of people living in extreme poverty is to be halved by 2015 and if the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers is to be improved by 2020." One of the main items on her agenda in the coming months is the preparations for the special session of the General Assembly for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda — Istanbul +5 — to be held in June 2001.

Klomjit Chandrapanya and Horst Rutsch of the UN Chronicle spoke with Ms. Tibaijuka on 13 October in New York. Following are excerpts of the conversation.

On the priorities for Habitat
I myself have lived through the various processes of human settlement problems, coming from a village to a rural township to a city. This experience gives me a particular perspective on the aims of the agency. Thanks to the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Toepfer, who, as Acting Executive Director of Habitat, has overseen the agency's reform and revitalization over the past two years, I am inheriting a strengthened Centre. With the restructuring now complete, I will continue to consolidate the areas that need further strengthening: stabilizing sources of funding and support, but also refocusing some of its programmes, linking them with other agencies working in urban areas and particularly improving human settlements. In preparing for the Istanbul +5 review, we are taking stock of our campaigns, especially the global settlement strategy. We will try to see where we succeeded and where we failed, understand the reasons, and improve upon the strategies. I think the Istanbul +5 process therefore provides us with opportunities to revisit and improve our basic targets. The problems of human settlements, development and the environment are closely linked, and I look forward to establishing a fruitful and productive partnership with UNEP and other UN agencies to further our common agendas. We must also work more closely with Governments, municipalities and other local actors.

On the future of human settlements
In the twenty-first century, the majority of the world's population is headed for cities, many of which are already overpopulated. This is our major challenge in human settlements. The environmental future of the planet is closely linked to how we manage human settlements and their demand for resources. Cities all over the world share this common agenda, and it is important for us to create links between the cities of the North and the South to solve the problems of urbanization. We all face city problems. But in the developing countries, these are more acute and the possibilities to solve them without international solidarity are limited. With our headquarters in Nairobi, Habitat has a special responsibility to help the African continent. The rapid rate of urbanization in Africa means that most Governments and local authorities are struggling to meet rising demands for housing and basic services. However, any resolution to the problems of urbanization in Africa has to address the important role of regional planning and rural-to-urban linkages. So definitely there is a need to focus on programmes that assist the developing countries in better managing the urban situation. At the same time, we must also go beyond treating the symptoms of urbanization and tackle the underlying causes of the problem. What we need is a programme focusing on the population shifts from rural settlements to urban settlements.

On the problem of rural settlements
Habitat is particularly well placed to build on the rights-based approach to development in order to establish internationally accepted norms for human settlements everywhere. Our mandate is to help secure human settlements. We also have to look at the problem of rural settlements, together with other agencies like the United Nations Conference on Trade And Development, which work in rural areas. We have to try and make sure that we understand the factors contributing to the influx of villagers to towns and cities. This is not necessarily always linked to poverty alone. Another factor is security. Rural insecurity can be the result of regional and social problems. Look at the African continent: the large movements of people because of wars raging in the countryside — these are some of the factors behind the increase in urbanization. That means we also have to enter relationships with agencies involved in international peace and security.

On the problem of slums
It is not enough to go into an area and raze the slums. If you don't want another slum to spring up, you have to understand and address the factors which caused the slums in the first place. In other words, we should not work against squatters, but against squatting — that's the difference. But we have to convince the Government and local authorities that squatting is the problem. If people settle into an area illegally, then the police evicts them by force. But they have to live somewhere. Where will they go but to another slum? That is why we urge Governments to broker partnerships with the poor, with the slum dwellers, to solve the problem of squatting. We have to secure tenure — the right to housing, the right to land — for the poor. And that is why we have launched a global campaign for secure tenure.

On the global campaign for secure tenure
We need to empower the poor. They are often able people who have been disenfranchised — most of them moving from the countryside to an urban ghetto, with the expectation that they will find a better income. We all know that people move not because they are actually better off; they move because they think they will be better off. So it is that expectation that induces them to move. And with globalization and the spread of information technology, you cannot tie people to one place. That is why we must solve the problem of broken societies with devastated economies. Otherwise, the pressure to move to western countries in Europe and North America would be too great. People are prepared to move when they come from a second-class economy and where they are second-class citizens. Some may end up worse than they were before leaving their original homes — they might end up in a slum. But you see the "push factor" in the expectations people have, thinking that they will be better off elsewhere.

On the global campaign for good urban governance
If you don't have a job, it is difficult to pay rent; you will likely soon be homeless. So one thing really leads to another. A second campaign to support the right to secure tenure is needed — a global campaign for good urban governance. Therefore, we are linking up with poverty reduction programmes. We now have developed partnerships with the World Bank which, we hope, can help not only in slum upgrading but also in providing support for these programmes. We are cooperating with the International Labour Organization in terms of income-generating activities. Once you have improved and upgraded squatters settlements, how will people be able to pay if they have no income? These are the kinds of challenges facing us and are the focus of our campaigns.

On the role of women
The right to secure tenure is particularly important for women. In western countries, a legal environment has been created for the security of women in the home, including tenure and land rights. In Africa, however, the woman mostly stays at home, and if something happens, if her husband dies, in some traditional societies the widow will be evicted from her house. Then you find homeless women wandering around on the streets with their children. These are some of the things we are trying to address — the right of women to inherit property, particularly in matrimonial homes where most women are bound to stay in the house. That is also why we are trying to cooperate with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on the question of education, particularly for women, as part of economic empowerment.

On developing partnerships
We try to develop innovative partnerships. In an international climate of decreasing funds for development, the future of Habitat lies in finding innovative ways to provide shelter and services for the poor. We need to support the efforts of the poor, and especially women, in housing themselves. The Centre's role is to work with Governments and other partners to ensure basic housing rights, security of tenure and better urban governance as a way of reducing poverty. The Cities Alliance Initiative with the World Bank provides an important model for future activities, and Habitat will continue to help Governments and local authorities to build their capacities in developing and managing human settlements. We do not have the kind of money that the World Bank has, and it is not our business to have that kind of money. Our business is to have ideas, vision and strategies. It is also about raising awareness — that too is a form of partnership. Our job is to understand human settlements and to design improvements, and then invite other agencies and donors to come in and help. What matters in the end is that we have made better living developments for the people.

In its next issue, the UN Chronicle will be covering the preparations in Nairobi for the special session of the General Assembly for an overall review of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda (Istanbul +5), to be held in June 2001.