Imagine:
A knock on the door could make you homeless. You could
come home to find that your house and belongings had
been reduced to rubble by a bulldozer. Or, if you
are not so unlucky as to be forcibly evicted, imagine
raising your children in a crowded slum settlement,
without basic services - no clean, safe water; no
toilets; no garbage pickups - in a place where crime
is all too common. Day to day, this is the life that
almost a billion poor people face in the slums and
squatter settlements in the world's urban areas.
Cities
and towns have long been recognized as "engines of
economic and social development". With their high
concentration of human beings, cities give birth to
ideas; they foster creativity and innovation; and
they create jobs. On the other hand, they also generate
and intensify social exclusion. They may deny the
benefits of urban life to the poor, to women, to youth,
and to religious or ethnic minorities and other marginalized
groups.
Very
soon, for the first time in human history, most of
humanity will be living in urban areas, where disparities
between the rich and the poor are already plainly
visible. Thriving business districts and affluent
neighbourhoods co-exist side-by side with slums and
rundown inner-cities. These inequalities intensify
when comparing cities of the North with cities of
the South. In richer countries, less than 16 per cent
of all urban households live in poverty, while in
urban areas in developing countries 36 per cent of
all households and 41 per cent of all women-headed
households live with incomes below the locally-defined
poverty line. At the outset of the urban millennium,
the urbanization and feminization of poverty are sad
facts of life.
Habitat II and the Habitat Agenda
In 1996, recognizing the urgency of the urban explosion,
the international community convened the United Nations
Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul. At Habitat
II - commonly known as the City Summit -- 171 Governments
agreed to adopt the Habitat Agenda and the Istanbul
Declaration.
The
acceptance of the Habitat Agenda marked a turning
point in international efforts to promote socially
and environmentally sustainable cities. At Habitat
II, Governments rejected the notion that cities are
problems for which no solutions can be found. Instead,
they searched for experiences and best practices that
demonstrate practical ways of meeting the challenges
of urbanization.
When
the international community adopted the Habitat Agenda,
it set itself twin goals: to achieve adequate shelter
for all and sustainable human settlements development.
Equally important was the understanding that "Governments
have the primary responsibility for implementing the
Habitat Agenda. Governments as enabling partners should
create and strengthen effective partnerships with
women, youth, the elderly, persons with disabilities,
vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, indigenous people
and communities, local authorities, the private sector
and non-governmental organizations in each country."
Para. 213
The
Inclusive City
Since Habitat II, the United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (Habitat) -- the agency within the UN
system supporting the management of human settlements
-- has been working with all Habitat Agenda partners
to determine the best way to implement the Habitat
Agenda. With considerable operational experience gained
since its establishment in 1978, Habitat has radically
altered the way it works in human settlements development.
Habitat's two-fold aim is to ensure that cities are
inclusive and that the shelter needs of the urban
poor are given priority.
Today,
the method has changed. Gone is the assumption that
central Governments will provide housing for the poor.
The traditional welfare state model is giving way
to partnership and participation. In its pledge to
encourage "enablement and participation", the Habitat
Agenda further states its commitment to the objectives
of "Enabling local leadership, promoting democratic
rule, exercising public authority and using public
resources in all public institutions at all levels
in a manner that is conducive to ensuring transparent,
responsible, accountable, just, effective and efficient
governance of towns, cities and metropolitan areas."
Through partnerships with civil society, Governments
are encouraged to make their cities inclusive. To
encourage greater participation of ordinary citizens
in the day-to-day management of their cities and towns,
Habitat has launched two global campaigns: on Urban
Governance and for Secure Tenure.
The
Global Campaign on Urban Governance
This Campaign envisions the "Inclusive City" as a
place where everyone, including the urban poor, can
contribute productively and enjoy the benefits of
urban life. The Campaign's potentially radical premise
is that inclusiveness is not only socially just, but
is also good for growth and central to sustainable
urban development. Social inclusiveness is an important
goal for municipal governance: it is just, it is democratic
and it is productive. And it is equally important
in both northern and southern cities. As globalization
continues, diversity will become more, rather than
less, important. And the successful governance of
diversity will distinguish the most accomplished and
creative cities from all the rest.
To ensure international commitment to the goals of
good urban governance, the Campaign will work on a
number of levels. At the international level, Habitat
is organizing "dialogues" with Government representatives
on the importance of decentralization and the role
of local authorities. The long-term aim of these dialogues
is to establish an international mechanism for ensuring
the rights of local authorities in relation to central
Government. If accepted by the General Assembly, one
such mechanism could be a World Charter for Local
Self-Government. At the same time, through a "declaration
of norms", the campaign will address the responsibilities
of local authorities in the exercise of their powers.
These norms, including such goals as transparency
and accountability, have been designed to help cities
practice good governance.
The
Global Campaign for Secure Tenure
Cities cannot begin to be inclusive or sustainable
if the urban poor live without adequate shelter or
basic services. In too many cities and towns, hundreds
of millions of poor people are not considered in city
plans for essential services, like water, sewers and
garbage collection. With no land and nowhere else
to go, the urban poor are forced to squat or to live
on the pavement and manage as best they can. Rather
than harnessing the energy and survival skills of
the poor, most Governments do not even recognize that
the poor have a right to the city.
The
primary purpose of the Campaign for Secure Tenure
is to give a voice to the people who live in slums
and the shacks. The Campaign rejects forced evictions
and takes the position that all people, especially
women, have a right to adequate shelter. The fundamental
premise is that security of tenure is among the most
important of housing rights. The Campaign supports
a range of tenure options that can be granted to every
household and underwritten by the rule of law. These
range from home ownership to rental arrangements;
individual or collective; private, public or mixed
tenure. What matters most is the security and the
long-term certainty. There is compelling evidence
world-wide that secure tenure is one of the most important
catalysts for stabilizing communities. Such stability
helps cities to attract corporate and individual investment,
which in turn can improve access to services and the
living conditions of the urban poor.
Rhetoric
to Reality
Moving from words to reality is the hard part. For
this the Campaigns rely heavily on collaboration with
Habitat Agenda partners. In countries around the world,
Habitat is working with Governments, local authorities,
non-governmental organizations and the local communities
to integrate efforts into a focused campaign.
In Abuja, Nigeria, on 10 April 2001, His Excellency
President Olusegun Obasanjo presided over the Nigerian
launch of the Global Campaign on Urban Governance.
After years of centralized autocratic rule under military
regimes, the Nigerian Federal Government is seeking
to strengthen Nigeria's 36 state governments and 774
local authorities by giving them greater political
and fiscal autonomy. The President committed his Government
to the goals and norms of good urban governance, including
enacting laws to protect people from unlawful forced
evictions.
In
Durban, South Africa, on 1 October 2000, over 7000
slum dwellers, 70 per cent of them women, gathered
at the South African launch of the Global Campaign
for Secure Tenure. The event was organised by the
South African Homeless People's Federation with the
support of the People's Dialogue for Land and Shelter,
the Durban Metropolitan Council, the Provincial Government
of KwaZulu-Natal, the Ministry of Housing and UNCHS
(Habitat). In her keynote address, the South African
Housing Minister Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele captured
the spirit of the event when she recognized that South
Africa's move towards equity in housing had been made
possible by "the partnership formed between the Government
and her people." The South African Homeless People's
Federation, a nationwide movement of the urban poor,
was established in 1990 to find solutions to problems
of inadequate housing and landlessness.
In
Mumbai (Bombay), India, on 17 July 2000, over 3000
members of the Indian National Slum Dwellers Federation
were joined by officials from Mumbai Municipality,
the government of Maharashtra, and the Government
of India at the national launch of the Campaign for
Secure Tenure. At the event, the Chief Minister of
the government of Maharashtra, Honourable Shri Vilasrao
Deshmukh, announced Maharashtra's plan to introduce
legislation granting secure tenure to the poor of
Mumbai who had been registered before 1 January 1995.
All slum dwellers meeting this condition would enjoy
legal recognition by all the authorities and would
subsequently be protected against forced evictions
or any other illegal action. The Minister of State
for Urban Development and Poverty Eradication, Shri
Bandaru Dattatreya, also outlined the main points
of the Indian National Housing Policy of 1998, and
added that "...a national shelter fund will be set
up to meet the requirement of low-cost funds for the
housing needs of the poor, and fiscal concessions
will be provided to the corporate sector for contributing
to this fund".
The
work of Habitat has been reinforced by the work of
other UN agencies. For example, the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights last year decided to appoint
a Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights for a period
of three years. The Rapporteur's mandate is to promote
all aspects relating to housing rights as a component
of the human right to an adequate standard of living,
enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
The Commission on Human Rights also reaffirmed the
rights of women to an adequate standard of living,
including adequate housing.
These
examples of regional and national launches of Habitat's
Global Campaign on Urban Governance and the Global
Campaign for Secure Tenure show how workable policy
options can be developed, within the framework of
collaboration of national and city governments, to
extend genuine citizenship to women and the urban
poor.
No
Short Cut to Development
The launches are important strategic entry points
for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. Not
only do they help to focus the attention of Habitat
Agenda partners on best norms and strategies, they
also encourage the international and donor communities
to coordinate their projects in human settlements
development. If conditions in the slums and squatter
settlements are to change, such projects are essential.
There are no short cuts to development.
To
support its work to change the norms that govern cities,
Habitat has a number of operational projects that
help local authorities improve the management and
delivery of shelter and services. For example, in
1999 UNCHS (Habitat) and the World Bank launched the
initiative Cities Alliance. A multi-donor alliance
committed to improving the living conditions of the
urban poor and the socio-economic and environmental
viability of cities, Cities Alliance comprises two
components: city development strategies and upgrading
of low-income settlements.
The
Disaster Management Programme assists national
and local governments, as well as communities, to
implement post-disaster reconstruction and rehabilitation
programmes, particularly in the areas of housing,
infrastructure and resettlement. The Programme also
addresses disaster preparedness.
The
Gender Policy Unit aims to improve women's participation
and decision-making power at all levels within human
settlements and urban development. The programme works
on capacity building, monitoring and policy, with
particular emphasis on security of tenure for women,
and the role of women in leadership and governance.
Localizing
Agenda 21 Programme: Habitat is the task manager
in the UN system for the human settlements chapter
of Agenda 21, adopted by the UN Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
To reinforce the process of localisation, the programme
offers multi-layered support to selected medium-sized
cities.
The
Safer Cities Programme was launched in 1996
at the request of African mayors who want to address
urban violence by developing a prevention strategy
at the city level. The approach is to establish community-wide
consultation processes to address the causes of crime
and to develop prevention measures, methods and strategies
to reduce crime.
The
Sustainable Cities Programme is a joint Habitat/UNEP
programme that builds capacities in urban environmental
planning and management, using participatory methods.
The programme works with over 40 cities and 30 partner
organizations around the world.
The
Urban Management Programme is a major technical
cooperation programme designed to support progress
made by some 80 cities in developing countries towards
urban poverty reduction through participatory urban
governance and urban environment improvement. UNDP
provides overall monitoring for this programme, which
is supported by several bilateral agencies.
Water
for African Cities is a joint Habitat/UNEP initiative
within the framework of the UN System-wide Special
Initiative on Africa. The programme supports African
countries in effective water management and in protecting
water resources from urban pollution.
These
are but a few of the many operational projects initiated
by Habitat during the last few years. They were designed
to contribute to the achievement of the twin goals
of the Habitat Agenda: adequate shelter for all and
sustainable human settlements development.
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