Scope to Be Covered by the Special Session of the General Assembly for an Overall Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat Ii)

A/RES/55/194No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 94eImplementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HabitatII), published in 2001.

What does this mandate say?

36 operative paragraphs

I.Outcome of the special session of the General Assembly for an overall review

and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda

Confirms that the special session should result in:

Reconfirmation of the goals and commitments of the Habitat Agenda1 and review of the status of implementation, including the identification of progress, gaps, obstacles and challenges;

The setting of global priorities for future action;

Emphasizes the role of the Commission on Human Settlements, as a standing body of the Economic and Social Council, as a central monitoring and coordinating body within the United Nations system for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;

Also emphasizes the existing role of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) in supporting the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;

Further emphasizes, while recognizing that the implementation of the Habitat Agenda is the sovereign right and responsibility of each State, that international cooperation as stipulated in the Agenda remains an important component in the implementation of the Agenda;

II.Arrangements regarding participation of Habitat Agenda

partners and observers in the special session

Decides that representatives of local authorities, non-governmental organizations and other Habitat Agenda partners may make statements in the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole and in the thematic committee of the special session for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II);

Also decides that, given the time available, a limited number of representatives of local authorities, non-governmental organizations and other Habitat Agenda partners may also make statements in the debate in plenary meeting, and requests the President of the General Assembly to submit the list of selected Habitat Agenda partners to the Member States in a timely manner for approval and to ensure that the selection of speakers is made on an equal and transparent basis, taking into account the geographical representation and diversity of Habitat Agenda partners;

Further decides that observers may make statements during the debate in plenary meeting in accordance with the rules and procedures of the General Assembly;

Decides that arrangements concerning the accreditation and participation of Habitat Agenda partners in the special session shall in no way create a precedent for other special sessions of the General Assembly;

III.Arrangements regarding accreditation of Habitat Agenda

partners to the special session

Decides that accreditation to the special session shall be open to:

Habitat Agenda partners that were accredited to the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II);

Non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, with the exception of those whose application for consultative status with the Council has been rejected or whose consultative status has been withdrawn or suspended;

Also decides that accreditation of other interested and relevant Habitat Agenda partners that were not accredited to the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) should be considered by the Preparatory Committee, provided that those partners submit to the Committee composed of the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee and the Secretariat by 9 February 2001 an application for accreditation containing the following information:

The purpose of the organization;

Information identifying the programmes and activities of the organization in areas relevant to the subject of the special session and indicating in which country or countries they are carried out;

Confirmation of the activities of the organization at the national, regional or international levels;

Copies of annual or other reports of the organization, with financial statements and a list of financial sources and contributions, including governmental contributions;

A list of the members of the governing body of the organization and their country of nationality;

A description of the membership of the organization, indicating the total number of members, the names or organizations that are members and their geographical distribution;

A copy of the constitution and/or by-laws of the organization;

and further decides that the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee should submit by 19 February 2001 to the Preparatory Committee at its second session a list of partners that have submitted their application containing information on each partner’s competence and relevance to the subject of the special session, and that the Preparatory Committee at its second session shall decide on a no-objection basis regarding the accreditation of those partners;

Requests the Secretary-General to disseminate widely all available information on accreditation procedures for the special session;

Decides that the arrangements set out above concerning accreditation to the special session shall in no way create a precedent for other special sessions of the General Assembly;

IV.Action at the local, national and regional levels

Calls upon all States to strengthen broad-based, participatory, gender-balanced national habitat committees, or similar consultative mechanisms, to review and report on local and national plans of action and, through consultative mechanisms, to coordinate and support further the implementation of the Habitat Agenda at the local and national levels;

Urges States to focus their assessment and monitoring of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda at the local, national and regional levels on key commitments related to policies and methods of evaluation, and recommends that States identify best practices, including enabling policies, legislation and exemplary plans of action, in implementing the Habitat Agenda in a gender-sensitive way, that they promote research on low-cost building technology for affordable housing and that they support the transfer of all such knowledge to ensure sustainability;

Confirms that the special session should facilitate sharing views on local, national and regional experiences in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;

V.Partnership and the role of civil society

Encourages Member States to integrate contributions made by different partner groups towards further implementation of the Habitat Agenda in their national reports and to consider the inclusion of partner groups in broad-based, gender-balanced national delegations;

Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) to report to the Preparatory Committee at its second session on the activities of the Advisory Committee of Local Authorities;

VI.Monitoring and assessment

Encourages Member States and Habitat Agenda partners to provide support for the preparation of the Global Report on Human Settlements and the State of the World’s Cities report on a biennial basis so as to raise awareness of human settlements and to provide information on urban conditions and trends around the world;

Recommends that the Commission on Human Settlements pursue agreement by all Member States on a pool of common and easy-to-measure indicators applicable for national reporting and evaluation;

Encourages all relevant United Nations organizations and agencies and other development partners to support the efforts of national Governments to coordinate data collection and analysis and to develop a monitoring system at the local level on sustainable human settlements, with appropriate strengthening at all levels;

Encourages all Governments and partners to submit to the Secretariat examples of enabling urban policies and legislation relating to key items selected for country reporting to allow the Secretariat to combine best practices, enabling policies, legislation and action plans;

VII.International cooperation

Requests the Preparatory Committee, at its second session, to prepare a draft declaration on cities and other human settlements in the new millennium;

Requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) to report to the special session on the implementation of the twin goals of the Habitat Agenda, namely, adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development, as well as on the actions and achievements of the Global Campaign for Secure Tenure and the Global Campaign for Urban Governance;

Calls upon the international community to support developing countries in the preparatory process for the special session, the second session of the Preparatory Committee and the special session itself;

Requests the international community to support urban poverty eradication in developing countries as well as reconstruction programmes following conflicts and natural disasters in order to allow affected countries to implement the Habitat Agenda effectively.

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