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) and the Strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (Un-Habitat)

A/RES/57/275View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 95 Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and of the 25th special session of the General Assembly, published in 2003.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2003

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2003	A/58/178	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) and the strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/57/275

What’s in this document?

21 operative paragraphs

Underlines the commitments made by Governments to implement the Habitat Agenda1 and the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium,2 and to the goal of achieving a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum-dwellers by 2020, as contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration;3

Underlines also the commitments made at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, including the commitment to halve, by 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water and the proportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation, and requests the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) to support developing countries in implementing the targets in order to increase access to clean water, sanitation and adequate shelter;

Encourages Member States to strengthen and institutionalize national Habitat committees and other mechanisms, as appropriate, as broad-based platforms for the preparation and implementation of their plans of action based on the Habitat Agenda, the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium and the relevant international development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration;

Urges all countries to strengthen and mainstream shelter and human settlements development activities in their development planning frameworks;

Recognizes that Governments have the primary responsibility for the sound and effective implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, and stresses that the international community should fully implement its commitments to support the Governments of developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their efforts, through the provision of requisite resources, capacity-building, transfer of technology and the creation of an international enabling environment;

Emphasizes the importance, at all levels of policy-making and in the context of sustainable development, of giving high priority to the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, including achieving the goals of adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world, particularly in developing countries;

Requests the Executive Director of UN-Habitat to further strengthen her efforts to make the Cities Alliance initiative an effective means for the implementation of the twin goals of the Habitat Agenda, namely, adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world;

Encourages UN-Habitat to continue to implement the Habitat Agenda and the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, including through promoting partnerships with local authorities, non-governmental organizations, private sector and other Habitat Agenda partners so as to empower them, within the legal framework and according to the conditions of each country, to play a more effective role in shelter provision and in sustainable human settlements development;

Reiterates the invitation to Governments and Habitat Agenda partners to facilitate the dissemination of the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium;

Also reiterates the agreement by Governments to intensify dialogue where possible, inter alia, through the Governing Council of UN-Habitat, on all issues related to effective decentralization and strengthening of local authorities, in support of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, in conformity with the legal framework and policies of each country;

Encourages Governments and their Habitat Agenda partners to evaluate and report to UN-Habitat on their implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium;

Welcomes increased cooperation between UN-Habitat and the United Nations Development Programme, and notes with interest the envisaged placement of locally recruited UN-Habitat programme managers in selected United Nations Development Programme offices in recipient countries, in consultation with the relevant Governments;

Calls upon UN-Habitat, the United Nations Environment Programme and other relevant organs and organizations of the United Nations system to increase cooperation in and strengthen coordination of their activities, within the framework of their respective mandates and separate programmatic and organizational identities, in order to promote the implementation of the relevant provisions of Agenda 21¹¹ and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation5 with a view to supporting sustainable development;

¹¹Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigenda), vol. I: Resolutions adopted by the Conference, resolution 1, annex II.

Reiterates the invitation to the Executive Director of UN-Habitat to implement, in accordance with paragraph 66 of the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, the establishment of the Habitat Agenda Task Manager System to allow better monitoring and mutual reinforcement of actions taken by international agencies in support of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;

Calls upon UN-Habitat to further support the implementation of the Water for African Cities programme, as requested by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development;¹²

¹²A/57/304, annex.

Acknowledges with appreciation the ongoing efforts of the Executive Director to strengthen UN-Habitat, and encourages her to continue such efforts;

Invites Governments and relevant international institutions and agencies to increase their support to UN-Habitat in order to enhance its capacity to function as a fully fledged United Nations programme;

Acknowledges with appreciation the ongoing efforts of the Executive Director to strengthen the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation, and invites Governments that are in a position to do so, and their Habitat Agenda partners, to increase their financial contributions to the Foundation in a predictable manner;

Requests the Secretary-General to keep the resource needs of UN-Habitat and the United Nations Office at Nairobi under review so as to permit the delivery of necessary services to UN-Habitat and other United Nations organs and organizations in Nairobi in an effective manner;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit a consolidated report to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session on the implementation of the present resolution;

Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-eighth session the item entitled “Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and of the twenty-fifth special session of the General Assembly”.

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) and the Strengthening of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (Un-Habitat)

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

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What’s in this document?

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