After days of haggling, more than
170 countries reached a new global
accord on June 15, at the end of the
UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II). Participating
nations adopted the Habitat
Agenda, the main conference document, and a shorter summary of
political intent, the Istanbul Declaration, aimed at creating healthy
and sustainable living in an
increasingly urban world.
Ultimately the consensus that
emerged was, "To take all steps
necessary for the progressive realisation of the right to adequate
housing." It means that housing
has been recognised as a human
right and governments are obligated to provide it. They observed
that currently, about 100 million
people are homeless and at least
600 million people in developing
countries live in houses that are
either life- or health-threatening.
They recognised that enough
resources exist to put a roof over
the heads and provide safe water
and sanitation for less than US
$100 per person, to every man,
woman and child on this planet.
Notably, for the first time at a UN
conference, the views of grass-roots
organisations, local authorities,
the private sector, parliaments
and scientists were incorporated
alongwith those of government
delegates.
India contributed its own bit by
calling for improvement in living
conditions in rural areas and
mobilisation of financial resources
at the national and international
levels to meet the housing needs of
the people. The participants agreed
with India's view that measures
should be taken to check the migration of people from rural to urban
areas. The declaration also called
for promotion and transfer of technologies and access to information
on available technologies to fulfill
the Habitat agenda. To this end, the
participants pledged their support
for strengthening the role of the
United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (UNHCS).
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