UNITED NATIONS	HS
	Commission on Human Settlements	Distr. LIMITED HS/C/17/L.8 10 May 1999 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

The Commission on Human Settlements,

Aware of the commitment made by Governments in the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements 1/ to ensure the full and equal participation of all women and men and the effective participation of youth in political, economic and social life,

Recalling that the empowerment of women and their full and equal participation in political, social and economic life, the improvement of health and the eradication of poverty are essential to achieving sustainable human settlements,

Noting that the strategic vision for a revitalized United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) 2/ recommends that one of the primary indicators of the success of the Centre's interventions and an explicit focus for its policy work be the empowerment of women,

Recalling that, in its resolution 16/6 of 7 May 1997 on women in human settlements development, the Commission requested the creation of a gender coordination unit directly under the Executive Director in order to mainstream the gender perspective in all policies, projects, programmes and activities of the Centre,

Further recalling that the said resolution also requests that adequate resources for the gender unit be allocated from within the existing resources of the Centre, but without diverting resources from the Centre's Women in Human Settlements Development Programme (now the Women and Habitat Programme),

Stressing the fact that General Assembly resolution 53/119 of 5 February 1999 on improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat reaffirms the goal of 50/50 gender distribution in staffing by the year 2000 in all categories of posts within the United Nations system, and calls for gender action plans,

1. Requests that the empowerment of women as one of the primary indicators put forth in the strategic vision for a revitalized United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) be translated into clear policy and action and promptly implemented in the Centre's work;

2. Invites the Centre to involve to this purpose existing expertise outside the Centre, in particular global women's networks;

3. Commends the Acting Executive Director of the United Nations Centre on Human Settlements (Habitat) on the establishment of the Gender Unit in November 1998;

4. Further requests the Acting Executive Director to ensure that both the Gender Unit and the Women and Habitat Programme are equipped, with immediate effect and within available resources, to meet the challenges of effectively implementing the new strategic vision;

5. Also requests the Acting Executive Director to develop, by the year 2000, a gender action plan to implement General Assembly resolution 53/119, including the goal of achieving a 50/50 gender distribution in staffing;

6. Urges the Acting Executive Director to make full use of the revitalization process to implement this gender action plan in all categories of posts;

7. Invites member Governments to ensure financial and other support to both the Gender Unit and the Women and Habitat Programme;

8. Requests the Acting Executive Director to include a report on the implementation of the present resolution on women in human settlements development in his progress report to the Commission on Human Settlements at its eighteenth session.

2/    HS/C/17/2/Add.2, annex.