UNITED NATIONS	HS
	Commission on Human Settlements	Distr. LIMITED HS/C/17/L.21 13 May 1999 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

The Commission on Human Settlements,

Recalling paragraph 195 of the Habitat Agenda, 1/ which emphasizes that the implementation of the Habitat Agenda is the primary responsibility of each country at all levels, but that the overall decline in official development assistance is a serious cause of concern in many developing countries;

Also recalling General Assembly resolution 51/177 of 16 December 1996 on the implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), which, in its paragraph 10, stresses the need to establish or strengthen, as appropriate, participatory mechanisms for the implementation, review of and follow-up to the Habitat Agenda and national plans of action;

Further recalling paragraph 211 of the Habitat Agenda, which appeals to all multilateral and bilateral development agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions to establish and/or strengthen cooperative mechanisms to integrate commitments and actions concerning adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development into their policies,

Affirming the agreement contained in the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, as reiterated in the Habitat Agenda, 2/ that developed and developing country partners should allocate 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes,

Further recalling that the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) is a member of the United Nations Development Group, whose principal objective is to strengthen the policy and programme coherence of United Nations development activities;

1. Takes note of the report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) containing the theme paper on international cooperation for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda; 3/

2. Recommends that Governments and development agencies, including those within the United Nations system and working, where possible, within the United Nations Development Assistance Framework and its coordination mechanisms and relevant international organisations, mobilize adequate resources for promoting and stimulating the establishment and reinforcement of participatory mechanisms, at national and local levels, for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and related national plans of action, with a view to reactivating the successful mobilization of partners;

3. Invites the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) to pursue an increase in the mobilization of resources from the international community, especially the industrialized countries, and the Bretton Woods institutions and the regional banks as well as the private sector, and to pursue and increase similar efforts from countries that have not until now been in a position to extend such support;

4. Calls upon Governments and development agencies to support the revitalization of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) monitoring mandate in order to follow up on the progress of international assistance to the human settlements sector,

5. Further calls upon Governments and development agencies financially to support the global campaigns on secure tenure and on urban governance, launched by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) as key elements of its 2000-2001 work programme;

6. Requests the Executive Director to ensure continuous support to an evolved role of the existing regional offices of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) in all actions related to international cooperation for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda in their corresponding regions;

7. Requests the Executive Director to support regional and subregional forums, through the existing system of regional offices, to develop consultative mechanisms, to exchange experience on implementing arrangements and progress related to the Habitat Agenda, to raise the awareness of national Governments, local authorities and other partners and to discuss regional cooperation strategies and, in this respect, invites the international community to participate in the "Urban 21" series of conferences;

8. Also calls for international support for the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) special programme for Africa, which represents an integrated regional approach for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;

9. Urges the international community, including the United Nations system and its coordination mechanisms and relevant international organizations, to cooperate with national Governments, in order to facilitate the provision of technical and financial assistance to local authorities and their partners to implement their local-level priorities;

10. Calls upon all relevant institutions carrying out infrastructure development activities at the local level, to involve local authorities in the identification and implementation of such projects, to give sufficient attention to operation and maintenance costs so as to ensure sustainability and to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to assume their responsibilities in those activities;

11. Requests the international community to support post-conflict countries, through reconstruction programmes to rehabilitate destroyed houses and infrastructures and to resettle war victims in their properties, and to pay special attention to vulnerable groups, especially women and children victims of war who, as a result, have become heads of families;

12. Appeals to Governments and development agencies, including the United Nations system and its coordinating mechanisms, to support the important role of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) in implementing innovative operational activities, including its efforts in resource mobilization and in the development of systematic coordinated approaches with other development agencies;

13. Requests the Executive Director, keeping in view the global role and experience of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), to work within the United Nations systems and its coordinating mechanisms to promote and support the implementation at the national and local levels of systematic coordinated approaches addressing the various dimensions of urban poverty: this should be through consultations in selected countries with key development partners and Governments and should include the assessment of complementarities and comparative advantages, the reinforcement of national and local coordinating capacities and strategic commitments from international partners;

14. Further requests the Executive Director to prepare a comprehensive theme paper on international cooperation for the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, to be presented at the special session of the General Assembly for an overall review of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, with a particular emphasis on the progress made with international assistance to the urban sector.

2/    Ibid., paragraph 204 (dd).

3/    HS/C/17/6