Mandate

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-HABITAT, is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all. The main documents outlining the mandate of the organization are the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, Habitat Agenda, Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, and Resolution 56/206

The agency's 2002-2003 budget is US$300 million and comes from four main sources - 80 per cent in the form of contributions from multilateral and bilateral partners for technical cooperation, 10 percent in earmarked contributions from governments and other partners, including local authorities and foundations, with 5 per cent from the regular UN budget and 5 per cent in the form of voluntary contributions from governments.