Your Excellency, Ambassador Petr Kopriva, President of the Governing
Council
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Delegates,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As an enormous universal gathering of faiths put away their differences
and assembled in Rome to lay Pope John Paul II to rest, 827 delegates
from 92 Member States, including 48 Member States of the Governing Council,
39 representatives of Local Governments and their organisations and 92
representatives of NGOs as well as participants from the UN system, IGOs,
professional associations and the private sector, assembled in Nairobi
to provide guidance to one of the United Nations’ key programmes
in the fight against global poverty. Despite many points of view and frank
exchanges on objectives and on ways and means, this assembly – the
Governing Council for the United Nations Human settlements Programme –
must be congratulated on overcoming its differences and forging a consensus.
From this week of give and take, we are reminded, finally, that partnership
is about finding common ground and balancing interest.
Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates,
On this note, of compromise and consensus, it is an honour and privilege
to present to you my concluding statement. I do this with a deep sense
of appreciation for your collective effort on behalf of the United Nations
Human Settlements Programme.
The matters brought before the Governing Council at its 20th session are
of utmost importance to the human settlements work of the United Nations,
and the decisions reached at this session will enable UN-HABITAT to fulfill
its mandate within the UN system.
Once again this Governing Council has reaffirmed that the plight of
the world’s urban poor should be among the irrevocable priorities
on the world’s development agenda.
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the past five days, all of you were involved in intensive debates
on the various agenda items, in very constructive negotiations on resolutions,
in substantive dialogues between Habitat Agenda partners, as well as in
a series of parallel events on important matters related to the future
of human settlements. Despite the difficult final few hours, I am sure
that you will share my conclusion that this twentieth session has been
extremely interesting, thought-provoking and successful. With your active
participation and constructive contributions, this Council has adopted
significant resolutions and decisions that will help guide the work of
UN-HABITAT and its many partners in reaching the targets of the Millennium
Goals and in implementing the Habitat Agenda.
Mr. President,
I am particularly gratified that this session was so well attended by
member states, local authorities and partners from civil society organizations.
With so many participants, we have been able to engage in meaningful discussions
on a range of issues in the various sessions, dialogues, parallel events
and informal meetings of partners.
First, I wish to thank all those who came here to participate in the parallel
events, which proved to be both varied and informative. We all came away
from these events more knowledgeable and enthusiastic about related agenda
items and about how technology and even art help us to better understand
the human environment. The preparation for these events was time consuming
and in some cases costly but I assure the rewards were significant.
The groundwork for this Governing Council was well laid by the Committee
of Permanent Representatives who, as the subsidiary body of the Governing
Council, worked tirelessly in various working groups before the Council
meeting. I am thankful to them for their keen interest in UN-HABITAT activities
and for their support in the preparation of this meeting. I look forward
to the continued support of the Permanent Representatives during the coming
two years in carrying out the decisions of this Governing Council.
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,
Before touching on the highlights of your substantive work, I wish to
express my deep gratitude to the President of this twentieth session,
His Excellency Ambassador Petr Kopriva from the Czech Republic. Under
his skillful leadership this council has been able to successfully conclude
its work, incorporating many important decisions.
I also wish to express my thanks to the Vice-Presidents: His Excellency
Ambassador Jose Luis Casal, of Argentina who capably chaired the Drafting
Committee; His Excellency, Ambassador Bernd Braun of Germany, chairman
of the Committee of the Whole; and Her Excellency Ambassador Rosalinda
Valenton Tirona of the Philippines, who chaired the Contact Group. With
their skills of diplomacy and negotiation, the committees were able to
achieve consensus on most agenda items in a relatively short time.
May I also add that the Council’s successful conclusion relied heavily
on the hard work and constructive engagement of the Drafting Committee,
which has worked long hours in a very positive atmosphere.
To Rapporteur, Ms. Edna Deima Tobi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing
and Urban Development, Nigeria, who successfully presented the report
of the Council a short while ago, I extend a special thank you. And, I
must thank all Members of the Bureau who had an onerous workload and intensive
duties, which were performed with dedication and commitment.
I also extend my gratitude to our host country – Kenya – for
its continuing hospitality which delegates to the Council have learnt
to appreciate for many years. We were greatly honoured by the presence
of the President of the Republic of Kenya, His Excellency Mwai Kibaki,
and by the Assistant Minister for Environment, and Noble Laureate, the
Honourable Wangari Maathai at the opening session. It was in their presence
that I affirmed Kenya’s partnership with UN-HABITAT in a joint effort
to improve the lives of slum dwellers in Kenya. I look forward to working
with our host country and the Government of Kenya to meet our commitments.
Mr. President,
I would like to reiterate my gratitude to the Committee of Permanent Representatives
in Nairobi, under the capable chairmanship of Ambassador Wojciech Jasinski
of Poland. They have also provided consistent and sound guidance to the
Secretariat in preparing for the range of issues, which were the subject
of debate during the last five days. Moreover, we owe them our thanks
for the support they have demonstrated to the programme of work of UN-HABITAT.
In line with a long-standing practice, our partners in the United Nations
system of organizations and agencies, especially the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), have supported us during this session of the council,
for which we are very grateful. My special thanks go to Dr. Klaus Toepfer,
Executive Director of UNEP and Director-General of the United Nations
Office at Nairobi for his personal support and friendship.
Mr. President,
I would like to thank the media representatives who have followed this
Governing Council session with great interest and who have done their
best in conveying the messages of this twentieth session to the outside
world. As usual, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin has done a superb job
in keeping us all up-to-date on the substantive negotiations and I wish
to thank their hard working reporters who have reflected our proceedings
with speed, fairness and accuracy.
My thanks go equally to the staff of the Conference Services at UNON,
the interpreters and translators and all those who have been kept busy
with processing documents and ensuring the logistics of this conference.
And of course my thanks are extended to my own staff in the UN-HABITAT
who ensured a professional level of Secretariat services to the deliberations
in the Plenary, in the Committee of the Whole and in the Drafting Committee
on the substantive issues of this Council.
Here, I must stop and direct your attention to my friend and colleague,
Mr. Joe Mungai, the Secretary to this Governing Council and Chief of External
Relations and Inter-Agency Affairs. This will be Joe’s last Governing
Council meeting as he will be retiring shortly. Joe holds a bachelors
degree in economics from the University of Dar-es-Salaam and a masters
degree in international economics and international relations from Columbia
University in New York City. A carrier diplomat, Joe joined the secretariat
in 1978 and has been our indispensable liaison with the diplomatic community.
An intellectual and visionary thinker, I’m sure all would join me
in wishing him a most well-earned retirement. I have now to com to terms
of organizing the next Governing Council without the steady fast cool
hand of Joe.
Mr. President,
I must also inform the Governing Council that another collegue and steady
hand, albeit behind the scenes, will soon be leaving us. This is Jay Moor,
my Special Advisor on Policy and Planning. Jay hails from Minnesota, USA.
After graduating with a PhD in Urban Planning at the University of Washington,
in Seattle, he worked in the Governor’s office in Alaska for 13
years. He then joined the Centre for Housing, Building and Planning at
UNDESA and worked on their field projects in Korea and the then Yugoslavia,
now Serbia-Montenegro. Jay continued in field projects until 1993 when
he joined the Secretariat for Habitat II. A visionary thinker and prolific
writer, Jay provided the first draft of the Habitat Agenda. It was Ambassador
Engfelt of Sweden, one of the chief negotiators at Habitat II and one
of the chief organizers of the 1972 Stockholm conference on the Human
Environment, who remarked and I quote “Jay is the Father of the
Habitat Agenda”.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if from now on my speeches become boring and uninspiring,
you now know my problem. We shall all miss Jay – particularly your
quality to work calmly behind the scene.
Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates,
I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the Governing Council for its
approval of the work programme and budget for 2006-2007. As requested
in resolution L1, I shall develop an overarching mobilization strategy
to increase non-earmarked contributions and the donor base for presentation
to the GC 21.
In the context of the Secretary General’s report on his new proposals
for the reform of the UN Secretariat, I welcome your decision requesting
me to invite the OIOS to undertake a review of the current administrative
arrangements at UN-HABITAT, including its relationship with the United
Nations Office at Nairobi to enable both organizations to function more
effectively and efficiently.
Last, but certainly not least, I would take this opportunity, once again,
to thank all the governments and partners that have continued so generously
their financial support. My special thanks go to the Governments of Germany
and Sweden and to the private firm, BASF, each of which announced financial
contributions to UN-HABITAT during this twentieth session of the Governing
Council.
Mr. President, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me now to turn to some of the highlights of this week’s deliberations
and dialogues, the results of which provide UN-HABITAT and our partners
with further guidance on the road toward cities without slums.
Judging from the lively discussions in the dialogue sessions on civil
society, disasters, decentralization and finance, the dialogue process
is more invigorated than at any time in the past.
Wednesday’s plenary dialogue on decentralization and strengthening
local authorities, for example, discussed the draft guidelines on decentralization
that were prepared by the Advisory Group of Experts on Decentralization
(AGRED), which I established following resolution 19/12. Participants
agreed that the local is the most effective level of service delivery
and therefore decentralization is vital to the development process. It
was felt that issues, such as revenue equalization, are determined through
a continuing dialogue between central government and local authority associations.
Most germane to our own monitoring and evaluation functions, participants
in this dialogue agreed that further research is needed to evaluate central-local
models of fiscal relations in order to improve existing systems.
Mr. President,
The essence of your work here this week is found within the texts of the
various resolutions, which delegates painstakingly negotiated and delivered
in time for this last meeting. I gratefully acknowledge the council’s
decision to strengthen the Slum upgrading Facility of the United Nations
Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation. You have welcomed the priority
accorded to the Slum Upgrading Facility as an essential measure for slum
improvement and you have agreed that the Facility should be capitalized
to a minimum level of US$30 million.
I am also grateful that you have emphasized the importance of UN-HABITAT
being given the focal point role in following-up human settlements issues
arising from CSD13. This is entirely congruent with our role as focal
point for implementation of the Habitat Agenda and for monitoring Target
11 of the Millennium Development Goals.
The council has agreed on the importance of the World Urban Forum as a
primary opportunity to expand the human settlements agenda and have requested
special financial support for the next World Urban Forum which will be
hosted by the Government of Canada in the city of Vancouver in 2006. I
look forward to seeing you all there and would like to thank the Hon.
Joe Fontana and the Government of Canada for the grand preparations that
have already started for this premier event on the Habitat agenda.
In another resolution, you have acknowledged the importance of civic values
as components of urban governance and the need to commence a process of
reflection on these values, using the third World Urban Forum as an important
mechanism to facilitate this.
You have, in that same resolution, requested me, in cooperation with Governments
and other Habitat Agenda partners, to develop tool kits and recommendations
for local authorities and civil society, with a view to improving access
to relevant information, and to consider modalities for enhancing civic
and democratic values, taking into account the laws and culture of each
country.
I am further gratified that the council has (a) affirmed the strategic
UN-HABITAT role, and the importance of sustainable relief interventions,
in post conflict and man-made disasters, (b) reconfirmed the importance
of women’s land property rights to ensure gender equality in human
settlements, and (c) endorsed the positive independent evaluation of our
campaigns and the proposals to strengthen them, recognizing the centrality
of the campaigns in UN-HABITAT activities. Each of these resolutions signals
your confidence in our strategic direction in several substantive areas.
Distinguished Delegates,
I am most appreciative of your endorsement of the Habitat Programme Managers
and your agreement that the future deployment of HPMs will be addressed
as part of the medium term strategic and institutional plan, to be developed
for the twenty-first session of the Governing Council. In line with your
resolution, I shall undertake an independent strategic evaluation of the
performance and impact of HPMs before the end of 2006. A report on this
evaluation shall be presented to the Governing Council at its twenty-first
session. I am confident that the evaluation will confirm my conviction
that country-level and local action is a cost-effective way to promote
global goals.
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates,
I am now most delighted to acknowledge the initiative by several countries,
and announced by the representative of Norway, to launch a high-level
commission on the legal empowerment of the poor. Such an initiative would
resonate with the General Assembly directive in its resolution A/69/484
that [and I quote] “Encourages Governments to support the UN-Habitat
… [in] promoting administration of land and property rights, in
accordance with national circumstances, and enhancing access to affordable
credit by the urban poor.” I can say that UN-HABITAT would be pleased
to interact with Member States in the process of creating such a commission
and delivering its mandate.
Mr. President,
I would now like to take this opportunity to announce that the official
celebration of World Habitat Day 2005 will take place in Indonesia on
the customary first Monday of October. The theme this year is, “The
Millennium Development Goals and the City,” and it is my intention
to use this theme and World Habitat Day as a venue to launch an integrated
slum upgrading and disaster mitigation programme in Indonesia.
May I also remind you all that on World Habitat Day, the Habitat Scroll
of Honour award, the most prestigious award in our field, will be presented
to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions
in shelter and human settlements. I welcome nominations for the Habitat
Scroll of Honour awards for 2005. The submission guidelines are included
in the World Habitat Day 2005 brochure distributed to delegates during
the Governing Council and can also be found on UN-HABITAT's website. Deadline
for submissions is 15 August 2005.
Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The decisions of this council have reaffirmed the vision of UN-HABITAT
and its role in meeting the Millennium Development targets and the implementation
of the Habitat Agenda. I thank you for the support of proposals to further
strengthen UN Habitat and to equip us better for our significant role
in improving the lives of millions of slum dwellers around the world.
Let me also once again thank all of you who have continued to support
UN-HABITAT financially. I often say, and repeat again that this organisation
cannot serve you well as long as it remains underfunded. I appeal to you
to support us with the resources for the budget you have approved so that
we can stick to the priorities you have set. I will not tire in my efforts
to mobilize resources for the work you want us to do. I hope you will
also not tire in your efforts to support us.
I wish to assure you that I will continue focusing my attention on the
implementation of the resolutions of this Governing Council, guided by
your support and direction, and assisted by the Committee of Permanent
Representatives and the Bureau of the Governing Council.
I do believe that collectively, we can all work together in meeting the
challenge of rapid urbanization, the growing urbanization of poverty and
build together a world where everyone has secure shelter with the promise
of a life of dignity, good health, happiness and hope. This governing
Council meeting has provided us with many important decisions and the
guidance to meet all challenges.
I thank you all once again for your active participation and support.
Kwaheri. Goodbye. I wish you a safe journey home.
|
