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Mauritius, 17 January 2005: At the recently concluded
International meeting on Small Island Development States, UN-HABITAT tabled
the problems and possibilities of managing sustainable human settlements
development in these vulnerable habitats.
Small island developing states are known to suffer from particular disadvantages
associated with their small size, marginalisation, remoteness and vulnerability
to natural disasters. Climate change will increasingly effect the most
vulnerable states exacerbating poverty by reducing coastal settlement
areas and affecting livelihoods.
These factors render the human settlements of SIDS susceptible to forces
outside their control, as the dramatic, tragic and unprecedented cataclysm
of the recent earthquake and Tsunami has demonstrated. Therefore, one
of the key challenges facing SIDS is to develop disaster preparedness
and rapid response.
However, SIDS are also beginning to face many new challenges including
rapid urbanisation. The idyllic image of small islands is being replaced
by highly concentrated populations living in towns and cities. In the
decade since the adoption of the Barbados Programme of Action, (BPoA),
SIDS have become increasingly urban. Of the 52 million living in SIDS,
30 million, about 58% live in urban areas. Furthermore, 8 million people,
about 25% now live in slums or squatter settlements.
In other words, most small island states are confronting problems of
urban planning and how best to manage their human settlements. There is
an increasing need for better urban governance to manage the many economic
changes that are taking place. This is especially true, if the urban poor
are going to benefit by the possibilities offered by globalisation.
The state of urban settlements is also closely linked to the ability
to cope with water supply and sanitation for the poor and the marginalised
in SIDS. Water supply for human settlements in SIDS has been a persistent
problem. For example, in many countries up to 50% of the urban water supply
is being wasted or is unaccounted for. In many places the coverage of
adequate sanitation is well below the target set by the Millennium Development
Goal of 50% of the population.
Sustainable Human Settlements Development
Confronted by these challenges, UN-HABITAT has been actively working to
ensure the sustainable human settlements development of SIDS. For example,
following the adoption of the BPoA, a Caribbean Human Settlements Programme
was initiated to build the capacity of local authorities to cope with
the challenges confronting their societies.
As a part of this programme, activities in many cities of the Caribbean
are being carried out. For example, under Localising Agenda 21, UN-HABITAT
has been working in Cuba on building the capacity of local authorities
including disaster preparedness. This showed results during hurricane
Ivan, which caused less damage to property and human lives due to the
rapid response of the local authorities.
Similar programmes and projects are being replicated in Haiti, Trinidad
and Tobago. In many cases the local authorities are also being encouraged
to adopt pro-poor urban governance, this includes ways on dealing with
HIV/AIDS.
UN-HABITAT has developed a Pacific Urban Strategy in consultation with
many partner agencies. For example, in Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, the
Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, UN-HABITAT has been working with the governments
to rationalise their urban development strategies.
In the case of Papua New Guinea, an increasing problem is urban safety
and security in Port Moresby. This has lead to the establishment of a
safer cities programme that encourages communities and all stakeholders
to work together to prevent crime.
UN-HABITAT Disaster Management Programme has initiated a new programme
integrating vulnerability reduction and adaptation planning to climate
change in seven island countries: Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar,
Maldives, Cape Verde and Sao Tome & Principe. The aim of this is to
create regional networks for the sharing of information, knowledge and
best practices on disaster management.
Here in Mauritius, UN-HABITAT is working with the government to establish
an integrated housing policy to address the increasing problem of substandard,
informal housing due to emerging economic changes. UN-HABITAT is also
working to encourage value based water and sanitation education.This will
be followed up with capacity building on water demand management, sector
reforms and public-private participation, off-site sanitation systems
and innovative waste treatment technology.
Most recently, UN-Habitat has initiated a rapid response mechanism aimed
at helping the survivors of the Tsumani to rebuild their lives. Under
the flash appeal, launched by the UN, UN-HABITAT is focusing on immediate
shelter and infrastructure reconstruction programmes in the affected areas.
In Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Somalia, UN-HABITAT as a member of the Executive
Committee for Humanitarian Affairs and sister agencies of the United Nations
to bridge the gap between humanitarian relief and longer term human settlements
development by combining technical expertise and human resources on the
ground.
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