GA/EF/3348
Sixty-seventh General Assembly
Second Committee
18th & 19th Meetings (AM & PM)
Also Debates Agricultural Development and Food Security
The 2016 habitat world summit — Habitat III — should reinvigorate, at the highest political level, the global commitment to sustainable urban development through the accelerated implementation of a new “Urban Agenda for the 21st Century”, the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) was told today.
Dr. Joan Clos, the Under Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) told delegations that the Summit, which was called for by the General Assembly last year, should produce a focused, political outcome document with clear, measurable and time-bound goals, which were aligned to the sustainable development goals based on the outcome document of Rio+20 and also aligned to the post-2015 United Nations development agenda.
As the Committee began its consideration of issues relating to UN-Habitat, Dr. Clos introduced two reports of the Secretary-General on the Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) and strengthening of UN-Habitat, which contains recommendations on preparations for the Conference, and one on the coordinated implementation of the Habitat Agenda. He underscored that the preparatory process leading up to the “World Summit on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development” (Habitat III) should be inclusive of all relevant stakeholders, especially local authorities and other Habitat agenda partners.
Further, he recommended the Conference be organized at the highest possible level, which would include the participation of Heads of State and Government. He further proposed that its theme be “Sustainable Urban Development: the Future of Urbanization”. It was important not to underestimate communication advances, as social media was playing an increasing role in getting the message out, he said, highlighting that the use of Facebook and Twitter helped reach thousands of people during this year’s Sixth Session of the World Urban Forum.
In closing, after touching on the progress made in organizational reforms, he urged the Committee to expedite discussion and adoption of the resolution on the scope and organization of Habitat III, so the preparatory process could start.
In the discussion that followed, speakers outlined the challenges their countries faced with increasing urbanization and the need for strengthening UN-Habitat. The representative of India said, for example, that by 2050, with developing countries accounting for most of the change, the global urban population was likely to increase to 70 per cent. Over the last few decades, India had seen a massive shift in its population from rural to urban areas, and presently, Indian cities and towns constituted the world’s second largest urban system and contributed to half of the country’s gross domestic product. Within the next two decades, India was poised to have over 590 million people living in urban areas, producing more than 70 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) and accounting for 70 per cent of the new employment created.
That growth in urban economic activity required infrastructure support in the sectors of power, telecom, roads, water supply, sanitation, solid waste management and mass transportation, he said. In that respect, he called on international entities to contribute to further capitalization of the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation, so as to enable UN-Habitat to provide more financial and seed capital support for slum upgrading and prevention.
The representative of Myanmar, speaking on behalf of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said that the world was witnessing the fastest urbanization in history, as 90 per cent of the world’s population in a little over a generation from now would be living in towns and cities. The main challenges facing cities and towns were unemployment, social and economic inequalities, unsustainable energy consumption patterns, urban sprawl, high percentages of people living in slums and high levels of vulnerability to natural disasters. Nowadays, approximately a quarter of urban residents — more than 850 million people — lived in slums, and 90 per cent of the world’s urban expansion was in developing countries. As the proportion of humanity living in the urban environment grows, so too does the need to strengthen the urban focus of efforts to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development, he said.
Also, as the Committee was meeting for the first time this week following the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy on the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States, including major damage and flooding in New York and New Jersey, many delegations said the storm was relevant to today’s agenda item and a reminder of the need to ensure sustainable human settlements in the face of worsening climate change.
The representative of Japan, for example, said her country had experience in disasters, including the devastating earthquake and tsunami last year, and therefore, she believed it to be her country’s duty to share with the international community its experience in disaster reduction and preparation. It was time to include disaster reduction in the mainstream agenda. Underlining the connection between strong disaster resilience and sustainable development, she said that was crucial to building future cities.
She encouraged the international community to “gather our wisdom”, based on experiences and lessons learned from Rio+20, as well as the Habitat II Conference. She hoped that Habitat III would be handled in the most effective and efficient way possible, implementing a more holistic approach and integrating the participation of local and national Governments, as well as the private sector. The agenda should be based on assuring human security.
Speakers included the representative of Algeria (for the Group of 77 developing countries and China), Antigua and Barbuda (for the Caribbean Community), Bangladesh, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, Turkey, China, Singapore, Morocco, Brazil, and Bahrain. A representative of the European Union delegation also spoke.
At its afternoon meeting, the Committee began its consideration of its agenda item on agricultural development and food security. Nikhil Seth, Director, Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the Secretary-General’s related reports. Speakers on that issue included the representatives of Algeria (for the Group of 77 developing countries and China), the Russian Federation, Thailand (for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Nepal, Chile, Belarus, Mexico, Ukraine, Bolivia, Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Singapore, China, Iraq, Canada, Germany and Ireland. A representative of the European Union delegation also spoke in the afternoon.
Due to technicalities caused by the storm, the Committee cancelled its meeting previously scheduled for Friday, 2 November. The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Monday, 5 November, to continue its discussion on agricultural development and food security.