The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 43/181 of 20 December 1988, in which it adopted the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000 and designated the Commission on Human Settlements as the United Nations intergovernmental body responsible for coordinating, evaluating and monitoring the Strategy,
Recalling also its resolution 47/180 of 22 December 1992 on the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), in which it affirmed that a mid-term review of the implementation of the Global Strategy should be conducted at the Conference,
Noting with satisfaction the recognition of the renewed commitment to the Global Strategy expressed in Agenda 21, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
Bearing in mind the high potential of enabling shelter strategies, which rely on labour-intensive and locally based technologies, to generate employment, demand for local products and savings, and thereby promote economic development and poverty reduction,
Bearing in mind also that enabling strategies typically include activities, such as institutional reform, revision of building codes and regulations and steps aimed at facilitating the access of the poor to critical resources, especially land and finance, which can best be implemented through partnership arrangements among the public, private and community sectors, and the empowerment of the poor and of women,
Convinced that the concept of enabling strategies synthesizes the lessons learned in the development of living conditions since Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held at Vancouver from 31 May to 11 June 1976, and that broad commitment to the implementation of such strategies represents the only viable way of reversing the trend towards deterioration of those conditions,
Recognizing that, since the adoption of the Global Strategy, additional weight has been given to and further insights have been reached into several essential aspects of enabling shelter strategies, such as the requirement for sensitivity to gender considerations, and their potential for contributing to environmentally sustainable development,
Aware that adequate information plays a pivotal role in the proper analysis of the outcome, opportunities and constraints of current housing processes, and in assessing the impact of policies, strategies and programmes thereon,
Having considered the third report of the Commission on Human Settlements on the implementation of the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000,
Noting with satisfaction that a number of Governments have initiated or reformulated their national shelter strategies based on the principle of enabling all actors in the shelter sector, that many other Governments have initiated action on particular components of a national shelter strategy and, furthermore, that a number of Governments have commenced a process for applying selected indicators for monitoring the progress and efficiency of their national shelter strategies,
Noting also with satisfaction the support given to the implementation of the Global Strategy by donor Governments, international bodies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations,
Cognizant of the importance of maintaining the momentum already generated at the national and international levels for the implementation of the Global Strategy,
1. Commends Governments that are already revising, consolidating, formulating or implementing their national shelter strategies based on the enabling principles of the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000;
2. Urges all Governments to adopt and/or strengthen integrated national shelter strategies based on the enabling approach and principles of social, economic and environmental sustainability, and to review them regularly with a view to ensuring the improvement of living conditions, particularly of the rural and urban poor, women and the homeless;
3. Recommends that all Governments adopt a cost-effective system for monitoring the progress of their national shelter strategy and, when assessing the performance of the shelter sector, also adopt, as far as is feasible, taking into account local conditions and sensitivity to gender considerations, guidelines for monitoring national shelter strategies and the application of shelter sector performance indicators, and publicize the guidelines within their countries, particularly on World Habitat Day, and also submit them to the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), in order to enable him to prepare the reports on the implementation of the Global Strategy for consideration by the Commission on Human Settlements;
4. Urges Governments to integrate fully the environmental dimension in the formulation and implementation of national shelter strategies, taking into account the relevant components of Agenda 21;
5. Invites Governments to make voluntary contributions to the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation in order to facilitate the implementation and monitoring of the Global Strategy;
6. Urges the international community to strengthen its support for national efforts to formulate and implement enabling shelter strategies in developing countries, as recommended in Agenda 21;
7. Urges the organizations of the United Nations system, particularly the United Nations Development Programme, and other multilateral and bilateral agencies to provide increased financial and other support to Governments on the basis of an approach consistent with the Global Strategy for the implementation of the Plan of Action for the Global Strategy;
8. Adopts the Plan of Action for 1994-1995 for the implementation of the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, and urges all Governments, relevant United Nations and private sector organizations and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to prepare and implement their specific plans of action.
86th plenary meeting
21 December 1993
