The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 47/180 of 22 December 1992, 49/109 of 19
December 1994 and 50/100 of 20 December 1995 on the convening of the United
Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II),
 
      Recognizing the important role of cities and urban areas in economic,
political, social and cultural development, and stressing the need to address
urgently and comprehensively the deteriorating conditions of shelter and human
settlements in rural and urban areas,
 
      Also recognizing the critical problems common to human settlements in
the developing countries, including poverty, unemployment, social
disintegration, inadequate shelter and lack of proper maintenance of urban and
rural infrastructure and services,
 
      Cognizant of the importance of maintaining the momentum already
generated at the national, regional and international levels for the
implementation of measures designed to alleviate the deteriorating living
conditions of increasing populations in both urban and rural settlements,
 
      Recognizing the interdependence of rural and urban development,
 
      Having considered the report of the United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements (Habitat II) and the report of the Secretary-General on the
implementation of and follow-up to the outcome of the Conference, including
the role played by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements,
 
      Expressing its profound gratitude to the Government and people of Turkey
for their support and for the facilities, staff and services placed at the
disposal of the Conference and the hospitality extended to the participants,
 
      Expressing its appreciation to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, the Secretary-General of the Conference and the staff of the
Secretariat for the effective preparations and services provided for the
Conference,
 
      1.    Takes note with appreciation of the report of the United Nations
Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II);
 
      2.    Endorses the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements and the
Habitat Agenda adopted by the Conference on 14 June 1996;
 
      3.    Acknowledges with appreciation that the Conference provided a
major opportunity to build upon the actions and commitments of previous United
Nations conferences and summits;
 
      4.    Recognizes with satisfaction the active involvement in the
Conference of all States and other relevant actors and the innovative
arrangements introduced at the Conference to forge partnerships among various
actors;
 
      5.    Reaffirms the commitment to the full and progressive realization
of the right to adequate housing, as provided for in international
instruments, and in that context recognizes an obligation by Governments to
enable people to obtain shelter and to protect and improve dwellings and
neighbourhoods;
 
      6.    Recognizes that Governments have the primary responsibility for
the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, and further recognizes that the
international community should support Governments in their efforts, by
promoting international cooperation for, inter alia, the establishment of an
open, equitable, cooperative and mutually beneficial international economic
environment;
 
      7.    Calls upon all Governments, organizations of the United Nations
system and other actors concerned with human settlements and urban management
issues, such as local authorities, relevant intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians, the private sector, trade
unions, academicians and other community groups, to implement fully and
effectively the Habitat Agenda, to give both the Habitat Agenda and the
Istanbul Declaration the widest possible dissemination and, in that context,
to draw attention to the best practices initiative;
 
      8.    Invites all Governments to further encourage and support all
relevant actors of civil society, including the private sector, in the
implementation of and follow-up to the Habitat Agenda by establishing
effective partnerships and by creating an appropriate framework, in accordance
with their respective national conditions, to further facilitate and expedite
such actors in addressing human settlements issues, particularly servicing,
finance mobilization, the provision of adequate shelter and related areas, and
in that process to emphasize the need to integrate the gender perspective;
 
      9.    Reaffirms that, in formulating human settlements policies and
strategies, all countries should recognize the interdependence of rural and
urban areas and address the needs of both in a balanced manner;
 
      10.   Calls upon all Governments to establish or strengthen, as
appropriate, participatory mechanisms for the implementation, assessment and
review of and follow-up to the Habitat Agenda and national plans of action;
 
      11.   Emphasizes the need for all countries and for the international
community to promote at all levels an integrated and multidimensional approach
to the implementation of and follow-up to the Habitat Agenda;
 
      12.   Reaffirms that all States should exert concerted efforts to
achieve the implementation of the Habitat Agenda through bilateral,
subregional, regional and international cooperation, as well as through the
United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, and that
States may also convene bilateral, subregional and regional meetings and take
other appropriate initiatives to contribute to the review and assessment of
the progress made in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;
 
      13.   Also reaffirms that the General Assembly and the Economic and
Social Council, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Charter of
the United Nations and relevant resolutions, including Assembly resolutions
48/162 of 20 December 1993 and 50/227 of 24 May 1996, together with the
Commission on Human Settlements, shall constitute a three-tiered
intergovernmental mechanism to oversee the coordination of activities for the
implementation of the Habitat Agenda;
 
      14.   Recommends that, at its special session to be convened from 23 to
27 June 1997 for the purpose of an overall review and appraisal of Agenda 21,
the Assembly give due attention to the issue of human settlements in the
context of sustainable development;
 
      15.   Reaffirms that the General Assembly should consider holding a
special session in the year 2001 for an overall review and appraisal of the
implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human
Settlements (Habitat II), including the identification of obstacles,
considering further actions and initiatives, and that a decision on this
matter should be taken at its fifty-second session;
 
      16.   Also reaffirms that the Economic and Social Council may convene
meetings of high-level representatives to promote international dialogue on
the critical issues pertaining to adequate shelter for all and sustainable
human settlements development, as well as on policies for addressing them
through international cooperation, and in this context, the Council may
consider dedicating one high-level segment before the year 2001 to human
settlements and the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, with the active
involvement and participation of, inter alia, the specialized agencies,
including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund;
 
      17.   Emphasizes that the General Assembly and the Economic and Social
Council, in accordance with their respective mandates, should review and
strengthen the mandate of the Commission on Human Settlements, taking into
account the Habitat Agenda, as well as the need for synergy with related
commissions and conference follow-ups and for a system-wide approach to its
implementation;
 
      18.   Requests the Commission on Human Settlements at its forthcoming
session, in 1997, to review its programme of work in order to ensure an
effective implementation of and follow-up to the outcome of the Conference, in
a manner consistent with the functions and contributions of other relevant
organs of the United Nations system, and make recommendations thereon to the
Economic and Social Council within the framework of the review of the
activities of its subsidiary bodies;
 
      19.   Invites the Secretary-General to undertake, in the light of the
review of the mandate of the Commission on Human Settlements, a comprehensive
and in- depth assessment of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
with a view to its revitalization, to present terms of reference and a
preliminary report on this assessment for the consideration of the Commission
at its sixteenth session and to make a final report to the General Assembly at
its fifty-second session;
 
      20.   Requests the Secretary-General, in accordance with paragraph 229
of the Habitat Agenda and in consultation with the Commission on Human
Settlements, to ensure more effective functioning of the Centre by, inter
alia, providing sufficient human and financial resources within the regular
budget of the United Nations;
 
      21.   Requests the Commission on Human Settlements to review, at its
sixteenth session, its working methods in order to involve in its work the
representatives of local authorities or international associations of local
authorities, as appropriate, and the relevant actors of civil society,
particularly the private sector and non-governmental organizations, in the
field of adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements
development, taking into account the rules of procedure of the Commission on
Human Settlements and the relevant provisions of Economic and Social Council
resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996;
 
      22.   Decides that the Commission on Human Settlements, as a standing
committee of the Economic and Social Council, should have a central role in
monitoring, within the United Nations system, the implementation of the
Habitat Agenda and advising the Council thereon;
 
      23.   Recommends that the Economic and Social Council, in the context of
the overall review process of its subsidiary bodies, and within the context of
the follow-up to resolution 50/227, should review the periodicity of the
meetings of the Commission on Human Settlements, taking into account the need
for full and effective implementation of the Habitat Agenda;
 
      24.   Reaffirms that the Commission on Human Settlements, in developing
its work programme, should examine the Habitat Agenda and consider how to
integrate into its programme of work the follow-up to the United Nations
Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), and should consider how it could
further develop its catalytic role in promoting adequate shelter for all and
sustainable human settlements development;
 
      25.   Also reaffirms that the United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements shall be designated as a focal point for the implementation of the
Habitat Agenda;
 
      26.   Requests the Secretary-General to include the implementation of
the Habitat Agenda in the mandates of the existing inter-agency task forces of
the Administrative Committee on Coordination to facilitate an integrated and
coordinated implementation of the Habitat Agenda;
 
      27.   Acknowledges the importance of the regional and subregional
activities undertaken during the preparations for the Conference, including
the regional strategies, plans and declarations adopted as part of the
preparatory process, and invites the regional commissions, other regional and
subregional organizations and the regional development banks to examine the
results of the Conference within their respective mandates, with a view to
identifying the actions to be taken at the regional and subregional levels for
the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;
 
      28.   Emphasizes that the General Assembly and the Economic and Social
Council should, where appropriate, promote subregional and regional
cooperation in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda, that the regional
commissions, within their mandates and in cooperation with regional
intergovernmental organizations and banks, could consider convening high-level
meetings to review progress made in implementing the outcome of Habitat II,
exchange views on their respective experiences, particularly on best
practices, and adopt appropriate measures, that such meetings could involve,
as appropriate, the participation of the principal financial and technical
institutions, and that the regional commissions should report to the Council
on the outcome of such meetings;
 
      29.   Requests all the relevant United Nations organizations and
specialized agencies to identify the specific actions that they will
undertake, within their mandates, towards the implementation of the Habitat
Agenda, and in that context invites them to inform the Administrative
Committee on Coordination of their actions and to report to the General
Assembly at its fifty-second session, through the Economic and Social Council
at its substantive session of 1997, on their specific plans and activities;
 
      30.   Invites the Bretton Woods institutions to be actively involved in
the implementation of and follow-up to the outcome of the Conference, and to
enhance their cooperation with the United Nations system for that purpose;
 
      31.   Reaffirms that the demand for shelter and infrastructural services
in human settlements is continuously increasing and that communities and
countries, especially developing countries, have difficulty in mobilizing
adequate financial resources to meet the rapidly rising costs of shelter,
services and physical infrastructure, and reaffirms further that new and
additional financial resources from various sources are necessary to achieve
the goals of adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements
development in an urbanizing world and that existing resources available to
developing countries - public, private, multilateral, bilateral, domestic and
external - need to be enhanced through appropriate and flexible mechanisms and
economic instruments to support adequate shelter and sustainable human
settlements development;
 
      32.   Stresses that the full and effective implementation of the Habitat
Agenda, in particular in all developing countries, especially those in Africa
and the least developed countries, will require the mobilization of additional
financial resources from various sources at the national and international
levels and more effective development cooperation in order to promote
assistance for shelter and human settlements activities;
 
      33.   Invites all Governments and the international community to
consider the role of the United Nations Habitat and Human Settlements
Foundation in the follow-up to the Habitat Agenda and to consider the scope
for providing further support for the Foundation in its activities, taking
into account the need to continue to improve its effectiveness;
 
      34.   Requests the programmes and funds of the United Nations system and
the regional commissions, consistent with their respective mandates, to
support fully the effective implementation of the Habitat Agenda, particularly
at the field level, as appropriate;
 
      35.   Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General
Assembly at its fifty-second session, through the Economic and Social Council,
on the implementation of the present resolution;
 
      36.   Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second
session a sub-item entitled "Implementation of the outcome of the United
Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II)".