Forty-ninth session
Agenda item 88 (g)
RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 47/180 of 22 December 1992, by which
it decided to convene the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements
(Habitat II) from 3 to 14 June 1996, and to establish both a preparatory
committee and an ad hoc secretariat for the Conference,
Reiterating its gratitude to the Government of Turkey for
offering to act as host to the Conference, which is to be held
at Istanbul,
Reaffirming the importance for Habitat II, inter alia,
of the principles contained in the Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development, 1/ and the objectives, basis for action, activities
and means of implementation of those activities, set out in chapter
7 of Agenda 21 entitled "Promoting sustainable human settlements
development", and in relevant provisions of chapter 28, entitled
"Local authorities' initiatives in support of Agenda 21",
2/
Noting with interest the progress made so far in the preparations
for the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat
II), as described in the reports of the Preparatory Committee
for the Conference on its organizational session 3/ and its first
session, 4/ as well as in the report of the Secretary-General
on the progress of work of the Preparatory Committee and the ad
hoc secretariat for the Conference, 5/
Also noting with interest the report of the Commission
on Human Settlements on its fourteenth session, 6/
Taking note of the recommendations relevant to human settlements
contained in the report of the Commission on Sustainable Development
at its second session, 7/
Noting with concern that the resources currently available
to the secretariat for the Conference, through voluntary contributions,
among other sources, including redeployment of resources from
the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), remain
insufficient to support the preparatory process for the Conference
on the scale envisaged by the General Assembly in resolution 47/180,
in particular with respect to the ability of the secretariat to
provide assistance to developing countries and other States requiring
such assistance in their national preparatory efforts for the
Conference,
1. Takes note of the reports of the Preparatory Committee
for the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat
II) on its organizational session, held at United Nations Headquarters
from 3 to 5 March 1993 3/ and its first substantive session, held
at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 11 to 22 April 1994,
4/ and endorses the decisions contained therein;
2. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General
concerning progress in the preparations for the Conference; 5/
3. Approves the recommendation contained in decision I/1
of the Preparatory Committee that a third substantive session
of the Preparatory Committee, of relatively short duration, be
held at United Nations Headquarters early in 1996 to complete
the preparatory work for the Conference; 8/
4. Welcomes the recommendations made by the Preparatory
Committee in its decision I/2 on preparations at the country,
regional and global levels, on the draft statement of principles
and commitments and on the draft global plan of action, which
is to be structured around the two main themes of the Conference:
"Adequate shelter for all" and "Sustainable human
settlements development in an urbanizing world"; 8/
5. Notes with interest the call by the Secretary-General
of the United Nations to give the Conference the dimensions of
a "city summit", and reaffirms its decision that the
Conference should be held at the highest possible level of participation;
9/
6. Recommends that the global plan of action of the United
Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) take into
account the outcome of all relevant United Nations global conferences;
7. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all relevant
organs, organizations, agencies and programmes intensify their
efforts and cooperate closely to prepare for the Conference;
8. Recommends that the inclusion of sustainable human settlements
issues, as contained in chapter 7 of Agenda 21, be given appropriate
attention within the context of an agenda for development, which
is being prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 47/181
of 22 December 1992 and 48/166 of 21 December 1993, and reaffirms
that the overall human settlements objective is to improve the
social, economic and environmental quality of human settlements
and the living and working environments of all people, in particular
the urban and rural poor;
9. Expresses its sincere appreciation to those States and
organizations that have made or pledged financial or other contributions
in support of the preparatory activities for the Conference, and
requests the Secretary-General of the Conference to continue to
make every effort to raise the extrabudgetary resources required
for Conference activities and preparations;
10. Renews its appeal to all Governments, especially those
of the developed countries and others in a position to do so,
and to international and regional financial institutions, to contribute
substantially to the voluntary funds established by the General
Assembly in resolution 47/180 for the purpose of financing preparatory
activities for the Conference and of supporting developing countries,
in particular the least developed among them, in participating
fully and effectively in the Conference and its preparatory process;
11. Requests that the work of the Preparatory Committee
and the ad hoc secretariat of Habitat II should continue to be
funded within existing United Nations budgetary resources to ensure
that the Conference will be treated adequately with respect to
other global international United Nations conferences;
12. Takes note of the contributions of the United Nations
organizations, agencies and programmes and other relevant organizations
active in the field of human settlements to the work of the Preparatory
Committee in the discharge of its mandate and invites them to
mobilize financial resources to assist developing countries, at
their request, in the preparation of their national reports;
13. Encourages all relevant interested non-governmental
organizations, particularly those from developing countries, to
participate in, and contribute to the Conference and its preparatory
process, on the basis of procedures followed at recent United
Nations conferences;
14. Also encourages the above-mentioned organizations to
contribute fully to increasing world awareness of the problems
and potential of human settlements as important inputs to social
progress and economic growth, and world leaders to commit themselves
to making cities, towns and villages in their countries healthy,
safe, just and sustainable;
15. Requests the regional commissions to include in their
programme of activities for 1995 an item on the preparations for
the Conference, with particular emphasis on preparations in their
respective regions, and to submit a report on those preparations
to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session;
16. Calls upon all States to encourage the broad-based
participation of local authorities and all relevant actors, including
the scientific community, industry, trade unions, non-governmental
organizations and the private sector, in the national, regional
and international preparatory process and to encourage a wide
exchange of information and experience in this respect, in particular
on the programmes of work and activities of national committees;
17. Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations,
in consultation with the Secretary-General of the Conference,
to report to the General Assembly at its fiftieth session on the
progress made in the preparations for the Conference, including
the implementation of the present resolution;
18. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its
fiftieth session, under the agenda item "Sustainable development
and international economic cooperation", the sub-item entitled
"United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat
II)".
92nd plenary meeting
19 December 1994
1/ Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992 (A/CONF.151/26/Rev.1
(Vol. I and Vol. I/Corr.1, Vol. II, Vol. III and Vol. III/Corr.1))
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigenda),
vol. I: Resolutions Adopted by the Conference, resolution 1, annex
I.
2/ Ibid., annex II. 95-76927
3/ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-eighth
Session, Supplement No. 37 (A/48/37).
4/ Ibid., Forty-ninth Session, Supplement No. 37 (A/49/37).
5/ See A/49/272.
6/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-eighth Session,
Supplement No. 8 (A/48/8).
7/ See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1994,
Supplement No. 13 (E/1994/33).
8/ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-ninth Session,
Supplement No. 37 (A/49/37), annex I.
9/ Resolution 47/180, para. 1. .