April 18, 1996
(DRAFT WORKING PAPER)
(We studied the document and are discussing at caucus meetings to determine which language we will endorse. This is just the start of that work. Our current recommended changes are in bold language without parentheses. The parenthetical bold comments are simply comments to help us through the document. We also compared similar language suggested by other countries and organizations.)
II. GOALS AND PRINCIPLES
13. (Note: There is some redundant language here.) Civil, ethnic and religious strife, nuclear armament, armed conflicts, alien and colonial domination, foreign occupation, international economic imbalance, coercive economic measures, poverty, organized crime, and terrorism in all its forms are destructive to sustainable human settlement development and should therefore be renounced by all States. We believe that attaining these goals will promote a world more stable and free from injustice and conflict. Suggestion: Eliminate next sentence (redundant): Civil, ethnic and religious strife, violations of human rights, armed conflicts, terrorism, foreign aggression or occupation are destructive to human settlements and should therefore be renounced by all States.
The rest of the paragraph is good.
Annex to Part III
A. Adequate Shelter for all
(p. 29 of agenda)
G77 & China proposal reads: 25 (h) Promoting shelter and basic services for the homelss, including street children, internally displaced persons, migrants, indigenous groups with their traditional habitat, as well as people living in poverty, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and victims of natural and human-made disasters and not to consider their temporary shelters as permanent human settlements;
Canada's proposal reads: 25 (h) Promoting shelter and basic services for disadvantaged persons such as the homeless, survivors of family violence, refugees, other displaced persons in need of international protection, internally displaced persons, indigenous people and victims of natural and human-made disasters as well as persons with disabilities and the aged who have special needs for safe, flexible and accessible housing.
U.S. proposal reads (25h) promoting shelter and basic services for the homeless, for women and children leaving abusive and violent situations, refugees, internally displaced, migrants, indigenous people and victims of natural and human-made disasters.
UNICEF proposal (25h) bis. ensuring provision and access to adequate shelter and protection for children in especially difficult circumstances: those without families, street children, the displaced and refugees, tribal peoples and their children.
UNHCR (25h) homeless, refugees, returnees
25 bis. Support this paragraph
Enhanced international support should continue to be provided to refugees in order to meet their needs, and to assist in assuring them a just, durable solution in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and international law, noting that sustainable human settlements can only be established for them on their land of origin.
27 (f bis). G77 + China's proposal:
Protecting and maintaining the legal status, demographic composition and physical and social characteristics of cities and the localities under foreign occupation,especially those of holy places and cultural and historical significance, in accordance with international humanitarian law and relevant UN resolutions
UNESCO 27 (I) ...human made disasters as well as international and civil wars
D. Financing shelter and human settlements
31. We further commit ourselves to the objectives of:
(h) Exploring new ways of generating new public and private financial resources, inter alis through the appropriate reduction of excessive military expenditures including global military expenditures and the arms trade, and investments for arms productionand acquisition, taking into consideration national security requirements, so as to allow possible allocation of additional funds for social and economic development. (Social Summit, Commit 9g)
E. International Cooperation
32. We commit ourselves - in the interests of international peace, security, justice and stability - to enhancing international cooperation and partnerships which will assist in the implementation of the national and the global plans of action and the attainment of the goals of the Habitat Agenda, by contributing to and participating in multilateral, regional and bilateral cooperation programmes and institutional arrangements and technical and financial assistance programmes; by the exchange of appropriate technology; by the collection, analysis and dissemination of information about shelter and human settlements, and by international networking.]
Croatia
32. ... financial assistance programmes, in particular to assist the post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts; . . .
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E. International Cooperation
33. We further commit ourselves to the objectives of:
(d) Supporting UN programmes designed for early intervention to diffuse conflict
U. S. suggestion:
38. Unemployment, rapid population growth, . . .and violations of human rights, . . .
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B. Adequate shelter for all
3. Shelter delivery systems
(b) Ensuring access to land
55. Access to land is a strategic prerequisite to the provision of adequate shelter for all. It is also a precondition for breaking the vicious cycle of poverty. . . . Governments at all appropriate levels, including local authorities, should strive to overcome all possible obstacles which may hamper equitable access to land, including a concerted, well-funded effort to clear land of landmines, unexploded ordinance, and hazardous pollution, such as chemical, biological and nuclear, . . .
56. To ensure an adequate supply of serviceable land, Governments at the appropriate levels should
(o) Provide funding and labor to effect the earliest possible removal of all anti-personnel landmines, stop nuclear production, testing, and use, and clear land of chemical, biological and nuclear pollutants.
58. (a) Address the cultural, ethnic and religious causes that result in the creation of barriers that lead to segregation and exclusion, through the means of education and training for non-violent conflict resolution (Social Summit - Commit 6)
p. 81
4. Vulnerable groups
72. . . . [Depending on local conditions in the housing sector, and the availability of legal protections guaranteeing equal access to resources and opportunities, vulnerable individuals come from disadvantaged groups, such as people living in poverty, . .. [documented] migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, . . .
72 ter. [Inadequate shelter or lack of shelter contributes to a loss of dignity and health in the lives of refugees.] . . .
89 [(f bis) Enhance community awareness of issues facing homeless and refugee women, especially those issues related to physical and sexual abuse, and design appropriate community responses;]
91 (c) Establish programmes designed to improve the skills of local leadership in group facilitation, conflict resolution and intervention;
(e) Provide accessible, affordable, impartial, prompt and humane local systems of justice by, interalia, facilitating and strengthening, where appropriate, existing traditional institutions and procedures for the resolution of disputes and conflicts;
95 bis. Many environmental contaminants, such as radioactive materials and persistent organic pollutants, work their way into the food chain and eventually into human beings, thus compromising the health of present and future generations.
97 [(g) Undertake environmental impact assessments for development plans and projects, including military production and operations, that may significantly affect the quality of the environment.
98. (a) Promote practices and consumption patterns that will conserve and protect freshwater and saltwater resources and top soil, as well as air and soil quality, such as halting the production, testing, and use of nuclear weapons.
[(c) Reduce the degradation of the marine environment emanating from land-based activities, including municipal, industrial, military, and agricultural wastes and run-off, which have a pernicious impact on the most productive areas of the marine environment;
99 bis. In seeking to prevent transboundary pollution and minimize its impacts on human settlements when it does occur, Governments should cooperate to develop appropriate mechanisms for assessing the environmental impact of proposed [projects and activities including military] that are likely ....
124. Support language concerning armed conflicts
[126 bis.) As a consequence of the development and testing of nuclear weapons, there is a need for the safe resettlement of displaced populations and the restoration of economic activity to the affected areas, especially for small island developing States and coastal regions. Noting the special responsibility towards those people of the former United Nations Trust Territories who have been adversely affected as a result of the nuclear-weapons tests conducted during the period of the Trusteeship, all Governments and international organizations that have expertise in the field of cleanup and disposal of radioactive contaminants should consider giving appropriate assistance as may be required for remedial purposes in areas affected by radioactive contamination from nuclear weapons programmes.]
128. (g) Identify and support approaches to cope with the urgent shelter requirements of returnees and internally displaced persons;
(i) support work for immediate removal of anti-personnel land mines following the cessation of armed conflict;
[150. (n) Recognizing the negative effect of excessive military expenditures, trade in arms, specially of those arms that are particularly injurious or have indiscriminate effects, and excessive investment for arms production and acquisition.
(aa) Providing assistance for shelter and human settlement development activities in favour of people living in poverty, particularly women, and vulnerable groups, such as refugees, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, street children, migrants and the homeless through specific targeted grants;
(bb) Promoting assistance for shelter and human settlement activities in favor of vulnerable groups, such as refugees and internally displaced persons, documented migrants and the homeless through specific targeted grants and other assistance programmes;
UNESCO (p. 196)
150. (b) Promote assistance for shelter and human settlement activities in favour of vulnerable groups, such as refugees and internally displaced persons, documented migrants and the homless through specific targeted grants;
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U.S. (p. 200)
150 (g) Recognize the negative effect of excessive military expenditures, trade in arms, especially of those arms that are particularly injurious or have indiscriminate effects, and excessive investment for arms production and acquisition. (WSSD, ch. 4, para 70)
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UNICEF (p. 204)
152 (a. bis) Establish support and pressure for institutionalized non-violent conflict resolution and for peace-building processes;
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Group of 77 + China (p.216)
150 (b) Providing assistance for shelter and human settlements development activities in favor of people living in poverty, particularly women, and vulnerable groups, such as refugees, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, street children, migrants, and the homeless through specific targeted grants or soft loans;
Mission Statement
Peace Caucus' Recommended Changes to the Habitat II Agenda from a Peace Perspective
Landmines:"How Many More Will It Take?"