{"id":4556,"date":"2017-05-15T03:24:59","date_gmt":"2017-05-15T03:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/un-habitat-reforms-may-hold-up-new-urban-agenda-implementation\/"},"modified":"2017-05-15T03:24:59","modified_gmt":"2017-05-15T03:24:59","slug":"un-habitat-reforms-may-hold-up-new-urban-agenda-implementation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/un-habitat-reforms-may-hold-up-new-urban-agenda-implementation\/","title":{"rendered":"UN-Habitat reforms may hold up New Urban Agenda implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div id=\"attachment_288663\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" readability=\"34\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT.jpg?resize=1200%2C674&#038;ssl=1\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/plugins\/ventra-lazy-load\/images\/1x1.trans.gif?ssl=1\" data-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT.jpg 1200w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-640x359.jpg 640w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-1062x596.jpg 1062w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-320x180.jpg 320w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-281x158.jpg 281w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-562x316.jpg 562w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-531x299.jpg 531w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-487x274.jpg 487w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-974x547.jpg 974w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-600x337.jpg 600w\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"674\" class=\"size-full wp-image-288663\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT.jpg?resize=1200%2C674&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"674\" class=\"size-full wp-image-288663\" srcset=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT.jpg 1200w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-640x359.jpg 640w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-1062x596.jpg 1062w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-320x180.jpg 320w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-281x158.jpg 281w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-562x316.jpg 562w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-531x299.jpg 531w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-487x274.jpg 487w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-974x547.jpg 974w,https:\/\/guardian.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT-600x337.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The UN-Habitat Governing Council takes place every two years to approve the agency\u2019s overall work plan and budget, as well as to pass resolutions on specific issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em><strong>Ultimately, it was the New Urban Agenda\u2019s inability to resolve basic questions about the future of\u00a0UN-Habitat that turned this year\u2019s governing council into something of a placeholder. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>After last year\u2019s adoption of a 20-year global strategy on urbanization, the first gathering of United Nations member states may have adopted a wait-and-see attitude regarding next steps to coordinate implementation of the accord, known as the\u00a0New Urban Agenda.<\/p>\n<p>The 26th Governing Council meeting of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN\u2013Habitat) held last week at the headquarters of\u00a0the agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development, the 58 countries that oversee the organization backed down on any significant decisions\u00a0until the completion of a major evaluation of the agency\u00a0and subsequent action by the\u00a0U.N.General Assembly.  <\/p>\n<p>Only after those processes are completed, likely by the end of the year, will they take concrete steps that will inform how\u00a0UN-Habitat should move forward around the New Urban Agenda, according to officials.<\/p>\n<p>The UN-Habitat Governing Council takes place every two years to approve the agency\u2019s overall work plan and budget, as well as to pass resolutions on specific issues. Coming a little over six months after the\u00a0Habitat\u00a0III\u00a0conference\u00a0that produced the New Urban Agenda, many expected this year\u2019s council session would hold extra import.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the meeting could confirm the New Urban Agenda as\u00a0UN-Habitat\u2019s new mandate and <a href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/tips-for-house-price-negotiation\/\">offer<\/a> clear signals on how the agency should act as a result. Should\u00a0UN-Habitat, for example, conduct more research? Draft possible legislation for national and city governments? Prepare measurements that will allow countries to benchmark their progress?<\/p>\n<p>But by Wednesday evening, those signals had not been forthcoming. \u201cWe are waiting to hear from member states exactly what we are supposed to start doing,\u201d said\u00a0UN-Habitat\u2019s Diana Lopez. \u201cThere is still no clear mandate from member states.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the agency is facing the likelihood of basic governance and management reforms before the actual work can proceed. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who referred to this Governing Council as a \u201cmilestone\u201d during his address last week to open the session, expressed a common sentiment in his call for changes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur first task, if I may say so, is a reform of\u00a0UN-Habitat. We will achieve our goals only if it can serve as a focal agency for sustainable urbanization and human settlements,\u201d he said. \u201cIt will not do so if its capacity is not strengthened. That is why we must empower\u00a0UN-Habitat with the resources it needs \u2014 and these resources must be adequate and predictable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is broad consensus that\u00a0UN-Habitat needs reforms, from the results of a recent independent report as well as a dismal staff survey that ranked the agency in the bottom five of places to work in the\u00a0U.\u202fN.\u00a0system.<\/p>\n<p>But this Governing Council session will not be the place where that reform happens. Instead, fundraising concerns and geopolitical bickering have consumed the conversation thus far in a meeting poorly attended by diplomats mandated to approve substantive measures. Only 17 ministers are in attendance here, and of the 58 seats on the Governing Council, five belonging to Western Europe remain vacant.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, it was the New Urban Agenda\u2019s inability to resolve basic questions about the future of\u00a0UN-Habitat that turned this year\u2019s Governing Council into something of a placeholder. <\/p>\n<p>While the next logical step after approving the New Urban Agenda should be the realignment of\u00a0UN-Habitat so that it can get to work on implementing the agreement, a diplomat from a major donor country, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, \u201cRestructuring is not on the table for this Governing Council.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The council isn\u2019t taking up that task at the moment because of a broader work process underway.Negotiations last year nearly stalled over how to restructure the agency, resulting in\u00a0a stopgap outcome\u00a0that requested the\u00a0U.\u202fN.\u00a0secretary-general to conduct his own assessment of the agency. In April, new\u00a0U.\u202fN.\u00a0Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres announced the formation of that evaluation panel, consisting of mayors, urbanists, activists and diplomats.<\/p>\n<p>The eight-person panel met here to query member states and civil society groups about how the agency should be reformed. It is expected to deliver a report by June. On Monday,\u00a0U.\u202fN.General Assembly President Peter Thomson announced a two-day meeting at\u00a0U.\u202fN.Headquarters in New York on 28-29 August that will make recommendations on how to reform\u00a0UN-Habitat, for ultimate approval by the General Assembly.<\/p>\n<p>The anticipated changes at\u00a0UN-Habitat are part of a suite of reforms that Guterres is expected to roll out in the coming months. \u201cEach of these will impact on your work here at\u00a0UN-Habitat, and I counsel you to support the necessity of reform for the common good,\u201d Thomson said.<\/p>\n<p>With the assessment coming from the secretary-general\u2019s office and the August meeting hosted at\u00a0U.\u202fN.\u00a0Headquarters, global decision-making around s<br \/>ustainable urbanization is increasingly concentrated in New York. The preparations for Habitat\u00a0III, for example, also were based there.<\/p>\n<p>But that shift has frustrated developing countries, who negotiate as a bloc known as the Group of 77 and China. That group \u201cis concerned at the growing trend of diminishing the importance of Nairobi, which is the headquarters of\u00a0UN-Habitat,\u201d said Bashir Tarar, Pakistan\u2019s high commissioner to Kenya, calling for the trend to be reversed.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, a draft resolution on the table focuses on next year\u2019s\u00a0World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur\u00a0and specifically calls for preparations to remain in Nairobi as opposed to New York. This New York-vs.-Nairobi spat is an example of the geopolitics orbiting this week\u2019s diplomatic negotiations in lieu of more-substantive issues. Other draft resolutions with geopolitical import call on member states to fund\u00a0UN-Habitat\u2019s work in the Palestinian territories and to support an Asian <a href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/property-center-nigeria\/\">housing<\/a> ministers conference hosted by Iran. (At press time, the draft resolutions under consideration in Nairobi were not publicly available.)<\/p>\n<p>Some draft resolutions under the microscope this week do address the reform question. For example, one calls for transparency on management practices. Another encourages\u00a0UN-Habitat\u2019s fledgling roadmap for subtstantive next steps, the\u00a0Action Framework for the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda.\u00a0UN-Habitat\u2019s leadership\u00a0recently told Citiscope\u00a0that the Action Framework, which seeks to guide national-level action around the New Urban Agenda, was likely to be approved by the Governing Council this week.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, while this year\u2019s review of\u00a0UN-Habitat has slowed meaningful progress toward the global coordination of New Urban Agenda implementation efforts, that process does not necessarily hamper individual actions by national and local governments. Latin America, for example, is expected to release an action plan in October with the help of a regional\u00a0U.\u202fN.commission.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest issue that last week\u2019s Governing Council was supposed to address head-on is financial.\u00a0UN-Habitat relies on donor countries to support its core budget, which pays for staff and administrative work at its offices, and to earmark funds for special projects \u2014 post-war reconstruction in Afghanistan, say, or slum upgrading in Cameroon. While project <a href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/get-quick-loan-for-real-estate-investment\/\">funding<\/a> is dealt with on an ad hoc basis, the Governing Council as a whole must agree upon the core budget.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile\u00a0UN-Habitat has been very successful in resource mobilization to earmarked projects, it has been much less successful in convincing member states to contribute to core funding,\u201d said Trine Hay Setsaas, a diplomat from Norway, one of the top five donors to the agency.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed figure for 2018-19 is roughly\u00a0USD\u00a026 million. That is a sharp decline from the current two-year cycle, which requested\u00a0USD\u00a045 million in core funding. The reduction may be in part because the agency is far from hitting its current budget\u2019s target \u2014 just\u00a0USD\u00a02.5 million in core funding landed in\u00a0UN-Habitat\u2019s coffers last year.<\/p>\n<p>In his statement on behalf of the G77 plus China, Tarar noted the bloc\u2019s emphasis on \u201cthe importance of providing adequate financial and human resources to\u00a0UN-Habitat. At the same time, we urge\u00a0UN-Habitat to address its weaknesses with a clear-headed approach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the agency\u2019s part, its leader seems to recognize the handwriting on the wall. \u201cUN-Habitat should also improve its operational model, in order to increase its efficiency and continue its delivery of \u2018more with less\u2019 and higher levels of productivity,\u201d Executive Director Joan Clos, a key architect of the New Urban Agenda, said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a hre=\"http:\/\/guardian.ng\/property\/un-habitat-reforms-may-hold-up-new-urban-agenda-implementation\/\"> Guardian <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UN-Habitat Governing Council takes place every two years to approve the agency\u2019s overall work plan &hellip; <a title=\"UN-Habitat reforms may hold up New Urban Agenda implementation\" class=\"hm-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/un-habitat-reforms-may-hold-up-new-urban-agenda-implementation\/\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">UN-Habitat reforms may hold up New Urban Agenda implementation<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[518,132,2890,1399,344,41,10234,15296,15309],"class_list":["post-4556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opportunities-in-new-markets","tag-america","tag-commission","tag-construction","tag-development","tag-housing","tag-property","tag-settlement","tag-target","tag-ups"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/UN-HABITAT.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amazingproperty.com.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}