Habitat II conference ends in grand style
ISTANBUL, Turkey (JP): The Second UN Conference on Human Settlements ended last night with a call to improve people's living conditions.
The closing ceremony was enlivened with display of fireworks and a 21-gun salute, followed by a speech by the President of Turkey, Suleyman Demirel, and an air show by military planes.
The Conference, known as Habitat II, adopted the Istanbul Declaration and the Habitat Agenda - the Global Plan of Action which is intended to serve as a guideline for the world's leaders in the drafting of policies to improve the living conditions of the world's people.
Habitat II started on June 3 and was attended by more than 10,700 people from 171 states. Twenty heads of state from developing countries attended.
The main themes of Habitat II were "decent shelter for all" and "sustainable human settlement".
There were differences of opinion between the North and the South on several issues, including housing rights, international cooperation, the follow-up of the Agenda, and reproductive rights.
The Conference spokesman, Ayman El-Amir, said that all substantive issues had been resolved in a spirit of good cooperation and consensus among delegations.
Committee I, in charge of drafting the Habitat Agenda, was still working on the implementation of the Agenda. The delegates agreed countries have the sovereign rights and responsibilities to implement the agenda, he said.
He said that on the rights to reproductive health, there was a consensus that the Habitat Agenda would follow the language adopted in the Fourth Conference on Women in Beijing last year.
Contraception
The Beijing Conference recognized the freedom of reproduction and various methods of contraception.
The Vatican, which is strongly opposed to freedom of reproduction, stated later in the afternoon that it would adopt the Agenda, with a reservation on the issue.
El-Amir said yesterday that the plenary session had to be delayed until late in the afternoon because the working group of Committee I could not finish in time.
Al-Emir said that agreement was achieved in the recognition of the role of the UN Conference on Human Settlements office in Nairobi as the key to the UN system for the implementation of Habitat Agenda.
He admitted that there were still some issues that had to be worked out, but said they were not substantive issues.
This included the linkage between the universal recognition of human rights and spiritual or cultural values.
The UN Secretary General for Habitat II Wally N'Dow, said in a statement yesterday, that Habitat II had succeeded in all of its major goals: putting the problems of human settlements at the top of local, national and international agendas, and sharing solutions aimed at improving life in human settlements.
He said that the process included representatives from cities, the private sector, local authorities, grassroots organizations and NGOs.
The conference hosted 3,638 delegates, 211 parliament members, 627 local authorities, 83 representatives of special UN Agencies, 144 inter-governmental organizations representatives, 318 UN staff members, 2,523 accredited representatives from 1,500 NGOs, 45 affiliated persons, and 3,277 journalists.
A number of parallel events were also held, including the NGO forum, the World Assembly of Cities and Local Authorities Forum, the Professionals and Researchers Forum, the Youth Business Forum, the Foundation Forum, the Parliamentarians Forum, and the Trade Unions Forum. There were also 10 "dialogues" involving eminent persons, which addressed serious urban problems. (sim)