United Nations Human Settlements Programme

Infobox UN
name = United Nations Human Settlements Programme


caption =
type = Specialized Agency
acronyms = UN-HABITAT
head = "Executive Director of "UN-HABITAT"
: Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka [ [http://www.unhabitat.org/categories.asp?catid=14 About us – Excecutive Director] ] :
status = Active
established = 1978
website = http://www.unhabitat.org
parent =
subsidiaries =
commons = United_Nations
footnotes = The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN–HABITAT) is the United Nations agency for human settlements. It was established in 1978 and has its headquarters at the UN office in Nairobi, Kenya. It is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

Its regional centres are called 'United Nations Centre for Human Settlements' (Habitat)/(UNCHS) [ [http://www.unchs.org/ Official website] "www.unchs.org".] [ [http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/hab175.doc.htm United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)] "United Nations" Press Release, 2001.] , and are situated at Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, and Fukuoka [ [http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/hab175.doc.htm United Nations Center for Human Settlements] UN Chronicle, 1997.] .

Overview

According to its 2006 Annual Report, sometime in the middle of 2007, the majority of people worldwide will be living in towns and cities, for the first time in history; this is referred to as the arrival of the "urban millennium". The year 2007 will also see the number of slum dwellers hit 1 billion. As regards future trends, it is estimated 93% of urban growth will occur in Asia and Africa, and to a lesser extent Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2050 over 6 billion people, two thirds of humanity, will be living in towns and cities.

The main documents outlining the mandate of the organization are the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, the Habitat Agenda, the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium, and Resolution 56/206.

It has three regional offices, 'United Nations Centre for Human Settlements' at Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, and Fukuoka.

Controversies

UN Habitat has supported the slum clearance project in Durban, South Africa which has been widely critized for being carried out in a violent and illegal manner and which has been protested by shack dwellers in marchers of as many as 20 000 people. [http://www.abahlali.org]

UN-HABITAT in Pakistan

In the morning of October 8, 2005 Pakistan saw a deadly earthquake of 7.6 magnitude which caused 75,000 people dead and left more than that injured. The was the biggest shock pakistani nation ever suffered.In the meanwhile Govt. of Pakistan established an authority named ERRA to let people come on normal routine.Since then, UN-HABITAT has supported the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) to establish 13 Housing Reconstruction Centers (HRCs) in Azad Kashmir and North Western Frontier Province.

The main activities were:
* Door to Door Technical Assistance
* Identification of Model houses and Self Builders
* Identification of House Holds for Remedial Measures
* Hands on Training for the Artisan
* Capacity building of Artisans & Self builders.
* Information and Awareness campaign according to ERRA Guidelines.
* VRC Formation

References

External links

* [http://www.unhabitat.org Official website]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2006/urbanisation/default.stm BBC News Special Report - Urban Planet]
* [http://www.abahlali.org South Africa shack dwellers' organisation]