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GLOBAL
CAMPAIGN FOR SECURE TENURE
IMPLEMENTING
THE HABITAT AGENDA: ADEQUATE SHELTER FOR ALL
1.0
INTRODUCTION
The Global Campaign
for Secure Tenure has the potential to make a significant
impact on the shelter and living conditions of the
worldТs urban poor. The Campaign will also signal
the emergence of a revitalised Habitat in a new, strategic
role, acting as an advocacy agency and mobilising
the active support of a host of global, regional,
national and local partners.
Using the moral
authority and global standing of the United Nations,
the Campaign will provide profile, support and a voice
to hundreds of millions of poor, homeless and inadequately
housed people trying to break out of a cycle of poverty.
The complex and intractable nature of this problem
requires a medium to long term perspective, and the
initial duration of the Campaign will not be less
than ten years.а
This concept paper outlines
a proposed approach to the Global Campaign on Secure
Tenure, which will be launched in advance of the Global
Campaign on Urban Governance. However, it is vital
to state from the outset that these two Campaigns
will operate not as separate initiatives, but as essential
components of the larger Habitat work programme and
strategic vision. Both Campaigns will be promoting
a vision of an urban future based on inclusion, social
and economic development; a future based on human
opportunity and on hope.а
To improve its chances of sustainability
and success, the Campaign will also unambiguously
promote the centrality of the role of women. This
will be done in the context of the high correlation
between the active empowerment and involvement of
women, and successful strategies to provide shelter
and reduce poverty, and also as part of the United
Nations commitment to programmatically promote the
empowerment of women.а[Top
of Page]
1.1
Background
The adoption
of the Habitat Agenda in Istanbul in June 1996 marked
a watershed in the history of the United Nations.
Not only was this the most representative and authoritative
gathering ever assembled to discuss human settlements
and urban development, but it also marked a decisive
break with previous global conferences in the manner
and the extent to which organisations of civil society
were engaged. The Global Plan of Action, through which
the Habitat Agenda was to be implemented, promised
a new energy and initiative on behalf of the worldТs
poor, particularly the urban poor.
What made the
City Summit such a breath of fresh air was its identification
on the need for meaningful partnerships with the myriad
of organisations and interest groups that are grappling
with real developmental issues in their localities,
sometimes with the support of their local governments,
but all too often in the face of official indifference
and sometimes hostility. Habitat II reinforced the
need for such partnerships, made them less threatening,
and served to emphasise the importance of the СlocalТ
in finding solutions. As a result, Habitat II signaled
the emergence of local authorities as major partners
within the UN system.а
With Istanbul
+5 in 2001 looming large, there is far too little
to show for all of the promise of Istanbul.а
The context of
the Campaign needs to be clearly understood. Shelter
conditions for the worldТs urban poor, and the cycle
of urban poverty, are not improving. On the contrary,
recent economic crises and the impact of globalisation
has sharpened even further disparities in the distribution
of wealth and resources. The increasing poverty gap
in the world has been well documented, not least by
the authoritative annual Human Development reports
of UNDP. 1,3bn people do not have access to clean
water, and the same number lives on less than $1 per
day. 2,6 bn people do not have access to basic sanitation,
whereas 5 million die from diarrhoeal diseases caused
by water contamination.
(1 )
This concentration
of poverty, homelessness and slums is increasingly
associated with the growth of the worldТs urban population.
Since 1950, the global urban population has jumped
from 750 million to more than 2500 million people.(2
) Indeed, 80% of the worldТs population
growth in this decade had occurred in urban areas.
However, this urban growth is mostly informal and
unplanned, often resulting in people settling on unwanted
and dangerous locations. As reported by the International
Federation of the Red Cross, 96% of all deaths from
natural disasters already happen in developing countries.
(3 )
As we approach
the new Millennium, a powerful combination of environmental
change, rapid urbanisation, deepening economic inequity
and political inaction serves to concentrate most
poverty, homelessness and physical insecurity in the
developing world. While the issue of security of tenure
will have a global resonance, and the Campaign will
address all corners of the globe, it is certain that
the greatest impact and response will be found in
the developing world.а
The current rate
of urbanisation in the developing world, and the fact
that this constitutes the massive urbanisation of
poverty, is compounded by weak local government structures,
a mismatch between actual revenue and necessary expenditure,
weak administrative capacity, inequitable and outdated
urban planning techniques and deficient concepts and
practices of urban governance.а
By 2025 the total
urban population is projected to double to more than
5000 million people, and 90% of this increase is expected
to occur in developing countries(4
). In short, the world is facing an urban
crisis of staggering proportions in the next twenty
to thirty years - and one which will require a complete
reorientation of urban policy by governments and multilateral
institutions. In the short period since the City Summit
at Istanbul, it has become all too apparent that conditions
for the worldТs poor have not been arrested, but have
continued to deteriorate.
Habitat and its
partners will be using the Campaign to make clear
that it is not urbanisation, in and of itself, that
causes these problems, but rather a failure to make
better use of the enormous opportunity and potential
offered by the urbanisation process. It is poorly-managed
urbanisation that leads to the marginalisation of
the urban poor, which increases their current cost
of living and defers enormous future environmental
and social costs for the next generation.а
The Global Campaign
for Secure Tenure forms part of HabitatТs commitment
to contribute to the emergence of a new urban paradigm.
The extension of secure tenure is but one part of
an integrated approach of improving the access of
the urban poor not only to improved shelter and access
to basic services, but also to informal and formal
employment opportunities, as well as direct political
representation. This reinforces and underlines the
linkage between this Campaign, and the Global Campaign
on Urban Governance.а
Habitat and its
partners will be arguing that, for the emergence of
a new paradigm and the creation of a more hopeful
future, the issue of political will is absolutely
central. Indeed, the challenge of urban poverty, appalling
living conditions and bad governance does not arise
because of a failure to provide technical and workable
solutions - it arises because of narrow political
and economic priorities that are not based on addressing
human needs in an equitable or sustainable manner.а
This enormous
concentration of abject poverty raises some difficult
policy issues that will need to be addressed within
the ambit of the campaign. It must be self-evident
that, for this category of the urban poor, access
to land and services cannot be governed by ordinary
market mechanisms such as an ability to pay. For this
category of the urban poor, exceptional policy measures
will have to be considered and may, indeed, point
to the need for some fundamental rethinking on some
of the assumptions and understandings that underpin
existing approaches to tenure. This will be one of
the policy tasks that will be undertaken within the
the evolving framework of the Campaign.
The Global Campaign
for Secure Tenure will be taking up these issues as
part of a rights-based approach. In the context of
competing claims to urban land and access to the city,
we may reasonably expect that circumstances will invariably
arise in which competing claims will point to a conflict
between property rights and human rights. In examining
these challenging policy problems and proposing workable
solutions, guided by the Charter of the United Nations
and principles of social justice and equity, the Global
Campaign for Secure Tenure will need to be vigorous
in asserting the absolute primacy of human rights.а
The Global Campaign
for Secure Tenure needs to be seen in this complex
context - however, to the extent that it is successful,
it will lead to an improvement in shelter strategies
for the urban poor, will promote and support a far
more prominent role for women, and will directly and
indirectly contribute to creating a climate for improved
urban governance. In most instances, the proliferation
of informal settlements and slums arises from a combination
of the poverty of the inhabitants, deficient national
policy frameworks, and the weak, inefficient and often
corrupt systems of urban governance within which they
often find themselves.а
In more detail,
it is necessary to observe that there are two distinct,
but related, issues that will need to be addressed.
The first is the extension of formality and secure
title to already existing urban settlements. The second
relates to the need for improved provision and availability
of urban land that is well-located and affordable.
Informal settlements exist and expand because of the
inadequate provision of land, speculative investment
patterns, a tendency towards over-regulation, and
a regulatory framework of standards, regulations and
administrative procedures that is, at best, indifferent
and - more likely - hostile to the needs of the urban
poor. All of these issues will have to be directly
tackled in order to create the conditions for rapid
progress, economic investment and growth.
The global agency
charged with overseeing the implementation of the
Habitat Agenda, the United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (Habitat) - one of only two UN agencies
headquartered in the developing world - nearly paid
for the success of Habitat II with its own demise.
A series of reports highlighted the shortcomings of
the Centre, which subsequently underwent a thorough
Revitalisation exercise.
The Global Campaign
for Secure Tenure, which will be launched in the last
quarter of 1999, will signal the beginning of a new
approach by Habitat, and a fundamentally different
approach to implementing the Habitat Agenda and the
Global Plan of Action. With less emphasis on conferences,
meetings of experts and the ritual reporting of progress
by national bureaucracies, and with more emphasis
on partnerships and decentralisation, the Campaign
will orient the resources of Habitat and its partners
to rigorously pursue an approach that will lead to
improvements in shelter for the urban poor, and contribute
to the overall sustainability of cities, particularly
in the developing world.а
In summary, the
Campaign is designed to spearhead a shelter strategy
that is pragmatic, affordable and implementable. Such
a Campaign must, as a point of departure, be based
on empowering individuals, households and communities
to gain greater control over their own lives.
Again, it is vital
that the Campaign creates a climate which promote
a new urban paradigm that demonstrates the enormous
energy, investment and economic opportunity that will
arise if an inclusive and integrated approach to urban
poverty is adopted. Central to the success of this
approach will be the strengthening of gender equality
to empower women (5
), particularly as the issue of secure
tenure cannot be seen in isolation from unequal household
relations. [Top of Page]
1.2
Why Secure Tenure?
While the issue
of secure tenure is but one of a set of components
that contribute to a successful shelter strategy,
it has been consciously identified because it has
a catalytic effect - it invariably leads into other
processes and issues vital to sustainable shelter
delivery and upgrading.а
The focus of this
Campaign is unambiguously aimed at promoting a set
of policies and strategies that will directly benefit
the urban poor throughout the world, and it is against
this goal that the Campaign must be measured. It also
provides an excellent vehicle for promoting the role
of women to help ensure more successful policies for
producing shelter and reducing poverty.а
However, an extremely
important cautionary observation must be made here
- securing tenure for the household does not necessarily
secure tenure for women and children. In undertaking
the campaign, Habitat and its partners will be arguing
that the extension of secure tenure must benefit women
and men equally, which will require some fundamental
changes to the rights of women. Equally importantly,
the right of women to equal inheritance rights will
also form a vital part of the Campaign. Simply put,
and allowing for no confusion, gender equality is
one of the most fundamental principles that underpins
the entire Campaign.
Secure tenure
can be considered as the first component of the progressive
realisation of the right to housing as elaborated
in Paragraph 61 of the Habitat Agenda. The granting
of secure tenure will not, in and of itself, solve
the problem of homelessness, poverty, unsafe living
environments and inadequate housing. However, secure
tenure is one of the most essential elements of a
successful shelter strategy, indeed, it is possible
to argue that such a strategy will not succeed without
security of tenure: it is a necessary but insufficient
condition for a successful shelter strategy which
will, in turn, have social and economic benefits.а
The existence
of widespread conditions of insecure tenure around
the world, concentrated on the urban poor and compounding
the marginalisation of women, prevents governments
meeting their commitment to enable the provision of
"Adequate Shelter for All". Shelter policies simply
will not work properly without the long-term certainty
provided by secure tenure.
In particular,
the following consequences arise:
n Insecure
Tenure:
l Inhibits
investment in housing
l Hinders good governance
l Undermines long term
planning
l Distorts prices of
land and services
l Reinforces poverty
and social exclusion
l Impacts most negatively
on women and children
It was these and
other considerations that led to the adoption of the
Habitat Agenda in 1996, in terms of which Governments
made a number of commitments. In Chapter III formal
Commitments are captured on the two main themes of
the Habitat Agenda. In respect of providing Adequate
Shelter For All, the commitments made under paragraphs
39 and 40 in their entirety are of particular and
direct relevance.
In particular,
in paragraph 40 (b), Governments committed themselves
to...
Providing
legal security of tenure and equal access to land
to all people, including women and those living in
poverty; and undertaking legislative and administrative
reforms to give women full and equal access to economic
resources, including the right to inheritance and
to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural
resources and appropriate technologies;аа
[Top of Page]
1.3
What is Secure Tenure?
Security of tenure
describes an agreement between an individual or group
to land and residential property which is governed
and regulated by a legal(6
) and administrative framework. The security
derives from the fact that the right of access to
and use of the land and property is underwritten by
a known set of rules, and that this right is justiciable.
The tenure can be effected in a variety of
ways, depending on constitutional and legal frameworks,
social norms, cultural values and, to some extent,
individual preference.
In summary, a
person or household can be said to have secure tenure
when they are protected from involuntary removal from
their land or residence, except in exceptional circumstances,
and then only by means of a known and agreed legal
procedure, which must itself be objective, equally
applicable, contestable and independent. Such exceptional
circumstances might include situations where the very
physical safety of life and property is threatened,
or where the persons to be evicted have themselves
taken occupation of the property by force or intimidation.а
In undertaking
this Campaign, Habitat will focus primarily on the
strength of the security, rather than on the
precise nature and form in which the tenure is applied.
It is too often assumed that security of tenure implies
individual freehold (Сprivate ownerhsipТ), which is
but one of many ways in which security can be effected.а
In the case of
informal settlements, or for those labeled as squatters,
a wide variety of circumstances arise, some of which
may be extremely complex. Different tenure systems
can co-exist next to each other, either as the city
expands and assimilates rural and agricultural land,
or through the juxtaposition of a mix of legal, customary
and non-legal relationships. It must be made abundantly
clear that this is a Campaign linked to a shelter
strategy, and thus the tenure refers to residential
tenure, and not to disputes over agricultural
land, nor to a countryТs National Land Question.а
All over the world,
informal settlements often attain a de facto
status, which may be acquired through the length of
time for which a settlement has been tolerated or
ignored, or through the extension of administrative
recognition through the provision of municipal and
urban services, and the associated collection of revenue.
However, the extension of de jure recognition
of such cases through regularisation is certainly
not automatic, and would differ from country to country,
depending on constitutional and legal frameworks.
De facto recognition
may also be realised in a manner which can be highly
exploitative, wherein the security of occupation is
underwritten by the discretionary authority of the
landlord and, in many cases, the warlord. In such
cases, it may be argued that in the absence of formal
authority, the tenure is enforceable but is
not justiciable, and would therefore not be
defined as secure tenure. [Top of
Page]
1.4
Types of residential tenure
The following
is a characterisation of the major categories of tenure;
1.4.1
Rent
Rent is a form
of leasehold, in terms of which access to a property
and the use thereof is governed by a legal agreement
of fixed duration. Agreements are normally governed
by law. Rental agreements operate either in the private
domain, as contract between private citizens and bodies
corporate or companies, or in the public domain, wherein
the rental is provided by a public body, such as a
local authority, as part of a social housing policy.
It is common, in formal rental agreements, for the
lessor to assume some responsibility for the maintenance
of the property. It is the form of secure tenure least
likely to lead to capital investment by the lessee
(and, some may argue, by the lessor).
However, for low-income
families, rental - which is the most used form of
tenure - is seldom formal or regulated in many countries.
Agreements are arrived at informally, with little
or no recourse to legal advice, and the agreements
are enforced in a non-legal manner. Indeed, a major
part of the campaign will have to address the urban-poor
segment of the rental sector, and the tension that
exists between secure tenure for tenants and sub-tenants,
and the property rights of the owners. Both in percentage
and in policy terms, addressing the informal rental
sector will be one of the most significant challenges
for the campaign, and one which will have the most
impact for the urban poor.а
1.4.2
Leasehold
Leasehold conveys
the right of beneficial occupation to land or property,
but such occupation is circumscribed both by a finite
period of time, as well as the specific conditions
of the lease. The lessor retains ultimate control
over the property, through the stipulated time limit
and conditions. Upon expiry of the lease, the lessor
may automatically reassume occupation, reallocate
the lease to another person or body, or extend the
lease of the occupant. For the period of the lease,
which may be very long (eg, 99 yrs), and subject
to compliance with the terms of the lease, the occupant
does enjoy secure tenure.а
1.4.3
Freehold
Freehold is the
form of tenure which confers on the title-holder the
maximum control and discretion over the land, normally
only circumscribed by law and/or planning and zoning
restrictions. It provides for the land (and improvements)
to be used as collateral and mortgaged, it may be
transferred or bequeathed in the discretion of the
title-holder, and is free from any time restrictions
- it is title in perpetuity. It is the form of tenure
most associated with investment and, indeed, speculation.
Ideologically, it is most favoured by the proponents
of the free-market and individualist conceptions of
society.а
1.4.4
Conditional Freehold - 'rent-to-buy'
A hybrid of leasehold
and freehold, this is effectively a lease that may
be converted to freehold upon the fulfillment of stipulated
conditions, which ordinarily include the payment of
the lease (or СrentТ) for a period of time. Another
form of this approach is found in the term Сcontract-for-deedТ.
However, it is all too often the case that the equity
does not accrue in terms of the contract, and that
even one or two months missed payments - not unusual
for this segment of the market - can lead to all previous
payments being forfeited, and the renter being forced
to start the repayment process from the beginning
again.а
1.4.5
Collective forms of tenure
There are a variety
of methods of enjoying full security of tenure within
a collective framework. The principle relates to the
sharing of access to a property on the basis of a
agreement, which specifies the terms and conditions
of such access. This may take the form of the creation
of a body corporate, such as a condominium or a private
company, or a housing association or co-operative.
What all of these forms of tenure share is the need
for a relatively high level of common interest, and
the skills and capacity to administer the arrangement,
which generally requires quite a high level of organisational
ability and commitment.а
1.4.5.1
Communal tenure
One of the defining
features of communal tenure is that it is common for
the community to have a long and common history and
cultural identity, such as a tribe or clan. Access
to such land may be governed by custom, and include
the right to use and to occupy, but not to transfer
or alienate, which decision would be determined by
the community as a whole. Under Islamic tenurial systems,
musha refers to a collective land holding,
whereas Waqf is a category of land held in
perpetuity by a religious institution, and is effectively
removed from market mechanisms. [Top
of Page]
1.5
Summary
While there are
other forms of tenure, the above categories are the
most common forms of granting security of occupation.
The Campaign will not be promoting any one type of
tenure in preference to others, but will rather focus
on the essential conditions that have to be met to
ensure security of tenure, and on highlighting the
benefits that accrue to the individual, the household
and to society from the granting of such security.
A major element within the Campaign will be to promote
the right of women to have full and equal access to
tenurial security.
The above forms
of secure tenure - which are seen as formal and justiciable
- can only be effective when they operate within an
enabling legal framework, and are supported by administrative
capacity that maintains an effective land information
system and title register which can properly record
and update rights to property and land. While it is
not being proposed that the granting of secure tenure
must await the reform of a justice system, for example,
it must be stated that a successful Campaign will
invariably highlight policy and administrative shortcomings
in other fields.а
To reiterate,
the purpose of the Campaign is to identify, highlight
and advocate those elements that are critical to the
success of a shelter strategy and which will directly
benefit both the homeless and the inadequately housed,
as well as society generally. It must be re-emphasised
that the Campaign, in and of itself, will not provide
ready-made solutions, but rather creates the environment
for the right issues to be raised. The Campaign will
be successful to the extent that Habitat and its partners
are able to deploy - in its wake - a targeted work
plan that provides appropriate assistance in the essential
elements of a successful shelter strategy.а
[Top of Page]
THE
ELEMENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN
As
envisaged in HabitatТs Strategic Vision, the Global
Campaign should be seen as the strategic entry point
for the effective implementation of the Global Plan
of Action of the Habitat Agenda, and should be seen
as supporting HabitatТs work programme.(7
) The Campaign for Secure Tenure must therefore
be measured not by its success as a Campaign, but
in improvements in the provision of Adequate Shelter
for All, particularly for the urban poor. Habitat
will focus explicitly on the impact of its policies
on vulnerable groups, especially the role of women
in human settlements programmes, and the Campaign
will highlight and advocate a leading role for women
in the elaboration of sustainable shelter strategies.а[Top
of Page]
2.0
PROMOTING HOUSING RIGHTS
2.1
The International Dimension
The right
to adequate housing is widely recognised as a human
right in international law, and a number of resolutions
on the issue have been adopted by UN bodies. Arguing
for an enabling strategy, the Habitat Agenda states
clearly that "..the right to adequate housing has
been recognized as an important component of the right
to an adequate standard of living"(8)
. However, it is only in the past two decades that
serious attention has begun to be given to the meaning
and significance of that right.а
The right to housing
is part of the economic, social and cultural rights,
which have not featured as prominently as political
and civil rights in the UN discourse. The approach
that Habitat will promote in this Campaign will be
to focus on the different components that constitute
the body of housing rights. The launching of the Campaign
for Secure Tenure should thus be seen as the first
conscious step towards an International Convention
on Housing Rights.а
In building the
case and political environment for the eventual adoption
of a Convention, Habitat will focus on the essential
elements of the right to housing, which has a number
of components. The most prominent amongst these, and
the one which the Campaign will prioritise, is the
right not to be evicted without due legal process.
Again, it is vital that the Campaign be seen as a
vehicle for the United Nations to use its global position
to provide support and cover for people facing daily
abuse and threats to their human rights.а[Top
of Page]
2.2
Opposing Forced Evictions
The United Nations
human rights programme has devoted increasing attention
to the negative practice of forced evictions in recent
years, indicating the seriousness of global concern
about the often violent removal of people from their
homes. As the Commission on Human Rights has made
explicit, a forced eviction "....constitutes a
gross violation of human rights, in particular the
right to adequate housing".(9
) According to the Centre on Housing Rights
and Evictions (COHRE), some 14 million people are
currently threatened by planned forced evictions.а
The Commitment
of Governments against forced evictions is explicitly
stated in the Habitat Agenda(10)
. Whereas forced evictions are mostly used to try
and remove the poor from urban areas, and often because
land values may indicate a more lucrative use of the
land for selected private interests, the point that
is often overlooked is that if the poor were to be
able to choose or be offered a better alternative
- without threats or coercion - then they would surely
take it. Indeed, it is the perceived or real threat
of forced eviction that does most to trap an area
in slum conditions and a cycle of poverty, as any
initiative and investment is inhibited by the threat.а
It is difficult
to overstate the point that the effect of forced evictions
is to criminalise the attempts by the poor in society
to satisfy one of the most basic and essential needs
for human life. It is at this point that the potential
conflict between property rights and human rights
becomes most stark and tightly drawn.
The policy approach
that will be advocated by Habitat, then, is to examine
the route of choice and alternatives, rather than
forced eviction.а
Most forced evictions
around the world have a number of general characteristics:
╪
Evictions tend to
be most prevalent in countries or parts of cities
with the worst housing conditions;
╪
It is always the poor that are evicted - wealthier
classes virtually never face forced eviction, and
never mass eviction;
╪
Forced evictions are often violent, and include
a variety of human rights abuses beyond the violation
of the right to adequate housing;
╪
Evictees tend to end up worse off than before
the eviction;
╪
Evictions invariably compound the problem they
were ostensibly aimed at СsolvingТ; and
╪
Forced evictions impact most negatively on
women and children.а
Forced evictions
are sometimes undertaken under the guise of development,
in which it is argued that the eviction is a necessary
evil to effect a greater social good. However, this
is mostly at the expense of the urban poor and, in
those societies where there are insufficient checks
and balances on the power of officials, the need to
even present and defend a case for development can
often be circumvented through the involvement of corrupt
public officials.а
Forced evictions,
except in the most exceptional circumstances, should
be seen as an expression of policy failure - the failure
of a society that is either unwilling or unable to
meet the basic housing needs of the poorest and most
vulnerable. It further reflects that societyТs failure
to adequately plan for the development of urban centers
for the benefit of all citizens.
Notwithstanding
the developmental arguments, forced evictions, however,
have the effect of destroying social and survival
networks, impacting negatively or destroying the assets
and life savings of those evicted, invariably increasing
the cost of living for those evicted. Forced evictions
also have a very direct and negative impact on children,
whose social patterns of health, education, recreation
as well as shelter may be destroyed.
For these reasons,
the issue of forced evictions will be the most visible
and vibrant activity for the first period of the Campaign.
It is an issue that the United Nations is uniquely
placed to champion, and one which will have an immediate
resonance in the different regions around the world.а[Top
of Page]
2.3
Promoting Legislative Reformа
The legal recognition
and protection of secure tenure is one of the most
significant steps that a national government can take
towards giving expression to the right to housing,
and to providing legal protection to the marginalised
sections of society. However, the case for official
recognition of secure tenure goes well beyond the
welcome formal acknowledgement of human rights, but
is a necessary step in the creation of a shelter strategy
which, if successful, can itself convey enormous social
and economic benefits. This is essentially the case
that Habitat needs to make through the Campaign and
the Work Plan.
The Campaign,
while vigorously opposing forced evictions, will simultaneously
promote the case for security of tenure to be enshrined
in national laws and, where appropriate, in national
Constitutions. In this regard, Habitat will offer
assistance with the promotion of guidelines for such
statutory recognition, including assisting with the
drafting of model legislation and the promotion of
examples of good policy and best practice. In all
cases, access to secure tenure must be based upon
principles of gender equity and the explicit empowerment
of women.а
In summary, it
is most important that Habitat and its partners are
seen to be promoting viable policy alternatives, and
not just negatively campaigning against forced evictions.
The promotion of innovative legal and policy options
must form an integral part of the Campaign and, more
importantly, Habitat must be well placed to offer
substantive technical and policy support through its
operational activities.а[Top
of Page]
2.4
Promoting a sustainable shelter policy
The overriding
case that Habitat will need to make to countries and
cities around the world is the very real and tangible
benefits that will accrue all round if a positive
approach is adopted in respect of the urban poor.
In close synergy with the Global Campaign on Urban
Governance, Habitat will be arguing that in addressing
the needs of the urban poor, and in creating safer
and sustainable cities, a policy of inclusion is a
basic point of departure.
The conferring
of secure tenure, and its legal recognition and protection,
benefits not only those for whom the tenure is guaranteed,
but has a whole range of positive social and even
economic benefits. Internationally, it is the experience
that the conferring of secure tenure will release
new avenues for investment and improvement by the
residents themselves. Indeed, one of the very real
advantages of tenure is that it can be conferred at
relatively minimal cost to the fiscus, yet releases
other, non-state, productive activity.
The approach to
shelter delivery that will guide Habitat is based
on the assumption that the most valuable resource
to be mobilised is the energy and ingenuity of the
homeless themselves. Decades of grandiose housing
schemes and master plans have yet to come close to
the efficacy, energy and urgency displayed by the
poor themselves. It is absolutely clear that most
governments do not have the ability or the resources
to ensure the provision of housing for all, nor is
it realistic to expect that the formal private sector
will step in and deliver. The Habitat Agenda is clear
in advocating an enabling strategy in the provision
of shelter- the support provided by Habitat will be
explicitly based on this approach.а
Adopting such
an approach to the provision of shelter with, and
for, the urban poor requires Habitat to tailor its
support accordingly. More emphasis is required on
those essential elements of shelter that cannot be
easily be provided by the individual or the household,
but which require support of public or private agencies.
The real test of what it required for a successful
shelter strategy in a given location will be the requirements
and needs of the local community and other affected
stakeholders, and the assistance offered by Habitat
and its partners will need to be sufficiently flexible
to provide the appropriate support.а
Taking secure
tenure as the foundation, then, it is necessary to
identify those essential elements that will most contribute
to a shelter strategy that is practical, affordable
and implementable.
2.4.1
Land and Tenure
Moving from the
granting of secure tenure, a number of policy objectives
arise. Amongst the most important are steps that will
need to be taken to ensure the efficient management
of an open land market - transparency is the enemy
of corruption and exploitation. To achieve such a
land market, a number of policy areas will need to
be addressed. These include the setting of appropriate
planning standards, implemented through simplified
administrative procedures and supported by an administrative
capacity able to maintain an effective land information
system.а
Specific technical
issues to be addressed in this regard will including
cadastral systems, the recording, registering and
updating of property titles, and a capacity to ensure
that this happens within acceptable time frames. There
are many examples around the world of administrative
inefficiency and bureaucratic inertia undermining
potentially sound policy frameworks.а
Additional policy
support that Habitat will provide include an examination
of various tenurial options, including an assessment
of those most appropriate for protecting the interests
of the urban poor. Interim or incremental approaches
to title - such as a permission to occupy, or a right
to use - will also have to be considered in exceptional
circumstances. Lastly, arising out of decades of neglect
and inefficient monitoring, there is often a need
for the design of conflict-resolution mechanisms.
[Top of Page]
2.4.2
Urban Services and Infrastructure
One of the features
associated with the informal or illegal occupation
of land is the sporadic and ad hoc access to
essential services and the urban infrastructure. As
research associated with the campaign will demonstrate,
it is generally the case that it is the very poorest
members of cities that pay the highest per capita
price for services such as water and energy, reinforcing
the cycle of poverty. Clearly, a strategy that aims
to deal with housing rights, shelter provision and
urban poverty reduction must elaborate a clear approach
to the provision of essential services.
Amongst the basic
services, Habitat will promote and prioritise policy
options dealing with the provision of clean water,
and the treatment of waste water, as the single most
important service. No other service has quite such
an immediate and dramatic impact on the quality of
life as the provision (or non-provision) of clean,
potable water. Other essential services that will
also be addressed will include energy and refuse collection.
Habitat will initiate major effort and research into
examining the pricing policy for all services, including
water, to ensure that accessability and affordability
are both addressed.
Research on access
to urban basic services will further explore demonstrations
of practical linkages between the provision of water,
sanitation and refuse disposal services and micro-enterprises
developed for the purpose. HabitatТs experience in
such activities has demonstratred that credit schemes
and other micro-finance tools similar to those developed
for housing, will impact on the quality of life for
the urban poor by improving the living environment
and providing sustainable livelihoods. Good examples
would be small-scale waste-recycling industries, water
kiosks and on-site sanitation maintenance.
A higher
priority will also be given to the role and importance
of transport policy. Much of the displacement of the
urban poor arises from private and public urban investment
associated with major transport plans that have little
direct relevance or benefit to the urban poor, and
which often result in their dislocation to the urban
periphery, as land is required and as prices rise,
often through speculation.
а
Additionally the
type, form, quantity and quality of transport directly
effects employment patterns for the urban poor. Research
on the linkages between transport services and sustainable
livelihood will be undertaken to explore their complementary
role for enhancing, for example, solid waste and recyclables
collection schemes. [Top of Page]
2.4.3
Housing Finance and Micro-Credit
Amongst
the most important tools in the fight against poverty
is the extension of credit to the urban poor. There
is still a widely held belief that credit does not
operate at this level of the market. Just as urban
services are available at exploitative premium prices,
so is credit informally available at inflated rates,
reinforcing the trend that the poor pay more for less.
а
Access to secure
tenure can make a positive contribution in improving
access to credit. At this level of the market, different
approaches to housing finance are required, as long
term mortgage loans are inappropriate to the need.
Access to small amounts of credit, with short-term
maturities, is pivotal in supporting a sustainable
and vibrant shelter strategy. Some of the most successful
poverty reduction and housing credit models have been
based on the poor organising themselves into savings
collectives and accessing micro-loans from a rotating
fund.
а
Central to the
success of housing finance, and micro-credit, is the
role of women. Examples all over the world have demonstrated
a clear link between successful credit policies and
the positive role of women - the most innovative bank
that pioneered lending to the poorest of the poor
lends to women as a matter of policy. Credit provides
a very tangible mechanism through which Habitat will
be promoting its main theme of gender equity and empowering
the role of women in the provision of shelter.а
To offer the best
possible support to member states and to broaden the
impact of the Campaign Habitat will actively engage
with other partners within the United Nations system.
The recent launching of the Cities Alliance, with
the World Bank, provides an excellent linkage to promote
the benefits of secure tenure, especially with respect
to slum upgrading programmes. As another example,
there are very obvious and quantifiable health costs
and consequences associated with the unsatisfactory
and unhygienic living conditions of hundreds of millions
of urban dwellers. A joint programme with UN partners
such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
World Health Organisation (WHO), through a partnership
with their appropriate programmes, would significantly
increase the impact and import of the Campaign. [Top
of Page]
2.4.4
Summary
In order to most
effectively highlight the issue of secure tenure,
and in order to achieve the maximum impact, Habitat
will use the Campaign to put a global spotlight on
the negative and regressive practice of forced evictions.
Simultaneously, and building on existing practices
and examples around the world, Habitat will also use
the campaign to put a global spotlight on the positive
outcomes of secure tenure, including economic growth,
the role of women and urban poverty reduction. At
all times during the Campaign, Habitat must ensure
that it is always in a position to present policy
alternatives, and to back these up with a sound and
comprehensive range of operational activities and
assistance.а
[Top of Page]
3.0
OPERATIONALISING THE CAMPAIGN
Before launching,
it is necessary to define from the outset what constitute
the Global aspects of the Campaign. The Campaign cannot
be designed СgloballyТ and then merely implemented
in different regions and countries of the world. On
the other hand, a variety of shelter activities undertaken
in different regions of the world may not meet the
requirement of universality for such a Campaign.а
There are elements
and messages of the Campaign that, by definition,
have to assume the status of universal standards or
norms - they are, and must be, global. On the other
hand, given the complexities associated with security
of tenure, some of which have a cultural, religious
or regional specificity , the Campaign must be designed
to allow for and to encourage such expressions of
regional difference. In short, the Campaign must be
designed in such a manner as to reinforce necessary
global norms, while allowing for the promotion of
regional differences that are in conformity with such
global standards.а
The very concept
of secure tenure, for example, will itself have to
be defined and benchmarked so that it is measurable,
and forms of tenure that are not secure may thus be
identified. Such a definition must necessarily be
seen as a universal norm, and may not
be the subject of regional or national reinterpretation
or negotiation. Such a standard can only be re-examined
globally, and only through the mechanisms of the United
Nations.а
Conversely, if
regions and countries choose different methods of
implementing such a universal norm, but satisfy the
basic universal requirements and principles as specified,
then this cannot be challenged at the global level.
As the most obvious point of departure, the Campaign
should begin identifying the existing rights-based
Conventions and instruments that have relevance to
the issue of Secure tenure, as these already constitute
global norms.а
а
In managerial
terms, this would imply that certain aspects of the
Campaign need to be addressed from a global perspective,
whereas other aspects of the Campaign should be managed
on a decentralised basis. This document is written
on the subsidiarity principle that decentralisation
will be chosen wherever and whenever it is a viable
and feasible option, and that nothing will be retained
at the global level unless it is necessary to monitor
and maintain a global norm or universal standard.
а
From the outset,
it should be clear that there will be no one single
blueprint for running such a Campaign, especially
since this is not within the experience of Habitat.
It is equally clear that it will take a significant
period of time to completely anchor the Campaign,
indeed a period of some 18 months to two years is
initially envisaged. The first components of the Campaign
will be launched during the last quarter of 1999,
and will then become a major activity within the 2000-2001
work programme.а
а
This document
should be seen as the start of a process through which
Habitat will actively reach out and engage with its
partners, and seek their expertise and inputs in establishing
these global norms. Not only will this be an appropriate
mechanism to popularise the Campaign, but it will
also lead to the establishment of a consensus on some
of the more problematic definitions and norms that
will have to be established at the global level. The
target for the Campaign would to have these global
definitions and norms endorsed at Istanbul+5 in 2001.а
In the absence
of such a blueprint, the Campaign will be launched
on the basis of a combination of a set of principles,
and under the overall direction of a hands-on, interactive
and strategic management team, located partly in Nairobi,
but incorporating representatives of the global components
managed elsewhere, as well as representatives from
the Campaign regions.а
а
The actual launch
of the Campaign will involve a series of events that
will happen over time and include a combination of
global, thematic elements (such as the monitoring
of forced evictions) as well as regional aspects,
such as the launch of the Campaign in Latin America
and the Caribbean, or in Europe or South East Asia.
As other thematic of regional components become prepared,
so they would be launched and added to the body of
the Campaign. The Campaign will thus be built incrementally,
and is likely to proceed at different paces and with
differing intensities and strategies in the various
regions of the world.а[Top
of Page]
3.1
Guidelines for the management of the Campaign:
╪
The Campaign should
be launched with the fullest participation of partner
agencies within the UN system and should actively
promote linkages and co-ordination within the UN system;
╪
Wherever possible, the management of the Campaign
should be decentralised;
╪
Such decentralisation of UN-HABITAT responsibility
must always be matched by the decentralisation of
the requisite resources;
╪
The Campaign should be operationalised on the
basis of agreements with partners at all levels;
╪
The Campaign should seek to combine the operational
and normative activities of UN-HABITAT; andа
╪
The Campaign should promote a limited number
of messages, simple and uncomplicated in style. [Top
of Page]
3.2
Localising the Campaign
However, to really
activate the Campaign, and link it directly with the
daily living realities of the urban poor and the city
managers, will require the introduction of some novel
mechanisms. Habitat would issue a base set of global
guidelines for a shelter strategy that is affordable,
pragmatic and implementable. These guidelines would
include the global norms arising out of the Campaign,
such as the definition of forced evictions.а
This would then
form the basis of a city consultation (cf negotiation)
involving all relevant stakeholders, in which each
party would make commitments as to their respective
rights and responsibilities. A mechanism that should
be developed may, for the purposes of this document,
be called a 'City Protocol'.
This could include,
for example, a commitment by the city managers / public
prosecutor to suspend all pending forced evictions
and commit to undertake a programme of regularisation
and land identification, whereas mass-based organisations
could commit to suspending land invasions etc. The
City Protocol is a product and not a process,
and it should be seen as a mechanism to achieve a
social contract at local or national level.а
What Habitat may
then propose is the brokering of a city shelter development
strategy, to which assistance and support could be
arranged through Habitat. For its part Habitat would
undertake to publicise such City Protocols,
which would both be a way of popularising the issues,
measuring progress and, indeed, a very dynamic method
for localising the implementation of the Habitat Agenda.
It would also provide a useful mechanisms for highlighting
areas of progress and, conversely, where little was
happening or issues were being blocked.а
[Top of Page]
4.0
Conclusion
The Global Campaign
for Secure Tenure will, indeed, signal a new approach
to the provision of affordable shelter by the United
Nations Human Settlements Programme and
its partners. The Campaign, and the whole strategy,
will take some time to properly implement, after an
appropriate period of engagement with partners in
different parts of the world.
The Campaign aims
to put women, and the poor, at the centre of a long-term,
sustainable shelter strategy. There is no magic in
this, but it will require different behaviour and
new styles of operation, not least by UN-HABITAT and
its United Nations partners. Instead of trying to
anticipate these changes, and making grand promises
that have yet to be met, it may be more appropriate
to start the process with good faith and sound intent,
and move forward with interested partners.
This Campaign
is designed to take forward the promise and commitments
that were made at Habitat II, to reinvigorate the
Global Plan of Action, and provide practical mechanisms
in assisting communities, city governments and the
member states of the United Nations. The real challenge
is to turn 'Adequate Shelter for All' from a rallying
cry, into results: results that change the daily living
conditions of the worldТs poor.а[Top
of Page]
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