W.Strengthening national capacities to formulate and adopt housing and slum upgrading strategies
UN-Habitat in collaboration with OHCHR, UN-Women, ECA, ECLAC, ESCAP and ESCAWA ($629,000)
Background
1.The unprecedented multiplication of slums is a manifestation of the lack of adequate and affordable housing in cities, resulting from ineffective public housing policies and urban planning. While the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) “improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020” has been achieved, the absolute number of the urban poor has increased and projections for 2020 indicate that the number of slum dwellers in the world will further rise from 863 million to 1.4 billion if no remedial action is taken.It has become internationally recognized that, in least developed and post crisis countries in particular, the current housing supply is not responding to the demands of the urban poor. Because of this, and the increased cost of healthcare, sanitation and public safety associated with slums, many of these countries have identified slum upgrading and housing as one of their top development priorities.
2.Addressing these housing shortages requires a shift in thinking and practice by governments and housing practitioners. A key challenge is to integrate the housing agenda into overall urban agendas rather than operating in isolation without sufficient synergies with other city processes. The housing agenda also needs to be more inclusive. This requires closer linkages of housing with other parts of the economy; decentralized housing production; and promotion of sustainable buildings, neighbourhood designs and technologies. It also calls for more effectively addressing urban segregation (resulting from increased economic inequality and divide in housing access); the lack of housing finance solutions for the poor; and the failure of housing markets to address housing needs.
3.This project focuses on developing capacity in six least developed countries to formulate housing and slum upgrading strategies that integrate the above concerns, implementing UN-Habitat’s Global Housing Strategy at country-level. The General Assembly adopted RES/66/288 committing to promote sustainable policies to support the “provision of increased resources for affordable housing and housing-related infrastructure, prioritizing slum prevention and upgrading”. The Strategy employs global housing trends built upon the previous Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, national housing policy reviews, situational analysis, and comparative global policy research contextualized to regional and national specificities. It is entrenched in current global reality marked by several sustainability challenges: the financial crisis and world economic recession, urban exclusion, and environmental degradation.
4.The project will provide a critical slum prevention component to an ongoing Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme initiated by the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Secretariat, financed by the European Commission and implemented by UN-Habitat. The main counterparts in the six countries will constitute National Habitat Committees (civil society, private sector, academia and development partners). OHCHR, as an established partner, will support countries in elaborating their rights-based approach to housing. OHCHR and its network of grassroots-partners, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) will also be essential for the mobilization and empowerment of target groups. UN-Women, through the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UN-Habitat, will contribute to ensuring gender equality and women’s empowerment for adequate housing for all. The relevant United Nations Regional Commissions will be important regional platforms to advance United Nations’ agenda on housing and act as catalysts for disseminating the results to other countries in their regions.
Objective of the Organization: To strengthen national capacities of at least six Member States in the formulation, operationalization and revision of national housing and slum upgrading strategies and policies / Summary budget(Thousands of United States dollars)
Consultants218.0
Travel45.0
Contractual services270.0
Workshops/training96.0
Total629.0
Relationship to the strategic framework for the period 2014-2015 and the Millennium Development Goals:UN-Habitat subprogramme 5 (Housing and slum upgrading); Millennium Development Goals 7 and 8.
Expected accomplishments of the Secretariat / Indicators of achievement
(EA1)Establishment and strengthening of National Habitat Committees for formulating and implementing sustainable and inclusive housing, slum upgrading strategies and/or policies / (IA1.1)Number of pilot countries that have established a coordination and implementation mechanism (National Habitat Committees)
(IA1.2)Number of National Habitat Committees that demonstrate increased capacity to formulate and operationalize rights-based, gender-responsive, results-based and inclusive housing and slum upgrading strategies and/or policies
(IA1.3)Number of National Housing and Slum Upgrading Strategies adopted with agreed action plans created based on strategies
(EA2)Regional commitments for inclusive, right-based, gender-responsive, result-based sustainable housing and slum upgrading endorsed by governments / (IA2.1)Number of countries that endorse the principles and strategy of inclusive, right-based, gender-responsive, and result-based sustainable housing and slum upgrading
Main activities
5.The main activities of the project will include:
(A1.1)Provide policy and advisory servicesto create and/or strengthen the capacities of National Habitat Committees (NHCs) to mobilize key stakeholdersand institutionalize monitoring and evaluation functions;
(A1.2)Hold inception/capacity development workshops to guide National Habitat Committees in developing action plans to formulate national housing and slum upgrading strategies;
(A1.3)Provide assistance to the National Habitat Committees in undertaking awareness campaigns around the strategy principles in urban areas;
(A1.4)Conduct national level action-based reviews including legal, regulatory, institutional, planning and fiscal reviews that lead to positive proposals of modifications to be submitted to the appropriate bodies for approvals and incorporation in national strategies;
(A1.5)Provide advisory services through missions and Global Housing Strategy e-communications platform on formulating housing strategies based on these reviews;
(A1.6)Hold national validation workshops for adoption and agreement on action plans based on strategies;
(A2.1)Organize three regional workshops to support pilot countries to share their experiences and raise awareness regarding Global Housing Strategy principles and strategyin each of the three regions to encourage broader regional commitments.
Detailed budget(US dollars)Consultants
International consultants
- International consultant to support the six pilot countries with policy advice and technical tools, and for documentation of capacity building processes and application of GHS principles in national housing and slum upgrading strategies resulting from this process. This is in support of activities A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4 and A1.5 (18.25 work months x $8,000) = $146,000
- Consultants for final evaluation (1 work month x $12,000) = $12,000
- National consultants for supporting and providing inputs in the development and delivery of training, in support of activities A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5 and A1.6 (5 work months x $2,000 x 6 countries) = $60,000
UN-Habitat staff members
- Policy and capacity development in support of activities A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.5 and A 1.6 (12 missions x 2 staff per country mission x $2,500 = $30,000
- Attending regional meetings (3) in support of activity A2.1 (3 missions x 2 staff per regional meetingx $2,500) = $15,000
- Contracts with national or regional capacity building institutions to adapt the Global Housing Strategy principles and documents to the regional and country contexts, including translation into regional languages as needed, in support of activities A1.2, A1.3, A1.4 ($25,000 per country x 6 countries) = $150,000
- Sub-contracts with National Habitat Committees to establish their operations, spearhead the awareness raising campaign, and hold national validation workshops in support of activities A1.1, A1.2, A1.3, A1.4, A1.5, A1.6 and A2.1 ($20,000 per country x 6 countries) = $120,000
- Inception/capacity development workshops of National Habitat Committeesfor developing national gender-responsive, human-rights and result based housing strategies in support of A1.2 ($8,000 per workshop x 6 countries) = $48,000
45 000
270 000
96 000
Total / 629 000
.