Thursday, October 20 2016
Habitat international
Coalition (HIC)—the global movement of over 400 organizational Members working
to realize the human rights to habitat, land, housing, and related rights—was
formed at the great convergence at the first Habitat Conference at Vancouver in
1976. Over the past 40 years, HIC has remained inspired by, and committed to
upholding the Habitat Agenda and developing it in the normative framework of
human rights.
Representativesfrom 74 organizations –
social and human rights movements, civil society and grass-roots organisations
and academia, among others – coming from 26 countries and all regionsconvened
at HIC’s General Assembly discussed the joint Statement
on Habitat III on the 16th
of October 2016. The statement expresses the commitment of HIC members to
remain endeavored to work towards a fairer world and vigilant on any setbacks
on Human Rights obligations implementation. HIC members, friends and allies are
in Quito inspired and committed in the defense of a Habitat Agenda with good
governance and human rights as backbone to guide and support Human rights global
policies and its corresponding obligations to deal with current Habitat
challenges.
HIC representative, Joseph Schechla,
declared in front of the Conference Plenary that urban development need to be
integrated to a comprehensive territorial perspective, since urban and rural
spaces are interdependent. Moreover, it was stated in the oral
statement that
authoritarian ideologies of governments, mercantilisation of housing and land,
private-interest driven territorial development, and governmental corruption
are not being adequately addressed in the Agenda and remain the main challenges
to achieve human settlements development based on human rights principles.
As discussed
and decided at theHIC’s General Assembly, and declared at the HIC Statement: We need a New Habitat Agenda, not merely a
new “urban” agenda, one that recognizes that urbanization in its current form
is not inevitable or sustainable. We need a New Habitat Agenda that
respects the habitat metabolism of the physical environment in both rural and
urban areas. We need a New Habitat Agenda that recognizes the continuum of
human habitat experience, respecting and securing multiple forms of housing and
land tenure, where partnerships prioritize people and the public interest and
states support the social production of habitat. We need a New Habitat Agenda
that recognizes and celebrates, not criminalizes, social movements and popular
participation and enables the coproduction of knowledge, emphasizing local
solutions and innovation. We aspire to live in human rights states composed of
their peoples, territory and democratic institutions. In order to realize that
habitat vision, our communities insist: “nothing about us without us.”
* Read the
statement here.
* For more information on activities and documents of HIC on Habitat III, click here.
Contact: General Secretariat of HIC: gs@hic-net.org