23rd Governing Council of UN-HABITAT - Nairobi, Kenya, 11-15 April 2011

President CheeHai Teo met Dr. Joan Clos, United Nations Under Secretary-General/Executive Director of United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) at the United Nations Office

Nairobi, Kenya, 11-15 April 2011

President CheeHai Teo attended the 23rd Governing Council of UN-HABITAT in Nairobi 11-15 April 2011 and met with the Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos during his visit.

ED Joan Clos, UN-HABITAT and President CheeHai Teo.

Dr Joan Clos was appointed the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT in October 2010. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Clos was Mayor of Barcelona, Spanish Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade and the Spanish Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan. He has appealed for cities to be considered an asset and not a liability and called for renewed optimism at the recently concluded twenty-third biennial meeting of Governments in the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT in Nairobi, Kenya (11–15 April 2011).

President CheeHai made a courtesy call on Dr. Clos during the 23rd Governing Council; the meeting was also attended by Mr. Mohamed El-Sioufi (Head, Shelter Branch, Global Division), Ms. Clarissa Augustinus (Chief, Land, Tenure and Property Administration Section, Shelter Branch) and Mr. Danilo Antonio (Global Land Tools Network Secretariat, Land, Tenure and Property Administration Section). It was a most cordial meeting, the first between the newly appointed Executive Director of UN-Habitat and FIG.

In the meeting, FIG affirmed her continuing support and commitment to UN-Habitat’s new vision for sustainable urbanization as well as the ongoing initiatives and projects, particularly that which relates to adequate shelter, access to land and water, continuum of land rights, social tenure domain model and in particular, the programs within the Global Land Tools Network. President Teo commended and welcomes Dr. Clos’s calls for renewed optimism for our urban spaces, for a return to basics in city layouts and planning and for sustainable urbanization through equitable access to land, housing, basic services and infrastructure.

Dr. Joan Clos recorded FIG’s invitation to attend and give a keynote address at the XXV FIG Congress in Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

CheeHai Teo
May 2011

Footnote

UN-HABITAT’s 23rd Governing Council

The resolution on “Sustainable urbanization through equitable access to land, housing, basic services and infrastructure” was adopted at the 23rd Governing Council of UN-HABITAT, Nairobi, Kenya, 15th April 2011.

Global Land Tools Network, the Land, Tenure and Property Management Section and the Shelter Branch within UN-HABITAT must be congratulated for this landmark resolution. Years of consistent and persistent support, efforts and leadership particularly from Dr Clarissa Augustinus and Mr. Mohamed El-Sioufi culminated in the passing of this resolution. The contribution of UN-HABITAT’s management in facilitating GLTN, the development and advocacy of this resolution is to be lauded and applauded. FIG is indeed proud and privilege to be a partner within GLTN, to have supported and contributed towards the realization and the acceptance of this continuum of land rights and alternative form of secure tenure.

Her Excellency Ambassador Agnes Kalibbala of Uganda, Chair of the Global Land Tools Network International Advisory Board was quoted as saying “this is the first time we have seen the Governing Council adopt a resolution that deals specifically with the work that GLTN is doing”. Dr Clarissa Augustinus added that this resolution “represents a paradigm shift in the global debate on land, forging an international consensus on the continuum of land rights and alternative forms of secure tenure. The resolution gives GLTN a strong mandate to continue developing pro-poor and engendered land tools” including ongoing and future work on intermediate tenure, strengthening tenure rights of the poor and women and alternative pro-poor land records and land administration systems.

GLTN introduced and championed this continuum of land rights and alternative forms of secure tenure.

This resolution followed the Governing Council’s High-level Dialogue segment on Sustainable urbanization through equitable access to land, housing, basic services and infrastructure where the President of FIG had the privilege to address the Dialogue (copy of the address is attached).

Excerpts from this particular resolution –

“Recognizing the notable contributions that the UN-Habitat facilitated Global Land Tool Network has made in building partnerships for developing and implementing land tools at scale, in championing the cause of the poor and vulnerable groups such as women and slum dwellers, in promoting inclusive land policies and in developing affordable and equitable land administration systems that emphasize the important transitional role that intermediate tenure and incremental approaches play”
(page 2 of the Resolution)

“Encourages Governments and Habitat Agenda partners:
(c) To mobilize the commitment of Governments and Habitat Agenda partners at the international, national and local levels to promote decentralization and improve urban governance to ensure expanded equitable access to land, housing, basic services and infrastructure and to secure tenure rights for all segments of society within an integrated urban governance and sustainable urban development framework;”
(page 3 of the Resolution)

“Encourages Governments and Habitat Agenda partners, with regard to land issues:
(a) To implement land policy development and regulatory and procedural reform programmes, if necessary, so as to achieve sustainable urban development and to better manage climate change, ensuring that land interventions are anchored within effective land governance frameworks;
(b) To promote security of tenure for all segments of society by recognizing and respecting a plurality of tenure systems, identifying and adopting, as appropriate to particular situations, intermediate forms of tenure arrangements, adopting alternative forms of land administration and land records alongside conventional land administration systems, and intensifying efforts to achieve secure tenure in post-conflict and post-disaster situations;
(c) To review and improve urban land governance mechanisms, including land/spatial planning administration and management, land information systems and land-based tax systems, so as to strengthen tenure rights and expand secure and sustainable access to land, housing, basic services and infrastructure, particularly for the poor and women;
(d) To create mechanisms for broadening land-based revenue streams, including by improving the competencies and capacities of local and regional authorities in the field of land and property valuation and taxation, so as to generate additional local revenue for pro-poor policies and to finance infrastructure development”
(page 4 of the Resolution)