On July 25-27 2016, the third and last Habitat III Preparatory Committee took place in Surabaya (Indonesia), with the attendance of most of the States’ delegates. The UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights took part in the conference along with the delegations of the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments and the Global Platform for the Right to the City –which partnered the Committee on the organization of two side events on human rights in the city and the right to the city in the New Urban Agenda.
A CSIPDHR delegation, made up of Dr Shin (Gwangju Mayor’s special representative), Bipin Rai (Director the Bureau for Human Settlements and Housing from Delhi’s government) and Magali Fricaudet (Coordinator of the Committee), participated in the conference as part of the local governments’ delegation constituted by the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Government. Our partners from the Global Platform for the Right to the City were also present –Habitat International Coalition (HIC), Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), Polis Institute, WIEGO, ActionAid and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Just before the PrepCom, the 5th World Human Rights Cities Forum was held in Gwangju, South Korea, under the theme “Building Human Habitat Friendly Cities”. This topic, along with the proximity to Surabaya PrepCom, aimed at enabling CSIPDHR network cities to bring a common position on human rights in the city and the right to city to the UN States gathering in Surabaya.
On July 28th morning, after hours of negotiations, a new version of the agenda was released. As it was lacking consensus, new meetings were convened for the beginning of September in New York in order to achieve a consensual document in Quito. The main controversial points discussed in the negotiations were the inclusion of the right to the city, the follow-up mechanisms of the Agenda and the future role of UN-Habitat.
Desde ahora hasta la reunión de los Estados en Nueva York a principios de septiembre, la Plataforma Global por el Derecho a la Ciudad elaborará una reacción colectiva al borrador de la Agenda. Se piden comentarios muy precisos. Igualmente, la Plataforma elaborará un documento común en relación a los principios sobre los que basar el monitoreo de la agenda. Las personas u organizaciones que deseen aportar sus reacciones al borrador de la Agenda, son invitadas a hacerlo antes del 25 de septiembre.
Click on the following link to read the full report of the Committee’s participation at PrepCom3: