UN-HABITAT’S
Conference Report UN-HABITAT’S
Conference Report 2 • Human Library Conference Report
DISCLAIMER The designations employed and the presentation of material in this report do not imply of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries, or regarding its economic system or degree of development. The analysis conclusions and recommendations of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme or its Governing Council.
Copyright © United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), 2011
HS 125/11E
All rights reserved
United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi 00100, Kenya Tel +254 20 762 3120 Fax +254 20 762 3477 www.unhabitat.org
Editor: John Mchaffie Overall coordination: Alain Kanyinda Design and layout: Peter Cheseret, Florence Kuria Printing: UNON, Publishing Services Section, Nairobi, ISO 14001:2004-certified. Human Library Conference Report • 3
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements...... 4
Foreword by the Executive Director...... 6
Why a Human Library?...... 10
Introduction...... 14
Preliminary round-table...... 20
Panel discussions...... 24
Panel 1 - Relations with other UN agencies...... 24
Panel 2 - Relations between UN-HABITAT Divisions...... 28
Panel 3 - Impact of Technical Cooperation on national policy reforms...... 32
Panel 4 - Relations between country-level operations and regional and global activities...... 36
Panel 5 - Project and programme administration...... 40
Panel 6 – Fund-raising successes and difficulties...... 44
Summary and key Recommendations ...... 50
Personal reflections...... 53
Final salute...... 123 4 • Human Library Conference Report
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Human Library Conference was a successful event and a pathfinder in the history of the UN-HABITAT’s knowledge management practice.
The event benefited from the support and collaboration of all staff members of the Regional and Technical Cooperation under the guidance of Daniel Biau, Director, and the Executive Director, Dr. Joan Clos.
Special thanks and gratitude must be addressed to Alioune Badiane, Director, Regional Office for Africa and Arab States, as well as to Liliana Contreras, Senior Programme Manager, and Alain Kanyinda, Overall Coordinator. Human Library Conference Report • 5
Group photo of the participants in the first Human Library Conference, Nairobi, 15 February 2011. 6 • Human Library Conference Report
Foreword
he main objective of the Human In this connection, the involvement Library Conference was to provide of local authorities, private sector and Tan opportunity to draw lessons non- governmental organizations in our from 25 years of UN-HABITAT’s technical development efforts is crucial to ensure and regional cooperation, as well as to accountability and ownership. explore new perspectives to guide the After the adoption of the Millennium future work of the Agency particularly in Declaration in 2000 and the related developing countries. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Since 1978, country-level activities have in 2001, a new context emerged Dr. Joan Clos been an important component of the promoting a greater coordination and Executive Director, UN-HABITAT’s mandate. Also known as harmonization of the UN interventions in UN-HABITAT technical cooperation activities, they aim an attempt to “Delivering as One”. to support central and local governments Slum conditions in many countries, in the development of their institutional persistent urban poverty and growing capacities and in the formulation and inequalities have led UN-HABITAT to implementation of sustainable urban focus its interventions on the MDG 7, development policies and strategies. targets 10 and 11, as well as in countries UN-HABITAT’s technical cooperation confronted with conflict, disaster and activities are relevant to both the external post-disaster challenges. support community and the beneficiary The Human Library Conference was governments. They contribute to therefore meant to learn from our enhancing the capacities of developing technical cooperation activities over the countries for sustainable urban last decades at country and regional levels, development and poverty alleviation. and to clarify the terms of the debate on We know that any decline in technical normative versus operational activities. cooperation activities and a lack of This was a timely and crucial exercise of ownership by the stakeholders could knowledge management and generation, lead to the vicious circle of poverty and as highlighted in the motto of this event: under-development particularly in least- “the present only needs the past to move developed countries (LDCs) and countries into the future”. in crisis. UN-HABITAT’s mandate is very clear: to A stronger collaboration of development promote socially and environmentally agencies and beneficiary governments in sustainable towns and cities. I see a renewed partnership with international policy reforms at country level as a key organizations such as UN-HABITAT will aspect of this mandate, both on urban provide a platform to create the necessary development and on housing and synergy for success at country level. services. Human Library Conference Report • 7
UN-HABITAT’s technical cooperation is not only I have followed the Human Library discussions with about operations and on the ground project a lot of interest and am committed to continue activities. There are many elements of policy, supporting this initiative. Institutional memory advocacy, monitoring and evaluation at country level should be strengthened if we wish to progress in which should be supported by sufficient human and all our programmes. Lessons have to be learnt, best financial resources from both development partners projects have to be disseminated, as well as mistakes and beneficiary countries. analysed. I invite senior staff members to provide their support to younger experts in the fulfilment of I intend therefore to strengthen UN-HABITAT technical their duties. This is a stimulating task ahead of us. cooperation through the ongoing institutional reform with the aim of developing programmes, projects and activities, which promote stronger in-country synergies and feed into the UN global efforts towards poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Our focus will be on (i) urban land, legislation and governance, (ii) urban planning and design, (iii) urban economy including municipal finances, (iv) urban basic services, (v) housing and slum upgrading, (vi) risk Dr. Joan Clos reduction and rehabilitation, as well as (vii) research Under-Secretary General and capacity development. Executive Director 8 • Human Library Conference Report
The Executive Directors of UN-HABITAT and UNEP share views at a reception in honor of the Human Library Conference participants. Human Library Conference Report • 9
Stimulating discussions and entertainment among participants. 10 • Human Library Conference Report
Why a Human Library?1
r. Joan Clos, Executive Director, supporting our country activities. Indeed dear colleagues and friends. It technical cooperation starts and ends with Dis with immense pleasure that I country activities because it is at country welcome all of you to an event, organized level that we are able to influence national for the first time in the history of our and local policies, and to strengthen agency, which aims at collecting our related capacities. The interaction and multiple experiences and at reflecting on synergy between global programmes and the successes and difficulties faced since country projects has been a trademark the creation of UN-HABITAT, particularly of our technical cooperation. Equally, ...we have in the developing world. This meeting the complementarity between our will certainly help our new Executive operational activities and our normative implemented Director in designing a new strategy for messages has been demonstrated in more than the coming decade. many countries, for instance in South 1,000 Africa, in Senegal, in Vietnam or in Twenty-five years ago, I attended my projects Colombia. first Governing Council, then called the in more Commission on Human Settlements. I would like to give you a rapid than 100 The meeting was held in Istanbul in the overview of our technical cooperation spring of 1986. At that meeting Mark programme. In quantitative terms we countries. Hildebrand and Mike Cohen presented have implemented more than 1,000 We have a new global programme which was projects in more than 100 countries. We mobilized to become a flagship of Habitat, the have mobilized and disbursed more than and Urban Management Programme (UMP). two billion US dollars over the last 25 I was extremely interested by this multi- years. We, in this room, have created a disbursed agency initiative and by the fact that number of impressive networks. We have more than Habitat was moving from housing to built human settlements expertise in two billion city management, together with the many countries and in all regions of the US dollars World Bank and UNDP. As you all planet. We have worked with mayors, over the last know, UMP remains a milestone in the ministers, senior officials, and also with history of Habitat. Both UMP and its NGOs and CSOs and made Habitat 25 years. subsidiary companions, the Sustainable known and respected all over the world. Cities Programme and the Safer Cities We have cooperated with large numbers Programme, were born in the Technical of international organizations, not only Cooperation Division (TCD). UNDP and the World Bank, but also UNHCR, UNDCP, ILO, UNEP, the regional Later, in the 1990s, we also created the commissions, OCHA, and more recently Disaster Management Programme and the European Commission. Funds have the Indicators Programme. I believe that been raised from bilateral development these major initiatives played a key role partners, but also from Foundations and in the building of a strong Habitat, and in private companies. Governments from developing and transition countries have 1Opening statement By Mr Daniel Biau contributed financially to our projects Human Library Conference Report • 11
and programmes, including in poor countries such (Resolution 17/18) which was born in January 2000 as Chad and in emerging economies such as Egypt. under his Chairmanship. Later on, Barcelona hosted Our budgets have been managed transparently the world headquarters of UCLG, again thanks to by very committed and competent Programme its dynamic mayor. Dr. Clos is the first Executive Management Officers. Auditors have never found Director with a serious and recognized experience in any major mistake in our accounts and we have city management. been able to overcome all the administrative hurdles Now, Dr. Clos, I would like to introduce several which hampered and continue to hamper our colleagues who have accepted the invitation to join work. We have been less efficient in reporting and us today from different parts of the world and to evaluation, due to lack of time and resources. But we cost-share their participation. These colleagues have have published a number of good reports on country been the backbone of the Technical Cooperation experiences (including on Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan Division (RTCD) and therefore the backbone of and Indonesia) as well as forward-looking guidelines UN-HABITAT over a generation. It is appropriate to through our global programmes, such as UMP and put a brief spotlight on them at the very start of SCP, who invented, for instance, the concepts of City our proceedings, as they really deserve our public Consultations and City Development Strategies. appreciation. I am pleased to express my gratitude I have worked with all seven Executive Directors to the following ‘elders’: of UN-HABITAT since my recruitment by Dr. Arcot • Mark Hildebrand who started in Chad in 1976, Ramachandran in February, 1988. They have all then joined the Africa Section and coordinated appreciated our technical cooperation activities our APA Unit (Asia, Pacific and LAC) during 1983- and enjoyed the resulting support by developing 89. He was Chief, TCD until 1994, then Director of country representatives during the sessions of the Programme Coordination. He initiated, inter alia, Commission and the Governing Council. They the UMP and was the first manager of the Cities have visited, although exceptionally, some of our Alliance in 1999-2006; country projects, and recognized our impact on poor communities. But they have consistently forgotten • Mathias Hundsalz was Chief, Research and to provide core resources to support our technical Development Division (RDD) until 1999 and cooperation activities, trusting that our fund negotiator of the Habitat Agenda in Istanbul. He mobilization abilities would be sufficient to ensure started in the field before the Vancouver Summit financial sustainability. This has been a recurrent of 1976, in Uganda and Burkina, and went back to disappointment among TCD colleagues and myself. RTCD at the end of career. Recently he evaluated the This has forced us to move more and more into post- first generation of our country programmes (HCPDs); disaster projects, with great success particularly in • Roberto Ottolenghi also started in RDD, he Asia, in order to get the required overhead income. was the active promoter of regionalisation and I hope that this problem could be addressed in the founder/Director of ROLAC in Rio in 1996. Since near future, including by involving more regular 2002 he is a senior consultant, always available to budget staff in country activities. catch a plane and prepare or evaluate any of our Dear friends, you all know our new Executive projects ; Director who welcomed us in Barcelona for the • Disa Weerapana joined Habitat in 1989, he second session of the World Urban Forum in 2004. negotiated the opening of ROAP with Toshi and He has been very close to Habitat for the past 12 myself and was Deputy Director of the Fukuoka years, since he attended the 1999 session of the Office until 2001; Commission on Human Settlements, where he spoke on behalf of local authorities. The same 17th session • Heinz Kull started in Myanmar and Haiti, he of the Commission decided to establish UNACLA became Chief of our Africa Unit and co-leader of 12 • Human Library Conference Report
the Disaster Management Unit (DMU) in 1994. • Tatiana Roskoshnaya managed our Russian and Then he was the first (and efficient) Director of PSD; Eastern European portfolio from 2002 to 2010. She now lives in beautiful Saint Petersburg; • Jorge Gavidia started in RDD, he was co-leader of DMU, managed our Iraq programme during • Jean-Marc Rossignol worked for 14 years as Saddam (Oil-for-Food) and became the second CTA, starting in Burundi, then in Senegal. He Director of ROLAC in 2002-2007; is now based in Kigali as private architect and planner; • Sylvie Lacroux was section chief in RDD, then became CTA in Burkina, headed our Geneva • David Kithakye and Antonio Yachan were both Liaison Office and is now Deputy Mayor of Ferney senior HSOs in ROAAS for many years and are still Voltaire; very active in Kenya and Chile respectively;
• Jay Moor started in 1990 in our Asia Unit, • Ali Shabou was the Chief of our Arab Information he created the GUO, moved to the indicators for decades, familiar with all Middle-East countries. programme and initiated the State of the World’s I am sure that he appreciates the current political Cities Report series; evolution of the Arab world;
• Alberto Paranhos, former Director of Planning of • And finally I salute our fantastically creative Curitiba, was the recognized pillar of ROLAC all Programme Managers (or PMOs) Ingunde, Jan, over his 18 years with UN-HABITAT; Henk and Eric, who all moved to other agencies when they became too qualified for UN-HABITAT. • Ole Lyse was the designer, together with Jochen Eigen, of the SCP. He worked with ROAAS in I would also like to mention those who were very several African countries and lives happily in interested in this meeting but could not travel for Kenya; personal reasons, in particular: Jochen Eigen, Franz Vanderschueren, Emiel Wegelin, Dinesh Mehta, • Kariba Traore also started in Haiti, then became Yves Cabannes, Ximena de la Barra, Sara CTA in several hardship countries such as Djibouti, Wakeham, Kidane Alemayehu, Farouk Tebbal, Rwanda, Burundi and Chad. He is a builder, a Wagui Siby as well as my first boss Paul Bouda and sites and services specialist at ease in post-conflict my predecessor in the Africa Unit, Minister Vann situations; Mollivann. They all send us their greetings and their • Seydou Sy Sall designed and headed the best wishes for Habitat’s future. In addition Emiel BAHSO (Cooperative Housing Bureau) in Dakar and Farouk sent us their own written contributions. before becoming Minister, then he moved to Sadly it is also my duty to mention several colleagues urban management and is now an international who played an important role in our Division and in consultant; our history, but who unfortunately passed away and • Jan Meeuwissen started at UNCHS (Habitat) leave us with their image and memories. I wish to 29 years ago in Lagos. He is our longest serving quote their names and ask for a moment of silence manager at present, the de facto deputy of afterwards. They were all my friends, and certainly Toshi Noda. I think he also represents Lalith, your friends. Their spirit is with us in Gigiri this the third pillar of ROAP (our most successful fund morning. We remember: mobilization branch); • Emmanuel Gapyisi, from Rwanda, • Sudipto Mukerjee and Doudou Mbye are the • Seth Sendashonga, from Rwanda, most recent successive leaders (CTA) of our Iraq Programme. Sudipto is now with UNDP while • Ismail Hammad, from Egypt, Doudou will soon move from Amman to ROAAS • Abdoulaye Sow, from Senegal, headquarters; Human Library Conference Report • 13
• John Parkin, from the U.K., Habitat-related network, a web of expertise. Those in this room collectively represent more than 500 • Andres Necochea, from Chile, years of collective professional experience at UN- • Peter Swan, from Australia, HABITAT. They have built institutions across the • Andy Van der Schiff, from Zimbabwe, world and they have also built the Agency itself. They have really worked as a team, with profound • Juko Hatva, from Finland, respect for each other. They have witnessed our ups • Francois Muhirwe, from Burundi. and downs. They are at your disposal to transfer their knowledge, know-how and contacts to the As Amadou Hampate Ba said in 1960: “In Africa, young generations of the City Agency. when an elder dies, it is a library in flames”. This is Dear colleagues, we will produce an in-depth report particularly true at UN-HABITAT: when a colleague on this Conference as well as a video-film containing goes, a part of our institutional and technical interviews of all participants. Younger colleagues are memory vanishes. This is why Alioune Badiane, mobilized to interact with senior colleagues during Alain Kanyinda, Liliana Contreras and myself these interviews. Moderators have been selected have decided to organize this first Human Library from within UN-HABITAT. They are all current or Conference, to try and take stock of our collective former RTCD staff, in senior positions, both in Global wisdom and of our diverse experiences, and even of Division (GD), Monitoring and Research Division our funny ideas and unrealistic suggestions, and to (MRD), Office of the Executive Director (OED) and move into the future. Regional Offices. They are the leading members Here are some 25 veterans who have made UN- of our professional family. You know all of them HABITAT, who have formulated and shared new (Alioune, Toshi, Cecilia, Axumite, Mohamed, modes of cooperation in urban management, in Paul, Eduardo, Mariam). They are still insiders for post-disaster recovery, in community contracts, in a few years and I wish that they will never become urban indicators, in reporting on the State of Cities, in complete outsiders. The Human Library should not housing policy and instruments, in sites and services burn, it will last and expand if we so decide! and urban upgrading. They have negotiated tirelessly On behalf of RTCD and other staff of UN-HABITAT, with Multilaterals, Bilaterals, Governments, Local I wish this brainstorming conference every success Authorities and NGOs. They have drafted hundreds and a very warm welcome to all of you. of Project documents, including budgets and periodical revisions. They have recruited hundreds of experts, thousands of consultants, executed two Karibuni and Asanteni Sana. billion US dollars of projects, have built an immense 14 • Human Library Conference Report
INTRODUCTION
The Human Library Conference, an Technical Cooperation Division, UN- In the expert group meeting to take stock of HABITAT, and the Executive Director. tradition the technical cooperation activities of Mr. Biau said the conference aimed the United Nations Human Settlements of African to reflect on both the successes and Programme (UN-HABITAT), was held at difficulties experienced since the storytelling, the United Nations Office in Nairobi from creation of UN-HABITAT, especially in the it was 15 to 17 February 2011. It was convened developing world. It was hoped that the convened to by Mr. Joan Clos, the Executive Director outcomes of the meeting would help of UN-HABITAT, to help establish a new enable the the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT direction for the programme by drawing veterans, to design a new strategy for the coming on the experiences and insights of 25 decade. who had former senior staff members. worked He gave an overview of the development In the tradition of African storytelling, it of UN-HABITAT in the 25 years since in many was convened to enable the veterans, the first session of the Governing countries who had worked in many countries Council of the Commission on Human around the world, to provide on-camera around Settlements in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1986 interviews to ensure that the collective the world, and outlined the technical cooperation body of UN-HABITAT knowledge was programme, in which 1,000 projects to provide recorded for posterity. In addition each had been implemented in more than on-camera participant was requested to write a 100 countries, involving the mobilization paper, giving insights into the past and interviews and disbursement of over two billion US looking at the programme’s future. to ensure dollars. The aim was to make a substantive that the contribution to the implementation of the The Executive Director praised the collective ‘human library’ concept and said the medium‑term strategic and institutional body of UN- plan for 2008–2013 approved by the gallery of experiences represented UN-HABITAT Governing Council in its by the participants would contribute HABITAT resolution 21/2 of 20 April 2007. to improving the management of knowledge knowledge within the programme. He The participants were welcomed to the was outlined the difficulties of continually conference by Mr. Alioune Badiane, adapting the agenda of UN-HABITAT recorded for Director, Regional Office for Africa, UN- in a rapidly changing world, where posterity HABITAT, who said the expert group sometimes dogmas went out of fashion constituted the ‘human library’ of UN- only to become popular again later. HABITAT, and their collective experience This was one of many reasons why past represented years of expertise that experiences were invaluable in planning could be tapped for the benefit of the for the future. organization. He discussed some of the challenges Opening statements were delivered by facing UN-HABITAT as it set its agenda. Mr. Daniel Biau, Director, Regional and Over half of the world’s population Human Library Conference Report • 15
lived in cities and that proportion was projected existing problems. Whether such an ambitious aim to increase rapidly as the urbanized population was feasible, especially in developing countries, was increased by a projected two billion over the next 20 a matter for vigorous debate. In conclusion, he said years. Many moved to cities expecting a better life, that identifying solutions required both wisdom but sadly most only encountered greater poverty. It and knowledge, and the expertise assembled for was striking that previous massive migrations, for the meeting could contribute significantly to that example to the United States and within Europe, process. had been driven by the demand for labour caused by industrialization. However current rural-urban Conference aims migration was caused by agricultural reform and Mr. Biau gave an overview of the programme for the the subsequent job losses which drove people meeting and invited the participants to introduce towards cities. In such circumstances, it was difficult themselves and describe their work experiences. to see where mass employment for could be Many of them thanked Mr. Biau and the secretariat generated. There was much discussion of the post- for convening the meeting, which they described as industrial ‘service economy’ and the ‘knowledge an exciting and significant initiative. economy’, but these sectors had failed to provide employment for the vast majority of those living in One participant, describing working in the Research slum conditions around the world. and Development Division in the early 1980s when operational activities had been combined with The challenge for UN-HABITAT lay in how to engage significant interest in policy work, said the dichotomy in strategic planning to help find solutions to the that had emerged between the programme’s huge problem of the existence of large populations in operational and normative activities was imagined cities without proper jobs. That required engaging in rather than real. Another said the most significant sustained dialogue with governments at all levels to lesson he had learned during his career with UN- build capacity to generate and manage the resources HABITAT had been the disparity between the necessary to combat the daunting challenges. The programme’s normative and operational activities. strategy of throwing money at urban problems Over a period of 20 years, he had never seen without parallel capacity-building was inefficient the direct transfer of normative work from the and had clearly not worked; financial resources were programme’s headquarters to the field level. necessary but should be accompanied by building of institutional capacity to initiate a positive spiral A number of participants spoke of the importance of of development. There was no easy formula in diversifying the programme’s funding sources. One that process, which itself presented a difficulty in a recalled that, in the early 1990s, the financial base media-dominated world in which brief sound bites had been eroded as funding for development aid and simplistic solutions were favoured. Changing projects decreased at an unprecedented rate. The mindsets and developing new systems that embraced response had been the establishment of a disaster political, legislative, cultural and social elements management unit, which had had a significant required time and effort. impact on the design of operational projects and their funding. He suggested that a similar lack of UN-HABITAT needed to respond to the scale of the funding might be brought about by the recent task by reconsidering the basic essentials at the heart global financial crisis, increasing the reluctance of the programme. Engaging in a large number of of donors to allocate scant resources to overseas small projects stretched its capacity, and there was a development. need to take a wider overview of key issues. Urban planning, for example, needed to be revitalized so One participant expressed regret that programmes that it proactively responded to projected growth were almost inevitably underfunded, which caused scenarios, rather than reactively seeking to resolve important ideas to be lost, adding that new rules 16 • Human Library Conference Report
designed to counter fraud made agencies less and experience and knowledge on human settlements less competitive and also that performance was and housing issues held by local communities measured by financial success. He suggested that worldwide. One said that, during the time he UN-HABITAT should focus on a limited number and spent working in the Fukuoka Regional Office for type of activities for optimal delivery. Asia and the Pacific, genuine consideration had been given to the contribution of communities to One contributor described moves in the 1990s the development process and ways in which to to decentralize UN-HABITAT activities in the give them a voice to help them improve their own light of the considerable difficulties of working environment. The principal driving force had been on operational and normative activities from a to help people to have a better life by ensuring centralized position. At that time, he said, there that cities catered to their needs. He underscored had been significant resistance to decentralization, the importance of projects and programmes being including from headquarters in New York, member country-driven and stressed the need to include states, donors, departments and individuals. A communities involved in conflicts and disasters in number of participants noted that, in contrast reconstruction and recovery efforts from the outset. to working in Nairobi, at the regional office level the division between normative and operational One participant said he had found his early activities was not apparent. One participant experiences in the field so beneficial that throughout highlighted the fact that the Programme Support his later career he had insisted that Programme Division had expanded from a handful of staff Management Officers should have field experience. members in the early days to around 50 currently, This policy had been so successful that it had become which had posed increasing challenges for routine in recruitment for many positions. Another implementation. It was to be hoped, he said, that recalled a seminal moment working in Sri Lanka UN-HABITAT would return to a more flexible and in the 1980s on the development of the Million decentralized mode of operation with increased Houses Programme, namely that government policy trust in partner implementing agencies. could be used as an enabling strategy.
One participant underscored the importance A third described as a major breakthrough the of working with mayors to improve and shift in the focus of UN-HABITAT work to urban promote sustainable urban management, using development and cities in the mid-1980s. Another decentralization as a tool to improve delivery and said that strong counterparts at the national level performance measurement, and strengthening were key to ensuring high-quality outputs. One civil society as a strategy to improve government drew attention to UN-HABITAT cooperative housing performance. activities, which he described as the most exciting aspect of the programme’s work and one which Another highlighted the numerous benefits of needed to be broadened. working in a regional office, including the freedom to interpret rules, being closer to the field and therefore One participant drew attention to the need to understanding and responding to the needs consider the specific challenges of individual cities, expressed at the local level and developing a wide including in countries with economies in transition. network of partners, including support agencies, Some of the challenges cited included unstable donors, governments and non-governmental political situations, lack of continuity of counterpart organizations. He expressed disappointment that staff, lack of funding and of sharing of best practices, insufficient attention was given to conveying to lack of donor interest in funding UN-HABITAT the local level some of the normative ideas that activities in countries in which they were already emanated from the programme. working, insufficient development of civil society at the national level, and lack of communication Several participants drew attention to the wealth of Human Library Conference Report • 17
between policymakers, decision makers and human relationships in the working environment, implementers. One participant underscored the saying that they enhanced the development and need to build capacity at the country and local levels, delivery of solutions to challenges and priorities. helping local municipalities or administrations to In that regard, several participants expressed their respond to the specific challenges facing them. particular satisfaction at time spent working in the Fukuoka Regional Office where they had experienced One participant underlined the importance of a friendly team, a pleasant environment and strategic partnerships, including with other UN sufficient delegation of authority from headquarters agencies, as an entry point to work related to other to increase efficiency. aspects of United Nations operations.
A number spoke of the importance of positive 18 • Human Library Conference Report Human Library Conference Report • 19
Participants listen carefully to the animated debates in an effort of knowledge sharing between generations. 20 • Human Library Conference Report
Preliminary discussions (round-table)
In a round-table discussion, participants presented such as manuals on community participation, was examples of UN-HABITAT projects or programmes a major part of the process, and was welcomed at from which lessons could be drawn. The session was the country level. While efforts had since been made moderated by Mr. Badiane. to explore further linkages between normative and operational activities, a lack of cohesion between Ms. Sylvie Lacroux recounted her experience as chief activities remained a legacy of the restructuring technical adviser to an urban management project of UN-HABITAT over the past10 years. The next covering 12 urban settlements in Burkina Faso. The restructuring should identify ways of overcoming the project had taken place within an adverse national artificial distinction and separation of normative and context of structural adjustment, coinciding with operational activities. investments by the World Bank in the two main urban centres of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. Mr. Eric Verschuur highlighted a programme in Several factors were identified as having a positive Somalia that embraced everything that UN-HABITAT influence on the outcomes of the project: building had to offer, including urban planning, governance, local capacity in urban management through land issues, capacity-building and low-cost housing, training sessions for technical staff and local elected all implemented in a difficult political environment. authorities; linking the on-site training activities The programme had been funded by the European with national and subregional training institutions; Community, with compliance of their stipulations networking at the subregional level to exchange adding an extra challenge. It had proved difficult to experiences with peers; decentralized cooperation build trust, but once that had been established the (between cities, institutions and other entities) funding for the programme had grown exponentially. to reinforce local self-development when the Other challenges faced including setting up a delivery facilitating role of central governments was weak; structure in the field and identifying competent inter-agency collaboration (with the International staff. A flexible approach had been necessary. He Labour Organization) in provision of labour and also praised the Oil‑For-Food Programme in Iraq infrastructure delivery; and the contribution of the and the Community Development Programme in project to the national decentralization process. Afghanistan for achieving satisfying outcomes in very testing environments. Mr. Mathias Hundsalz used the example of the Community Development Programme of the 1980s Mr. Seydou Sy Sall described a project in Senegal, to illustrate the relationship between normative and assisted by UN-HABITAT, in which housing operational activities. Carrying out work on research cooperatives had proved a successful model for and development was difficult without an operational community mobilization. The savings generated had base, but funding from the Danish Government made it possible to construct housing for the poor made it possible to link research with operational at reduced cost while achieving environmentally activities involving community participation. The lack friendly construction standards. Capacity-building of cooperation between divisions at that time made and forward planning had been important it necessary to set up a more informal administrative foundations, which had been successfully expanded, and logistical system to implement the activities. An with a large number of cooperatives generating important lesson was that lack of knowledge was as significant funding to upgrade slums and build much an impediment as lack of will, meaning that houses. The project illustrated the importance of the development of knowledge-building materials, continued engagement between UN-HABITAT and Human Library Conference Report • 21
national governments in producing city development Mr. Disa Weerapana drew attention to the Urban strategies. He stressed the importance of linkages Partnership for Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh, – between projects and programmes, between which began in 2000. The project focused on policies and strategies, and between operative and the extreme poor, as a condition of funding by normative activities – to create opportunities to UK Government’s Department for International combat poverty. Development (DfID). It was ambitious and on a large scale, with a budget of over USD 100 million, and Mr. Roberto Ottolenghi used the example of Haiti to sought to improve the lives of six million people in illustrate the impetus that the work of UN-HABITAT all urban areas of Bangladesh. The focus was from could give to structural change. At a time of political the ground up, empowering poor families to engage crisis UN‑Habitat managed to maintain its relationship in cooperative action at the neighbourhood and with the elected local authorities and was thus able community levels, thereby informing city-level and to make a significant contribution to the national national policy. The initiative was process-driven, plan for recovery and development. When a policy and its effectiveness was measured by output of decentralization was implemented, devolving indicators, such as the number of children retained more finance and resources to municipal and local in the school system. The scope of the project was governments, the programme was well positioned wide-ranging, including action on economic, social, to continue its cooperation. Such channeling of health, education, employment and livelihood issues. support to local government broke new ground Women had emerged as key drivers of actions under within the United Nations system. He concluded the project, leading decision-making processes and that, while in the end institutions within a country engaging in debate on policy issues. would effect change, agencies such as UN-HABITAT could play a key role in laying the foundation for Mr. Antonio Yachan said that three factors crucial that change. to the successful implementation of a project or programme were good human relations, knowledge Mr. Alberto Paranhos gave examples of projects and management. All those factors, he said, were that had succeeded in reducing inequalities. He present in the UN-HABITAT Participatory Slum offered insight into the challenges of dealing Upgrading Programme, which was operating in with municipal authorities in Latin America, many countries. It was designed to be inclusive and including the dichotomy between the power of participatory, and was implemented by national local politicians and the lack of money at their institutions, without the involvement of chief disposal, and the existence of a complex and often technical advisers from outside. All local stakeholders outdated legal framework. The approval of the UN- were represented, including the private sector and HABITAT guidelines on decentralization and the municipal governments, and attention was focused strengthening of local authorities by the Governing on policy and regulatory frameworks to ensure that Council in 2007 meant that an important tool was they were supportive. Financing was designed to available to assist the process. Using the guidelines be sustainable in the long term, and countries were as a basis, examples of good practice in service advised how to source their own funding and set up delivery in one urban location were replicated in budget support for slum upgrading. The programme other locations. The programme proved successful acknowledged the uniqueness of each country’s in several countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, situation and, therefore the necessity of a flexible, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. One problem country-driven approach. The ongoing programme faced was the frequent lack of alignment between was making a significant global contribution to slum the local priorities of the mayors of cities and the upgrading. global priorities of UN-HABITAT. Every opportunity should be taken to educate partners on their global Mr. Jorge Gavidia said that there were a number responsibilities. of criteria for assessing the success of a project. 22 • Human Library Conference Report
These were – compliance with the Habitat Agenda, was necessary, as in the case of the Sustainable knowledge creation, amount of money raised, Cities Programme. Also important was a capacity- potential for scaling up, and implementation building infrastructure, taking in workshops, training according to plan. It was difficult for one project to modules and development of guidelines, in order satisfy all criteria. He briefly described two projects. to ensure involvement of local urban institutions in The first had taken place in Kosovo, where UN‑Habitat the implementation process. That, in turn, would had helped develop a new planning system. The involve working with a range of partners, both project had involved coordinating four separate within and outside the United Nations. The success streams of funding but had been successfully of a project or programme was to a large extent implemented on schedule, though there was a lack dependent upon the quality of relationships with of funds for scaling up. The second, in Guayaquil, other stakeholders and the strength and scale of the Ecuador, was the only instance where UN‑Habitat networks developed. Those networks often proved had become the direct adviser to the political useful in implementing other projects in other areas. authority of a city, in a close partnership lasting Mr. David Kithakye described the impact of the six or seven years. He concluded that three main ending of apartheid in 1994 on housing policy in factors allowed projects in difficult environments to South Africa. In October 1994, negotiations on a function: the quality of the people involved; building new housing strategy culminated in the signing of cooperation and harmonious relations between the Botshabelo Housing Accord, which committed divisions and other actors; and successful delegation signatories to unified action on housing. In the of authority to the local level. ensuing years significant funding was mobilized Mr. Jan Meeuwissen spoke about experiences in Sri from the United Nations Development Programme Lanka following the 2004 tsunami. Many donors (UNDP), the United States Agency for International turned up with funding, but with little experience Development and other sources to support the of housing development, and hired contractors to People’s Housing Process, which empowered build new dwellings. Unfortunately the Government people to build their own homes and recognized had declared a no-build buffer zone of 100–200 the role of community-based structures as key metres from the coast, resulting in a proliferation of movers in the process. People’s Housing Process housing on unsuitable sites. Reconstruction was able units were established throughout South Africa, to begin properly when the buffer zone was revised. and the initiative changed the face of the country. In the meantime, funding of three million US dollars It was an impressive achievement for UN-HABITAT from the Government of Japan allowed UN-HABITAT to be involved in the creation of such a symbolic to demonstrate to other donors the benefits of a nationwide programme. people‑based approach to reconstruction, resulting Mr. Mark Hildebrand also commented on the in a high level of satisfaction with the new homes. housing programme in South Africa. He said that, That encouraged a flow of considerable additional while the Government had built over two million funding and UN-HABITAT eventually became the homes, the ‘backlog’ was now bigger than when largest single agency responsible for reconstruction. it began in 1994. In addition, many of the houses The lessons learned were: involve the people in built through contractors were poor in design and choosing housing most appropriate to them; lacked services. A recent agreement had been select the most effective implementation methods made to upgrade 400,000 homes. Commenting and convey the message to the donors in order to on the criteria for a successful project, he said that, generate additional funding. while the Technical Cooperation Division had been Mr. Ole Lyse observed that selling advocacy was successful according to a number of criteria, it difficult in the absence of an associated project had not always been able to generate sustainable or programme. An implementation component improvement in human settlements that was no Human Library Conference Report • 23
longer dependent on external outputs. Regarding was necessary, for example in the development of funding, the key factor was to identify and focus indicators, gaining access to funding and educating upon the comparative advantage of UN-HABITAT. cities on how to become more sustainable. It could be argued that UN-HABITAT should be Mr. Biau, commenting on the discussion, noted the prepared to operate holistically, as in Somalia, but divergence of opinion on what constituted good or there was an alternative argument that it should bad practice. He described three broad categories focus on particular issues, for example working with of programmes that had been mentioned: city mayors on slum upgrading. There was also a need interventions, requiring land, infrastructure and to be more creative in identifying funding sources, finance, where UN-HABITAT had built a largely concentrating more on sourcing local resources successful network over previous decades; post- rather than pursuing ‘fickle donor resources’. disaster interventions, for example in Sri Lanka, Mr. Kariba Traoré discussed the 1980–1982 Djibouti where rapid response was required for effective housing programme, the objective of which was to delivery; and interventions in conflict zones, for provide housing for the very poor. Half of the 1,400 example in Somalia. UN-HABITAT could be proud of homes were self-built by the people and 90 per cent its implementation of programmes and projects at of the costs were recovered. The evaluation was the community level, which was well documented very positive and the Government had continued in Asia; at the city level, for example in Latin the programme. It had continued in phases and America; and at the national level, for example the influenced the entire development of the city of development of national housing policies in Africa. Djibouti, including a new harbour. Less success had been achieved in upgrading slums, and further debate was required on the merits of Mr. Toshiyasu Noda, stressing the importance of slum upgrading as opposed to demolition and information dissemination, said that good examples relocation. He also expressed reservations about of networks existed, for example under the Cities in the stature of city development strategies, many of Climate Change Initiative, and there was potential which had not been implemented. for further network extension, for example a university partnership network and a technology On the positive side, UN-HABITAT had reached many transfer network. There was also considerable value people through its activities, projects, publications, in involving people and communities in project website and meetings during the course of its implementation and it was important to mobilize existence. Technical cooperation activities, which rapidly in post-conflict and post-disaster situations. were closest to the community, had played a key role. Financing remained a problem, and the 2005 Ms. Tatiana Roskoshnaya said that the paucity of Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness meant that less projects in Eastern Europe was at odds with the donor funding was channeled through organizations global mandate of UN-HABITAT. In many parts of such as UN-HABITAT, except perhaps for post-disaster Eastern Europe and in the Russian Federation the and post-conflict situations. Further attention should situation was similar to South Africa, with the existing be paid to working through the countries themselves. stock of low-income housing becoming increasingly The developing world was indeed developing, with dilapidated. While several countries were beginning funding becoming available in emerging economies. to tackle the issue systematically, authorities often A paradigm shift was needed within UN-HABITAT lacked the knowledge of how to make effective to respond to that changing scenario. Lastly, he use of the funds available. Capacity‑building questioned the magnitude of the slum problem, which was needed, for example on the adoption of a had possibly been exaggerated. Slum populations, he participatory approach and the development of felt, were decreasing, especially in Asia. There was an tools and guidelines. Some successes had been urgent need for reliable indicators and data on the achieved under the Sustainable Cities Programme, scale of the problem. but there were areas in which further cooperation 24 • Human Library Conference Report
PANEL DISCUSSIONS
PANEL Relations with other United 1 Nations agencies Participants
Mark Hildebrand, Disa Weerapana, David Kithakye, Ole Lyse, Doudou Mbye, Jan Meeuwissen. Cecilia Martinez (moderator)
uring the panel discussion, on other agencies in country operations? relations between UN-HABITAT d. What were the specific contributions and other United Nations D of UN-HABITAT to the global United agencies within the context of the “One Nations sustainable development United Nations” initiative, participants and poverty reduction agendas at the considered the following questions: country level? a. What could the “One United Nations” e. How did UN-HABITAT collaborate initiative mean for a small agency with other United Nations agencies with limited resources, such as UN- at the country level, what were the HABITAT? opportunities and challenges, and b. Could UN-HABITAT benefit from the what should be done to maximize the multi-year funding available for the benefits of such collaboration, taking country programme under the “One into account the Paris Declaration on United Nations” initiative, or were Aid Effectiveness? there external factors that limited the Ms. Cecilia Martinez, presenting agency’s access to such funding? background to the discussion, said that c. What was the experience of UN- the report of the Secretary-General’s HABITAT in working with UNDP and High-level Panel on United Nations Human Library Conference Report • 25
System-wide Coherence in the areas of development, Mr. Weerapana said that, under the “One United humanitarian assistance and the environment, Nations” initiative, UN-HABITAT was at a great entitled “Delivering as one” (A/61/583), had been disadvantage, being a small agency that was often published in November 2006, followed by a pilot not in countries where activities were taking place project in eight countries in 2007. The objective and therefore not part of the negotiating process for of the current panel discussion was to debate the project funding. That disadvantage was exacerbated relevance to UN-HABITAT of the push towards by the fact that its national ‘counterpart’, the ministry greater coherence within the United Nations system. of housing, was often of marginal importance in the ministerial hierarchy, with little influence on Mr. Hildebrand recalled a time when most UN- policymaking. In that context, it was a positive move HABITAT technical cooperation activities had been to create UN-HABITAT programme managers with financed by UNDP, the then funding agency of the a national presence. He observed, however, that United Nations. There had been a close relationship there was not always alignment between the global between those at the Regional and Technical priorities and principles of the United Nations and Cooperation Division and the resident participants. national priorities, and the interest of Governments UNDP had then decided to become an executing in working with the United Nations was declining. agency, and had set up the entity the Office for The increasing trend towards grant funds was Project Services to support the move. Other agencies another factor leading to a fall in funding. It was not had begun to compete aggressively in fund-raising always obvious what role UN-HABITAT had to play with UNDP and with one another. UN-HABITAT had within the common country assessments under the not been immediately threatened, partly because United Nations Development Assistance Framework. of its specialized nature and partly because UNDP It was worth recalling, however, that Governments continued to call upon UN-HABITAT when the remained the biggest investors in poverty alleviation country priority was urban development or housing. and slum upgrading and UN-HABITAT had a vital Over time, however, collaboration within the United contribution to make in that area, by improving Nations system was damaged, and it had become those programmes and by increasing donor interest increasingly difficult for UN-HABITAT to gain access in those activities. to funding. Mr. Lyse said that, in his experience as focal The idea of a United Nations house, where all United point for collaboration with the United Nations Nations offices in one country came under one roof, Environment Programme, the relationship between was not new, and dated back to when the United that programme and UN-HABITAT was strong, Nations began operations at the country level. The and their respective strengths and mandates were “One United Nations” initiative had been long in its complementary rather than competing, epitomizing ‘genesis’, but had been difficult to achieve given the the virtues of the “One United Nations” initiative. way in which funding was sourced. The signs were Within the global mandate of UNEP, UN-HABITAT that drastic reductions in donor funding for United was able to help it to gain access at the local level; Nations programmes were imminent. That would and within the more country-focused mandate of inevitably mean further scrutiny of the efficiency UN-HABITAT, UNEP could assist that programme of United Nations spending. In conclusion, he said in the global dimensions of its work. That that working relationships with other agencies and complementarity had on occasions been attractive organizations, including the World Bank, the United to donors and had helped the organizations to Nations Industrial Development Organization, mobilize joint funding. At a practical level, UNEP had the International Labour Organization and the assisted UN-HABITAT with participation in the Global United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Environment Outlook agenda, taking its city profile Organization, had often proved fruitful. to a higher level. In addition, the technical expertise 26 • Human Library Conference Report
of UNEP had been beneficial in developing joint Iraq Trust Fund, he said there was a tendency for UN- tools under the auspices of the Cities Alliance. The HABITAT not to take the lead and to fail to promote two organizations had also often carried out joint its technical expertise in particular areas, although it activities in global events, such as the World Urban had to ensure that the administrative efforts did not Forum and Commission on Sustainable Development surpass the gains available. sessions. On the other hand, some initiatives had Mr. Meeuwissen said that the current competitive not proved successful. For example, UN-HABITAT climate between United Nations agencies militated had never succeeded in obtaining funding from against UN-HABITAT. There was a need for a neutral the Global Environment Facility, usually because its body coordinating United Nations assistance in projects were not considered to have the required a country, so that all agencies enjoyed an equal global scale. By the same token, UN-HABITAT had opportunity to play a role depending on their also had difficulty putting local issues on the agenda mandates. It was also a disadvantage that UN- of the Environment Management Group. HABITAT could not hire its own project staff or give Turning to UNDP, he agreed that funding via that service contracts, being dependent upon UNDP for programme had been very important to UN‑Habitat those services. The Regional Office for Asia and the and that the move towards UNDP being an executing Pacific had sought other service providers, including agency had harmed UN-HABITAT, although examples the Office for Project Services, which had recruited did exist of positive collaboration between the two some staff on behalf of UN-HABITAT. In that region, agencies, for example in the UNDP Public-Private promising relationships were being developed with Partnership for the Urban Environment programme. the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner He also agreed that the appointment of UN- for Refugees and with the United Nations Population HABITAT programme managers had strengthened Fund, taking advantage of the expertise of UN- the agency’s engagement, even though some HABITAT at the country level. Such relationships lacked the seniority to be effective. In conclusion, he showed how the “One United Nations” initiative mentioned partnership with the International Labour was intended to operate. If UN‑Habitat could Organization and with ICLEI-Local Governments demonstrate its comparative advantage and its for Sustainability as other examples of fruitful capacity, there was considerable opportunity to find collaboration. new ways of working with other agencies.
Mr. Doudou Mbaye said that, according to the Mr. Kithakye said that UN-HABITAT often expected principles of the “One United Nations” initiative, more than it offered. It must be prepared to adapt whereby countries would work with United Nations to the new order under the “One United Nations” agencies in a manner that capitalized on the initiative, ensuring that partners were well aware comparative advantages of those agencies, the idea of what UN-HABITAT could offer, and that it was of UN-HABITAT as a small, disadvantaged agency was prompt in delivering an attractive package when not tenable. He thought UN-HABITAT was too often the opportunity arose. It was important to maintain ‘defeatist’ in attitude, whereas it had much to offer good relations with the resident representatives and should not minimize its own contribution. The and to take full part in meetings, demonstrating common country assessment was an important tool in knowledge and wisdom. identifying housing and habitation issues in which UN- In the ensuing discussion, much attention was paid HABITAT could play a role. The “One United Nations” to the implications of the “One United Nations” initiative notwithstanding, however, presence on the initiative for UN-HABITAT. One participant said that ground and the building of personal relationships were the initiative offered a great opportunity for UN- essential for in-country participation and responding HABITAT, but could not be taken for granted. UN- to the individual needs of countries. Using the HABITAT had to prove it was efficient and able to example of the United Nations Development Group deliver, and had to demonstrate added value. In Human Library Conference Report • 27
some cases the UN-HABITAT programme managers the programme’s human settlement focus could had to take the risk of committing the agency to make a strong contribution to high-profile agendas, action in order to ensure a prompt response to an such as poverty alleviation. A third stressed the opportunity. Another said that there was nothing unique position of UN-HABITAT as the ‘city agency’, wrong conceptually with the initiative; the proof was with mayors as its counterparts. It should focus on in how well the concept was put into practice. The engaging them more effectively. Another supported United Nations was a competitive system, which was that notion, stressing the cross-sectoral role played likely to continue as such as long as agencies had by UN‑Habitat. various scales of operation, funding potentials and One participant said there were too many UN- levels of representation in a country. HABITAT programme managers with too little Several participants expressed concern at the financial substantive and financial support. It might be better implications for UN-HABITAT of recent funding to reduce their number and offer them strong expert trends. One said that the growing trend towards support, so that they proved their added value at the direct budget support, following the approval of a country level. national poverty reduction strategy paper, tended to With regard to relationships with other agencies, one marginalize agencies such as UN-HABITAT. Another participant recounted her experience with the UN- spoke of the value of pooling resources. The water HABITAT Liaison and Information Office in Geneva, and sanitation sector was usually well financed and where coordination was aided by the presence of there was obvious potential in offering a country numerous other agencies and organizations within a joint package comprising habitation, water and the city, for example in responding to the 2004 sanitation. tsunami. UN‑Habitat also played an effective role as With regard to the role UN-HABITAT could play a member of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee within United Nations country teams, several on Humanitarian Affairs. participants agreed that the agency should ensure One participant questioned the tendency to refer that it clearly identified its comparative advantage to cities and urban matters as a ‘sector’. Cities, he and positioned itself accordingly. One said UN- said, made a contribution to economic, social and HABITAT should consider whether its comparative environmental issues out of proportion to their size, advantage lay in its expertise in technical execution and were a platform for optimizing sectoral decisions or elsewhere, for example as a specialist advisory rather than a sector in themselves. Appreciation body to governments. Another said it was unrealistic of that fact was necessary to enable UN-HABITAT to expect human settlements to be included as a to position itself within the strategic planning separate entity in national planning; it was up to UN- programme at the country level. HABITAT programme managers to demonstrate how 28 • Human Library Conference Report
PANEL 2 Relations between divisions Participants
Mathias Hundsalz, Ali Shabou, Antonio Yachan, Jorge Gavidia.
Mariam Yunusa (moderator)
uring the panel discussion on e. What were future perspectives for relations between the four UN- UN-HABITAT technical cooperation, DHABITAT divisions, participants and what should be done to tackle considered the following questions: the interdivisional shortcomings of the past 25 years? a. How should UN-HABITAT manage its interdivisional collaboration for more Ms. Mariam Yunusa, the moderator, efficiency and effective delivery at the said the discussions would focus on country level? the challenges within UN-HABITAT and how to develop its niche position. She b. Which institutional mechanisms drew attention to the medium-term had been put in place to ensure the strategic and institutional plan, which success of UN‑Habitat normative work was built around six focus areas and at the regional and national levels? intended to provide programmatic c. How did the regional and technical coherence. The six focus areas did cooperation feed back into the not, however, fit neatly with its four- normative work of UN-HABITAT? How divisional structure. The question of could the process be improved? realigning the organizational structure d. What were the best (and worst) with its focus areas was one that examples of interdivisional continued to engage the Committee cooperation at the country level? of Permanent Representatives and UN- How could divisions be encouraged HABITAT staff. She invited the panelists to provide their expertise in support of to consider programmatic coherence regional offices instead of working in and how the enhanced normative and isolation? operational framework providing for Human Library Conference Report • 29
the implementation of the focus areas fitted into backbone of UN-HABITAT work, he said that as divisional and management structures. financial resources were limited it was important to anchor that work in innovative solutions and Mr. Hundsalz considered the question of partnerships with all sectors of civil society. Clear interdivisional collaboration in the light of his guidelines should be adopted at headquarters level, work in other organizations and his return to UN- avoiding bureaucratic and lengthy procedures, to HABITAT after an absence of several years. He said set out for governments and local authorities the multiple issues were at play: programme strategies, steps required for cooperation. Lack of coordination bureaucratic responses and a large range of global between country offices, the Regional and Technical programmes and country-level operations. The Cooperation Division and other UN-HABITAT divisions medium-term strategic and institutional plan was also formed an obstacle to successful cooperation, interesting in its conceptual approach to tackling not least in the area of fund-raising. such issues but did not deal with the work of each division. The lack of clear-cut divisional roles Mr. Yachan considered the issue of how regional and interdivisional collaboration was one of the and technical operations fed back into the normative most important challenges facing UN-HABITAT. He work of UN-HABITAT. In his view, to streamline UN- deplored the current differences between divisions HABITAT and improve coordination, normative and that tended to ‘hamstring’ UN-HABITAT when it operational programmes could be combined, but came to delivering as one. He noted that where such a move would require radical restructuring. In collaboration existed it was largely the result of recent years, the distinction between the two had cooperation between staff members with an interest become unclear. There was, for example, no clear in particular issues. Interdivisional cooperation mechanism for feeding back experiences in the field began with the sharing of information, yet there was to the normative section. The enhanced normative no automatic process for feeding back experiences and operational framework appeared to be a good at the country level into UN-HABITAT normative platform for combining the two areas of work, with activities. the participatory slum upgrading programme a good example of the involvement of all staff. UN-HABITAT Mr. Ali Shabou focused on institutional mechanisms needed a single, clear leadership of operational and that had been put in place to ensure the success normative activities, a clear programme with clear of UN-HABITAT normative work at the regional definitions of outcomes, and clear information for and national levels, looking at advocacy, technical countries. The operational and normative should cooperation and fund-raising. Advocacy had been be balanced and should prepare and deliver at issue for the past 30 years, indicating that UN- programmes together. HABITAT work had been either unsuccessful or overambitious. The programme should have a Mr. Gavidia said that, other than the medium- ‘corporate image’ mirroring to the world a corporate term strategic and institutional plan, UN‑Habitat entity, requiring complementarity of divisions and appeared to have had no other institutional subdivisions with a flexible central system. While a mechanisms for bringing together operational and major advocacy asset of UN-HABITAT was its flagship normative activities, the discussions of many years and technical publications, the fact that they were notwithstanding. The programme had accumulated not well known to central or local authorities, a wealth of knowledge from technical operations although widely recognized by academic institutions that had not been collated and there were obstacles and professionals, posed a problem. Publications in the processing and application of that knowledge. and promotional materials, including websites, He illustrated the dysfunctional relationship should be a crucial part of UN-HABITAT advocacy between UN-HABITAT divisions and regional offices work worldwide. on the basis of his experience in Latin America, where the two levels had differing perceptions of Turning to technical cooperation, which was the 30 • Human Library Conference Report
their knowledge of countries’ needs. There were among middle managers stemming from a lack of some examples of excellent cooperation on best funding and management, and their resulting need practices, however, such as the safer cities and water to fight for their programmes; and the difficult programmes, arising out of the mutual needs of the funding situation that had led to fragmentation. He regional offices and the divisions. Translating global expressed the opinion that, ideally, regional offices templates, with funds raised for particular activities should work with regular core staff to undertake and little flexibility, into local contexts continued to initiatives at the country level. The issue of normative pose a challenge. UN-HABITAT needed to reassess work should not be exaggerated, as UN-HABITAT its role in technical support and how to carry it out, was not a global agency in practice, rather its work something that might entail a radical break from the was focused at national and local levels. approach of the past 30 years. Participants paid considerable attention to the Responding to the panelists’ comments, Ms. Yunusa definition of normative work. One maintained that singled out the issue of information sharing and projects at the country level could not constitute distribution, expressing the view that UN-HABITAT normative work as the knowledge was not applicable was making progress in that direction with the worldwide, but could be a norm for all countries recently-launched Urban Gateway website and the in a region with relevance for application therein. posting of mission reports on the internet. She also Another disagreed, saying that projects could be drew attention to the World Urban Forum, which repeated across regions and beyond, as was the case, was enhancing respect for UN-HABITAT as a United for example, with slum upgrading. UN-HABITAT Nations agency. She acknowledged that fund- was visible as an organization through its projects raising, procedures and internal cohesion continued and therefore its technical operations needed to be to be thorny issues. strengthened. To that end it was crucial that seed money should be disbursed to regional and national Opening the general discussion, Mr. Biau clarified a technical operations. number of issues. First, with regard to the medium- term strategic and institutional plan, the six focus One participant cautioned against confusing areas of the plan had been introduced at the knowledge management with normative work. request of the Governing Council and Committee It was necessary to learn from activities on the of Permanent Representatives as another way of ground and a mechanism was needed to bring that presenting the Habitat Agenda, and they could be knowledge to UN-HABITAT. Greater emphasis should subject to change; the most important was excellence therefore be placed on a knowledge management in management. Second, the enhanced normative mechanism. There was not so much a separation and operational framework represented an effort to between normative and operational work, but combine the work of all divisions at the country level, rather a lack of coordination, with the normative but it had not proved successful as it was impossible aspect not well known in the organization. Another clearly to identify and distil the work of UN-HABITAT participant said that over the years the Regional and in all countries and there remained no matrix of Technical Cooperation Division had produced the country activities. Third, in his view, the current organization’s expertise and that the resources of structure of UN-HABITAT should be abandoned as UN-HABITAT should be put were it mattered, in the soon as possible. UN-HABITAT implemented global generation of new knowledge; that was not being programmes rather than undertook normative work. done systematically. The contradictions lay in the mobilization of funds Several participants said that UN-HABITAT lacked for global programmes and for regional offices. The strong management and vehicles for evaluation. One reasons for the current lack of coordination lay in decried the current number of chiefs in UN-HABITAT lack of interest in programme coordination in the and the fact that there appeared to be restructuring leadership of UN-HABITAT; an attitude of ‘fiefdoms’ Human Library Conference Report • 31
whenever a new executive director was appointed. achieved through simple methods such as timesheet UN‑Habitat needed decision makers, knowledge management. The issues of a lack of common management and a platform to share information. objectives and inability to pool resources also needed Another expressed the view that it was institutional to be tackled. blockages that need to be cleared and that blame Another participant expressed regret that the should not be attributed to the management team. enhanced normative and operational framework One participant said that, if faced with a lack of was not working well. The global programme and funding, UN-HABITAT should ensure expertise and regional offices should be working together on the accountability among its staff, which could be ground, as they were doing with great success on 32 • Human Library Conference Report
PANEL
Impact of technical cooperation on 3 national policy reforms Participants
Heinz Kull, Jean Marc Rossignol, Jay Moor, Sylvie Lacroux, Roberto Ottolenghi, Seydou Sy Sall. Ax. G-Egziabher (moderator)
uring the panel discussion on the translate global norms into specific impact of UN-HABITAT technical strategies? cooperation on national policy D Mr. Heinz Kull said there were many reforms, participants considered the instances of housing policies developed following relevant questions: with UNDP or UN-HABITAT assistance a. How could UN-HABITAT manage to being adopted by governments, make a difference at the country level reflecting recognition by political leaders in influencing housing and urban that housing, especially for the poor, was policies? an issue that merited their attention. Unfortunately, however, that success b. How could capacity development add at the institutional level did not always value to policy reforms at the country lead to an improvement in housing level in key areas of the UN-HABITAT conditions. A prime reason was that mandate? governments lacked the experience or c. What were the success stories of UN- finance to translate policy formulation HABITAT policy advisory activities, and into practical improvement on the what triggered them? ground. Some success had been achieved d. How could the lack of funding using finance from the United Nations for normative activities affect the Capital Development Fund for practical technical cooperation portfolio? demonstrations of housing development, but many countries continued to lag e. How could the future country-level behind. Technical cooperation should be activities of UN-HABITAT be reinvented combined with operational components and better articulated to ensure more to test the new policy approaches; and impact on national policies and monitoring and evaluation should not Human Library Conference Report • 33
end with the formulation of the new policy but to support the housing and property directorate, to should continue for some time afterwards to ensure put in place a new system for registration of property that the results were achieved. and to provide support to municipal governments. UN-HABITAT had developed appropriate tools and Mr. Jay Moor gave a personal account of his carried out training and capacity-building. The experiences in various projects in Asia and the project had proved a strong basis for the future Pacific. While the projects had achieved a degree of development of national policy on housing and success, he did not know to what extent they had property in Kosovo. been instrumental in changing government policy in those locations. He had, however, encountered Mr. Sy Sall focused on the impact of the cooperative some interesting developments, not necessarily housing model in Senegal, which had been related to the projects on which he was working, implemented with UN-HABITAT support. The scale, but illustrating the contextual importance of United membership and financial assets of the cooperative Nations engagement: for example, a well-established system had attracted the interest of a number of microfinance system in Indonesia predating the banks and enabled Senegal to add considerably to Grameen Bank; and a cadre of young professionals its housing stock. The supply of housing had been in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and in Sri adjusted to the income levels of the purchasers. The Lanka capable of embracing new technologies. initial technical development had been followed Those experiences had influenced his work on the by a consolidation phase and there had been an Habitat Agenda, which was a permissive rather adaptation of housing types and architectural than mandatory document, recognizing that every designs in accordance with the economic reality. city and its country was different – in the extent Plot sizes had been reduced to make them more of civic engagement, the quality of governance, affordable. The lessons were that it was important to the existence of legal and policy frameworks, the pay attention to the link between human settlements scale of privatization and other contextual factors and the economy in general; that projects should not determining the success of a project and whether or be limited to technical matters but should contain a not it could be scaled up. policy element and that technical assistance needed to be combined with demonstration projects. In Ms. Lacroux looked at two disparate projects in addition, while the ministry of housing might be which UN-HABITAT technical cooperation had had the entry point for UN-HABITAT, links needed to be a major influence on national reforms. The first forged with other government entities, particularly was an urban management project in 11 secondary the ministry of finance. The main difficulty was cities in Burkina Faso in the early 1990s, at a time that decentralization of responsibility had not been when the country was heavily engaged in discussion adequately accompanied by a transfer of resources. on decentralization. The project was formulated within the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Mr. Jean Marc Rossignol described a project in under a department created to support local Rwanda in which UN-HABITAT had assisted in authorities during the decentralization process. refining the urban development policy that the Major components were capacity-building among Government was putting in place, which focused administrative staff at the local authority and on land reform. A land law had been adopted municipal levels, and the formulation of a national that had had a negative impact on the occupants plan for the decentralization of urban management. of the land and UN-HABITAT had been brought in UN-HABITAT thus made a major contribution to the to help reformulate the land policy with adequate process of decentralization in Burkina Faso. In her compensation. In reality the recommendations of second example, she described the UN-HABITAT UN-HABITAT were not fully adopted as they proved intervention in Kosovo at the conclusion of the war beyond the Government’s financial capabilities, in 1999, when the programme had had to act swiftly but the land reform that was carried out was an 34 • Human Library Conference Report
improvement on the original formulation. The be useful to carry out an evaluation of housing project had been implemented with several partners projects to find out why that was the case. A more and demonstrated the value that UN-HABITAT could favourable environment was emerging, however, as add when partnering with other organizations. a result of the presence of UN-HABITAT programme managers and focused housing ministries. Another Mr. Ottolenghi said there was a need to consider the participant said that specific conditions were impact of development projects. It was fair to say required for interventions to have an impact at the that the Regional and Technical Cooperation Division national level: programmes or projects should show had not achieved as much as it could, for various linkage between the local, subnational and national reasons, including that its activities were often driven levels; conditions should be created for innovation by the agenda of donors or governments, rather and institutional reform; and domestic resources for than by Habitat Agenda. The lack of core funding scaling up should be available. Several participants and the obsession with overheads were contributory supported the view that lack of scaling up and of factors. In addition, UN-HABITAT had frequently post-project evaluation were often serious omissions been too timid in its approach, for example on the in project implementation. issue of legal reform and would have benefited from the addition of an expert on urban law as a One participant drew attention to the situation in staff member. Other factors included the mistaken the former Soviet Union countries of Eastern Europe assumption that projects that had worked in one and western Asia, where the master plans drawn context were automatically replicable elsewhere up under the previous regime had expired and and the emphasis on delivery of technical assistance assistance and advice were needed in developing without engagement in policy discourse. new plans for city development and management.
As an example of the problems that could There was also discussion of the related matter of afflict a project he quoted Afghanistan, where information dissemination and awareness-raising. UN‑Habitat had succeeded in stabilizing tenure One participant said transmission of knowledge and regularizing settlement. In 2005, however, the could be effective in triggering policy reform. UN- government passed, by presidential decree, a land HABITAT had over the years developed a stock of act dispossessing all those with land tenure based good instruments, and the agency’s publications on customary systems. That act had been drafted were in use in many locations worldwide. Another elsewhere. UN-HABITAT had carried out an effective said here was no need to ‘flood’ people with project but had paid inadequate attention to legal information; as long as it was available on the reform. Others had stepped in and UN‑Habitat internet, they could access what they needed using had paid the price. In conclusion, he made three a search engine. recommendations: closer attention should be Mr. Kull said many projects concentrated on short- given to project identification and selection; project term gains and longer-term impacts were either formulation should always involve a policy element; lacking or were never measured. Post-evaluation of and the impact of the project should be carefully selected projects would help to shed light on whether assessed to enable dissemination of lessons learned. they had an impact. He added that there should be a Following the presentations, the impacts of compulsory capital investment component in projects interventions on further action and policy so that the policy dimensions could be realized. Mr. Sy development at the national level were discussed. Sall said that technical cooperation activities should One participant used examples from Africa to show remain the entry point, with those activities used to that housing projects had often been carried out in identify policy reform needs, followed by a response isolation and not as a component of a comprehensive to those needs. Slum upgrading should be an plan, and thus lacked policy impact. It would important component of housing policy. Ms. Lacroux Human Library Conference Report • 35
said there was a role for regional offices to build make an impact, but many remained unread on the lessons learned from country experiences of and unused. The potential for disseminating policy reform. Legal reform was necessary to support information by electronic means should be further the process at national level. National observatories explored. Mr. Rossignol said there was limited time could assist in measuring the impact of policy change. to read all the publications received, so documents Mr. Moor highlighted the need to collate lessons needed to be short and pithy if they were to have learned to inform the future direction of UN-HABITAT. an impact. Mr. Rossignol said UN-HABITAT should increase its Concluding the debate, Ms. Auxumite Gebre- cooperation with other stakeholders to generate the Egziabher, the moderator, said that there was a need resources necessary to ensure that projects had a to identify priorities, work with partners and put into policy development component. action the mechanisms through which UN‑Habitat Mr. Ottolenghi agreed that publications could could make an impact based on its expertise. 36 • Human Library Conference Report
PANEL
Relations between country-level operations and 4 regional and global activities Participants
Mark Hildebrand, Robert Ottolenghi, Tatiana Roskoshnaya, Ole Lyse, David Kithakye. Eduardo Moreno (moderator)
water and sanitation and climate change they affect the global priorities of the issues. agency?
uring the panel discussion on e. What were the problems to be resolved improving relations between in developing regional programmes? country-level operations and D Introducing the discussion, Mr. Eduardo UN‑Habitat global activities, participants Lopez-Moreno, the moderator, considered the following questions: considered the nature of global and a. How did UN-HABITAT technical country-level activities, noting that the cooperation at the country level latter could also have global concerns. specifically relate to the agency’s He also considered the design and global mandate as specified in the implementation of global programmes Habitat Agenda? and questioned the extent to which they came in response to demands at the b. Who were the drivers of change at country level. both the country and regional levels, and how did UN-HABITAT interact with Mr. Lyse spoke about urban planning them? What were the mechanisms in initiatives and the variation in the place to support such cooperation? requirements and needs of various cities and countries. In his experience, the c. How should UN-HABITAT invest in work of UN-HABITAT in that area had global programmes with country- been well received over the years, but level activities, and how should those the interest among local authorities had programmes involve regional offices? tended to be in support to assist dialogue d. Which lessons could be drawn from with stakeholders and to help regain the past 25 years of UN-HABITAT the reputation and credibility that many technical cooperation and how do Human Library Conference Report • 37
local authorities had lost. The cities he had worked of the world and applying it at the regional level. with had had overwhelming problems and lack Mr. Hildebrand spoke on the relationship between of services, for example Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, technical cooperation at the country level and the during its cholera epidemic in 2008. The focus on the agency’s global mandate as set out in the Habitat planning aspect came later. He also advocated that Agenda. The diagnostic process at the country level the best way for UN-HABITAT to reach a country was was sometimes lacking and, if there were greater use to begin work with one city, rather than beginning of indicators and the capacity for monitoring them, at the national level and dealing with several cities at the relationship between the two could be reinforced. the same time. Replication programmes had proved He agreed that, although there were occasions when relatively successful over time. a minister of housing or urban development was For UN-HABITAT to achieve success in those areas the driver for change, it was more usually a group it was crucial for the Regional and Technical of mayors working with communities who brought Cooperation Division to work closely with regional about change. Citing the example of slum upgrading offices and also with urban institutions to build in Brazil, he said innovations did not come from capacity and create an anchor for the agency’s work; ministries and UN-HABITAT should focus on working it then became possible to have influence with with mayors. It was important to understand and ministers at the national level in looking at various empower them, particularly in countries in which urban planning approaches. The drivers for change central governments were not held in high esteem. were cities and urban institutions, not the national Turning to the distinction between a global mandate level. Governments were convinced by a bottom-up and global programmes, he said that originally the approach. latter had not been part of the Habitat Agenda but Ms. Roskoshnaya spoke about her experience had later provided an opportunity for the agency to in the countries of the Commonwealth of work as a partner with the World Bank and other Independent States, where the issues needing agencies. There could be added value in global to be tackled covered the full range of the UN- programmes, as in the Cities Alliance, but they HABITAT mandate: housing, urban management, might be unsuccessful if they did not work closely planning, migration, legislation, sustainable with regional offices to the benefit of UN-HABITAT development, in particular the sustainable regional activities. The Cities Alliance had been financing of development, and the involvement set up for many of the reasons highlighted in the of civil society. She emphasized that cooperation current meeting and with the aim of conceiving with countries was driven by demand and called technical cooperation products that would stimulate for varying approaches, for example, a high level strong demand from cities. That had evolved and of advocacy work was required in many of the changed significantly and there was justification newly independent states with which UN-HABITAT for re-examining the design of global programmes, had no agreement. The presence of a UN‑Habitat whether they served a purpose for UN-HABITAT programme manager in Moscow was helpful in and whether greater scale and funding could be reaching other countries, but there were a number achieved by working collectively with partners. A of ways in which UN-HABITAT could develop its weak financial basis had clearly become a major presence, for example, by the provision of timely issue in recent years. Technical cooperation activities advice and reports and through interaction with had begun with a clear financial basis that had not various inter‑city networks and cooperation with been dependent on the regular budget or the United universities. It was also useful in the region to Nations Habitat and Human Settlements Foundation. create a roster of translation specialists. In her Given the changes in the financial environment, view, it was important to find a way of sharing the situation was no longer sustainable and there the experiences of UN‑Habitat from various parts was an argument for restructuring and considering 38 • Human Library Conference Report
collective activities. programmes to regional offices with the aim of regionalizing global programmes and feeding back Mr. Kithakye said the adage “think global, act to divisions. local” should inspire UN-HABITAT activities. Global programmes should relate or lead to regional and Another pointed out that local authorities were local‑level activities. He cited the example of the becoming more sophisticated and, while they World Urban Forum, which could be described as a needed assistance, it had to be more specialized global activity, but was also informed by input from and with more precise knowledge in particular the ground. Activities at the local level should feed areas. There was already a trend towards greater into thinking at the global level and that relationship use of information technology and that would should define UN-HABITAT policies and priorities. generate a smaller volume of funding for UN- The organization’s problems were created by the HABITAT operations. The agency was no longer a differences within it, which were often attributable unique source of knowledge and experience and to personality issues, and cooperation was a priority. would have to redefine its role in generating or capturing cutting-edge know-how. He concurred Mr. Ottolenghi emphasized that the world of that it was important for UN-HABITAT to identify technical cooperation had changed radically and emerging issues, as had been the case with urban that no country needed generic technical assistance management, and to capture them. nor were any willing to finance it. For UN-HABITAT to have prosperous operations portfolios it was essential The need for UN-HABITAT to focus on a few, rather to accept that and to raise the stakes in terms of than a large, unsustainable number of issues was technical specificity and enhanced knowledge on raised by a number of participants. One said that the critical issues. Global programmes should fulfill that agency should select a few areas in which it could role. No programme should be imposed from outside create genuine teams rather than lonely individuals by other agendas; they had always been conceived working without guidance. and debated within UN-HABITAT and should be the One participant raised the example of global product of forward thinking and capturing the need campaigns, which he said were the best way of for change. The Safer Cities Programme had been reaching stakeholders and having an impact. They an example of that and demonstrated the need to were organized in collaboration with ministries at think more in that direction. Opportunities had been the national level and focused on a single major missed and the responsibility lay with UN-HABITAT. event. They were, therefore, an example of where It was a sad indictment that the same issues were the key partner was the ministry, not the city. Cities being discussed after so many years. There was a were expected to follow up, but that did not always mood for change in the organization and consensus happen unless UN-HABITAT was present to take up that the opportunity should be seized. the initiative. Opening the discussion, Mr. Lopez-Moreno noted A number of examples were given of opportunities that, while a number of positions had been voiced for future UN-HABITAT involvement in global by the panelists, all had emphasized the usefulness issues, such as the cities and climate change of the connection between local activities and initiative, biodiversity, marine conservation and the global programmes. He invited the participants to ecosystems approach to sustainable development. consider to what extent global programmes needed Several participants agreed with the need for a link to be revisited. between the local, regional and global levels. One One contributor warned that global concerns said that all programmes should be so premised; were not necessarily homogenous across regions. others cautioned that the time was not ripe to set up He recommended outposting staff from global new global programmes given huge donor fatigue. Human Library Conference Report • 39
One participant said that UN-HABITAT needed to would progress more swiftly than others and UN- concentrate on improving capacity comprehensively HABITAT should tailor its responses to the countries to understand issues of urban development. Another that required input. said that new programmes were already being set One participant highlighted the need for more up and they should, therefore, be evaluated and evaluation of lessons learned in the formulation of assessed according to their usefulness. One said UN-HABITAT priorities and the reformulation of the that new global programmes were not needed, focus areas to reflect areas with which technical but rather a new platform akin to the World Urban cooperation was really concerned, such as post- Forum, as a new mechanism for negotiating with disaster relief climate change and technology. countries without being prescriptive, and providing policy and direction. Summing up the debate, Mr. Biau said that the problem lay primarily in the absence of links between One participant, speaking from experience in Asia global and regional programmes; it was necessary and the Pacific, pointed out that more countries were to regionalize the global work, and some success entering the middle-income range and donors were had been achieved in that area. There would be an withdrawing from them. He proposed packaging organizational review of UN-HABITAT following the those issues under global programmes to seek twenty-third session of the Governing Council, he funding. Another said that, although some countries said, and that would include a review of focus areas. were no longer considered developing countries, He expressed appreciation for the timely discussion there remained a high degree of inequality within and the hope that many of the participants would be them, as seen in Latin America. Some countries invited to contribute to the review. 40 • Human Library Conference Report
PANEL 5 Technical cooperation and programme administration Participants
Eric Verschuur, Ingunde Fuehlau, Mathias Hundsalz, Kariba Traoré, Jan Meelker, Henk Verbeek. Paul Taylor (moderator)
uring the panel discussion Division could be transferred to on technical cooperation and regional offices, the United Nations Dprogramme administration, Office at Nairobi, or the Office of the participants considered the following Executive Director? questions: e. Was there a way to speed up UN- a. How could the competitiveness of HABITAT recruitments in the context UN-HABITAT country programme of the new Inspira human resources administration be improved vis-à-vis talent management system, which other United Nations agencies such as appeared to be even more bureaucratic UNDP and the United Nations Office and cumbersome than the previous for Project Services? system? b. How did UN-HABITAT administrative f. How could the dominant United performance compare with the Nations culture in which control came performance of bilateral or multilateral first and action second be changed, agencies in terms of human and and how to move towards post- financial resources management? facto assessments and verification to empower project managers to perform c. To move towards “excellence in and meet partners’ expectations? management” of country activities, which delegation of authority had Mr. Verschuur said a major frustration in been enforced and what remained to the Regional and Technical Cooperation be done? Division was how to compete with competitors such as UNDP and the Office d. To improve administrative efficiency for Project Services and demonstrate in and avoid duplication, which current the field that UN-HABITAT had added functions of Programme Support Human Library Conference Report • 41
value. As the process of setting up new projects possible to begin incrementally, with small changes had become extremely complicated with the control such as streamlining recruitment processes and element of the Programme Support Division, he improving turnaround times. questioned whether the Division had made UN- Mr. Hundsalz highlighted a number of operational HABITAT activities in the field easier. Some risks matters. Given that the focus of UN-HABITAT were involved in the implementation of projects work was on the country level and involved local on the ground, for example, in the area of disaster authorities and networks, it was necessary to management, yet the programme apparently review those activities in the light of other agencies’ preferred to operate on a zero-risk basis. activities and to identify the added advantage of For UN-HABITAT to be able to compete with other UN‑Habitat. To that end the delegation of authority agencies there were a number of prerequisites: to the country level and the strengthening of the trust in regional staff and an appropriate level of programme manager set-up were desirable. He drew decentralization; appropriate tools, instruments a comparison with multilateral agencies such as the and guidelines for country activities, which would German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), not be overly complicated to develop; and some which did not operate in all developing countries form of dedicated unit of experienced roving staff but, in those countries where it did have a presence, with the ability to act swiftly and the authority to it had competent, well‑staffed country offices with set up efficient, decentralized teams in the field. authority delegated from their headquarters. UN- The absence of those factors was causing delays HABITAT, on the other hand, was largely dependent in programme implementation and hampering the on UNDP for recruitment and contractual issues, competitiveness of UN-HABITAT. which hampered the improvement of country operations. Ms. Ingunde Fuehlau said that, like many organizations, UN-HABITAT had a ‘divide’ He saw no possibility of enhancing management and between programme and administrative staff and administrative efficiency without delegated authority administrative processes tended to hamper the for recruitment and procurement. It was timely to ability of programme staff to set priorities. The consider how the administrative structure could Regional and Technical Cooperation Division had be streamlined, given that there was considerable not, however, fully exploited its position as a budget criticism from Western donor countries of the holder; figures on turnover, delivery and income growing bureaucratic control of United Nations were notably absent in the most recent annual agencies. The new Inspira human resources talent report of UN-HABITAT. management system introduced by headquarters was another example of a lack of awareness of the She proposed a number of steps to resolve the realities facing agencies on the ground; it would situation, including a complete report of income and probably be unable to achieve efficiency in terms of expenditure within the programme with a view to time management. UN-HABITAT taking control of its own budget and being able to track overheads. Efforts could also Mr. Henk Verbeek spoke of his experiences in be made to overcome the organizational divide both technical cooperation and the Programme between UN-HABITAT and the United Nations Office Support Division. While the division was valuable, at Nairobi. A review could also be undertaken of there was also a need for checks and balances. It rules and procedures, bearing in mind that only was also important to determine the role of the financial rules were set in stone and all other sets regional offices vis‑à‑vis the Regional and Technical of rules could be changed to achieve efficiency. Cooperation Division and UN-HABITAT as a whole; She concluded by saying that, even though major staff members from other divisions should be organizational change would take time, it was located in regional offices depending on needs such 42 • Human Library Conference Report
as climate change or disaster management, as was Bank. Countries had adapted to those with the same the case with other agencies. That would help to objectives in view. establish the credentials of UN‑Habitat at the country He expressed his frustration at his failure to change level. As a small organization, UN-HABITAT had to perceptions about UN-HABITAT rules in Nairobi. be selective and to strategize. The setting up of the The aim of technical cooperation, he said, was disaster management programme was an example to achieve sustainability and the ability of host of a good strategic decision. countries to implement the projects themselves. Turning to other questions, he advocated making Time was often lost as a result of mismatched rules the best possible use of the tools available, including and administrative differences. UN-HABITAT should Inspira. He also recommended improved staff be seen as an enterprise with the ability to make training to enable UN-HABITAT to be represented by swift decisions and effect timely payment, an ability high-quality staff in recruitment and procurement especially important in infrastructure development processes. The programme had to take responsibility projects. Capacity-building for programme managers and play a role in tackling weaknesses and delays in and local staff was also important to enable them to those areas. tackle the complexity of project management and overcome administrative issues. Field staff were more Mr. Jan Meelker emphasized the increasing in touch with what was happening on the ground importance of accountability and political pressure than administrative staff. Other agencies such as the to show results in all organizations, reflecting United Nations Children’s Fund had better capacity the evident shifts in policies and priorities. Most to deliver at the country level as their local staff bureaucracies were imposing additional layers of had greater empowerment. UN-HABITAT needed to control, particularly in large organizations, and decentralize to compete. that was not unique to the United Nations system; recruitment processes were also generally longer In the general discussion, a number of participants in bigger organizations. Devolving more authority endorsed the view that project management to the local level would, however, enhance the responsibilities should rest with staff in the field. efficiency of decision-making. A balance needed to Others pointed out that opportunities were lost as be struck between efficiency in implementation and a result of centralization and administrative delays. accountability. He also highlighted the importance Examples were given, such as a project in Indonesia of building relationships, both personal and that had collapsed simply because of the time taken institutional; good communications with partners to hire one specialist. While checks and balances were and donors; clarity on rules and regulations; and necessary, there should be a careful examination of consistency in staff. the amount of administrative effort spent on small details, which hampered activities. Mr. Traoré expressed the view that project management should be primarily the responsibility One participant said there could be no progress of field staff and appropriate colleagues from if resources were concentrated on administrative regional offices and headquarters. He warned matters. That was not synonymous with that UN-HABITAT had stagnated with regard to its accountability, which came only with action. responsiveness to the situation on the ground in He recommended a deliberate change to make developing countries. Country offices were subject to UN-HABITAT more action-oriented, rather than too many layers of regulation and reporting, having restructuring or superficially amending relations with to apply the rules of donors and of UN-HABITAT in the United Nations Office at Nairobi. addition to complying with political considerations Another participant called for a suitable balance in the host country. Rules on subcontracting were to be struck between trust and the need to fall in universal, not specific to the United Nations or World line with UN-HABITAT as a whole, laying greater Human Library Conference Report • 43
emphasis on trust as the means to speed up decision- had been effective, thanks to excellent staff in the making and achieve what needed to be done in the field who had fought for delegation of authority, field. He gave examples of the time taken for funds although there had not been a commensurate degree to be disbursed, which could be as much as two of accountability. Delegation and flexibility had to be months in some cases. A commonly heard complaint accompanied by a high degree of responsibility. was that the Programme Support Division was not One participant identified a number of areas where development-minded. UN-HABITAT needed to re-evaluate its practices. As The need for trust and a reduction in levels of others had noted, the organization’s administration control were repeatedly stressed. While improved had grown, particularly with the expansion of the auditing was suggested as a solution, it was noted Programme Support Division. UN-HABITAT would do that donors lacked faith in the process within the well to examine whether the current arrangement of United Nations. Although it was not an issue that personnel and the Division met the original objective UN-HABITAT could tackle alone, one participant of achieving economy of scale and enhanced proposed that there were systems of reward and efficiency. To keep pace with the times, UN-HABITAT punishment that UN-HABITAT could apply through should reassess the delegation of authority to simple measures such as bonuses and dismissals. In regional offices; formerly responsibility rested with his experience, all project managers had tracking regional offices and was distinct from the principle systems to make projects work better; those should of authority. UN‑Habitat also appeared no longer be collected and built into technical cooperation. to have its own set of rules; in principle the rules of the Secretariat were followed, but procedures Another participant decried the loss of the expertise were being devised according to needs, resulting and authority that had previously existed in regional in the current state of affairs. UN-HABITAT had the offices. The current levels of control and processes experience to draw on to prepare a manual for itself were unnecessary and added no value, he said, without the need for an external consultant. calling for a return to delegation of authority to project managers and an end to the need for multiple A number of participants emphasized the need signatures. Staff in the field could wait months for for suitable training for project managers and the things to happen, he said. correct tools to empower staff in the field. Field office experience was also desirable for all project The oil-for-food programme in Iraq, however, was managers recruited. cited as an example of a centralized programme that 44 • Human Library Conference Report
PANEL 6 Fund-raising successes and difficulties Participants
Disa Weerapana, Alberto Paranhos, Jorge Gavidia, Heinz Kull, Sudipto Mukerjee.
Toshi Noda (moderator)
uring the panel discussion on or should it also expand towards fund mobilization successes development partners such as the Dand difficulties, participants European Commission? considered the following questions: e. What lessons could be learned from a. How sustainable were technical global multi-agency initiatives such as cooperation activities with such a the Urban Management Programme focus on post‑disaster and post- and the Cities Alliance as far as their crisis activities? Should UN-HABITAT attractiveness to the donor community become another humanitarian was concerned? agency? Mr. Toshi Noda, introducing the session, b. What lessons could be learned from said the portfolio of the Regional and successful fund mobilization in Asia Technical Cooperation Division had risen and the Arab States? What lessons from USD 38 million in 1990 to USD could be learned from the difficulties 184 million in 2010, thanks to dynamic in Latin America? fund-raising at country level and the increasing size of individual projects. c. How could core resources and That performance was, however, management fees be combined to overdependent on crisis and disaster provide more impetus to country funding, while development assistance activities? Was it advisable to merge was declining and being replaced by all extrabudgetary resources of UN- budget support. HABITAT? Mr. Weerapana said it was often not easy d. Was the network of regional offices for a small agency, such as UN-HABITAT, adequate in terms of fund-raising Human Library Conference Report • 45
to engage unilaterally with government bodies. In post-disaster activities. Money, he said, was the addition, the current situation with regard to donor means of achieving a desired outcome, not an end funding was unstable: donors were less willing to in itself. It often proved difficult, however, to balance mobilize funds for those countries, for example in core resources, overheads and other budgetary Asia, which they perceived were climbing the income elements. ladder. On the other hand, new opportunities Mr. Kull said the rise in funding over the past few for donor funding were arising in least developed decades had been impressive, but also questioned countries, and UN-HABITAT needed to capitalize on whether the budgetary balance was sound, with that by tapping into funds for humanitarian projects. such a large percentage of the portfolio dedicated The agency also needed to demonstrate willingness to crisis and disaster funding. The recent global to work with non-governmental organizations. With financial crisis posed an additional challenge as many regard to reaching the poor, working with global donor countries had become saddled with massive programmes had promise for fund mobilization, public debt and were wary of committing resources. including from countries themselves. In conclusion, UN-HABITAT urgently needed to discuss the impacts he said that when the portfolio moved to disaster of those trends on its budget and on the design of mitigation there was considerable advantage in future projects. He noted that other agencies, such acting swiftly and establishing a presence around as the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Food which others could build. and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Mr. Paranhos spoke of the particular challenges of often engaged in raising funds through direct public generating funding in Latin America. Most countries, donations, and wondered whether UN‑Habitat he said, preferred to sign up for a loan rather than might consider such an approach. In addition, the pay for technical expertise. With a smaller agency agency needed to examine where internal cost such as UN-HABITAT, however, they would be cutting might realize savings. prepared to match funding provided the agency Mr. Sudipto Mukerjee agreed there was a need for could demonstrate efficiency in delivery. Personal a shift to bring UN-HABITAT activities more in line relationships between fund-raisers and donors with its mandate. Credibility in delivery was a vital were important in generating funds. In several Latin starting point. He expressed concern that in Iraq American countries there were strict laws pertaining UN-HABITAT had been too stretched on the ground to the contributions that municipalities were able to and unable as a consequence to deliver effectively. make when matching funding. Resource mobility was important in positioning the Mr. Gavidia said that, given the complexities agency strategically within a country programme, of working with donors, time spent nurturing thereby putting it in a stronger position to deliver relationships with them was worthwhile. It was his its mandate. Continuous donor education was vital, opinion that obtaining initial funding was 50 per as in Iraq, where UN-HABITAT had to make the cent being there at the right time, 40 per cent luck, case for housing reform. Too often good quality and 10 per cent being able to argue the case. Once communication and publicity materials were lacking, a foothold was gained, however, and a reputation limiting the agency’s ability to demonstrate that it established, further funding was often forthcoming. was delivering good results and effecting positive With regard to humanitarian interventions, he said change. prevention and mitigation tended to be neglected. The discussion which followed focused on Agencies such as UN-HABITAT were too often trapped relationships between UN-HABITAT and donors. One in ‘survival mode’, finding it difficult to generate participant said that the only way to convince donors funding for actions that reflected their missions or was by demonstrating physical results and delivering priorities. The structure of funding was symptomatic, within the expected time frame. It also helped with an uncomfortably high percentage going to 46 • Human Library Conference Report
to give due consideration to donor priorities and Final recommendations tailor programmes accordingly – for example, slum Introducing the session, Mr. Mohamed El-Sioufi, the upgrading might need to be packaged as poverty moderator, said that the rapporteurs from the six alleviation or livelihood support, according to donor panels would report back on the outcomes of their requirements. discussions, so as to synthesize recommendations One participant said that, following the Paris that would help UN-HABITAT to shape its future Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, donors were looking direction and to take advantage of the store of more to budgetary support as a means of engaging knowledge in the “human library”. strategically in a country. UN-HABITAT had not The moderator noted that the value of personal created a product in that environment and needed relationships was a constant theme running through to be more strategic in how it presented its expertise, many of the panel discussions. Another theme was for example with regard to urban indicators. Another the appropriateness of the organizational structure participant said it was important to bear in mind the of UN-HABITAT to perform its functions effectively, global context of the donor-recipient relationship, and what changes, for example with regard to the with, among other problems, oil price rises and civil function of regional offices, might be beneficial. unrest in many areas. The transport issue would Many had also spoken of the time factor and the need come to the fore, with implications for land-use to go beyond the project cycle, revisit interventions planning and urban development, and UN-HABITAT and evaluate the impact on the ground. He stressed had to prepare accordingly. the growing importance of the central component One contributor said UN-HABITAT involvement in of the mantra “think globally, tailor regionally, act post-conflict situations not only raised questions locally”, as a regional approach was increasingly about budget allocation and priorities in relation being adopted in such tools as the State of the Cities to the agency’s mandate, but also raised moral report. Lastly, he mentioned the need for innovative, questions, for example in politically unstable proactive funding. situations where UN-HABITAT might be perceived as In the ensuing discussion, one participant said that working with corrupt regimes. technical cooperation lay at the core of UN‑Habitat One participant said the global cost of slum activities, and was the key to its survival. Further upgrading was billions of dollars, and UN-HABITAT debate on the direction that should be taken with needed to develop expertise in how to assist regard to technical cooperation – for example, countries in mobilizing funds for cities, which was whether to adopt a centralized or a decentralized often inadequate compared to health, education approach – was essential. Another mentioned and other sectors. the lack of understanding that often confused relationships between UN-HABITAT and Latin Another participant outlined the measures being American countries and complicated agreement on taken by the Resource Mobilization Unit, established funding and resource mobilization. in 2008, to implement a corporate approach in raising awareness of UN-HABITAT activities, One participant said that UN-HABITAT had particularly among donors. On the issue of raising experienced problems in recruiting top-level experts. money directly from the public, he said that option While progress had been made, for example in was being explored, but regulatory hurdles had to engaging more experts from developing countries, be overcome. it remained difficult to see where a new generation Human Library Conference Report • 47
of experts was going to be found to replace the knowledge that emerged from the field and formed current generation. Others said that it was not the marketing agenda of UN-HABITAT. Another always possible to recruit experts, and much was participant said that there was a need to look at the to be said for engaging young people with energy, issue of human resources more creatively and flexibly, drive and the commitment to learn on the job and perhaps by bringing in more expertise on short-term become experts. One participant said that many contracts. Experience in the relevant context was who initially felt enthusiastic about working for the vital. Another said that, rather than UN-HABITAT United Nations had found the organization ‘too hiring people when it had funds, consideration bureaucratic’ and moved elsewhere, while others should be given to hiring experts to obtain funds, merely wanted to gain experience and moved by building programmes and generating donor between agencies without making a significant funding. Secondment, for example from universities, contribution. was also suggested as a way to bring in expertise in the short term. One participant said the dichotomy between the global agenda of UN-HABITAT and its engagement Concluding the discussion, the moderator said in country-level activities that required specific, that the main outcomes of the meeting would tailored solutions was relevant to the kind of be presented at the twenty-third session of the expertise that UN-HABITAT would recruit. There was Governing Council in the form of an information a need to internalize all the instances of technical document. 48 • Human Library Conference Report
Cheerful mood among participants as the Executive Directors of UN- HABITAT and UNEP addressed the audience. Human Library Conference Report • 49 50 • Human Library Conference Report
SUMMARY AND WAY FORWARD3
A roadmap for UN-HABITAT’s per panel, with some obvious overlaps. Technical Cooperation Before moving to Panel 1, a first ear colleagues, I wish to recommendation would be to establish congratulate all of you for a serious induction seminars for new Djob well done. I congratulate staff and to organize more structured all participants for having shared their discussions among professional staff wisdom in a very professional way and on substantive issues, in the form of I thank all staff of UN-HABITAT involved periodical workshops. in organizing this meeting for having Under Panel 1 (Relations with other UN provided all necessary inputs to set in agencies) we could highlight three lines motion our Human Library. of action: Usually Expert Group Meetings (EGM) are • We have the instruments for inter- designed to bring to the secretariat the agency interactions at country level views and experience of outside experts (UNDAFs, UNCTs, HPMs, HCPDs …) but who are not part of the United Nations. we need to refine and focus our own Our Human Library Conference was an contributions to better integrate urban ‘original’, as it did not bring outsiders but concerns in generic UNDAF priorities former EGM professionals from within. It (governance, poverty, basic services). was almost an internal EGM, not really We should focus on 26 ENOF priority envisaged in our Work-Programme. But countries that we selected last year. I think that this event, probably a first in the entire UN system, achieved a lot. • We need to collaborate and to Indeed it achieved more than I expected compete with other UN agencies, some when we discussed this idea six months with large country offices and more ago at our coffee station. important resources. Professional excellence is therefore indispensable I would like to summarize some of the key if we want to be heard and respected. recommendations which have emerged We have to strengthen our technical from our meeting and will in fact blend capacities and expertise, globally, this outcome with the recommendations regionally and locally, particularly if we made in recent RTCD retreats, held in want to access ‘One UN’ funds as we July and December 2010 in Nairobi and already do in some countries. Naivasha. In that way, I will combine your recommendations as ‘elders’ • We have to work with sister UN with our current internal perspective. agencies but also and primarily with Following the EGM discussions, I will governments, local authorities and group the recommendations in clusters other partners active at national level. corresponding to the panel structure, The partnership principle of Istanbul identifying only three recommendations should remain on top of our agenda. It goes much beyond the UN Country 3 Concluding remarks by Daniel Biau Teams. Human Library Conference Report • 51
Under Panel 2 (Relations among UN-HABITAT Divisions) • We have to take stock of our accumulated we have noted three practical recommendations: experience at country level, probably on a regional basis, and strengthen (again) our own policy • UN-HABITAT being essentially a mix of global expertise. This is a challenge as new recruitments programmes and country activities, we should will be needed, based on different staff profiles. better coordinate and synergize these two levels of intervention. While the issue is not normative vs. • Under Panel 4 (Relations between country operational, the ENOF action plan should be taken operations and global programmes) our collective more seriously to ensure real complementarity recommendations were not very innovative: between global and country-level activities. • We all agreed that monitoring, evaluation • It would be highly advisable to establish more and feedback mechanisms have always been systematically inter-divisional teams (based on underdeveloped at UN-HABITAT, especially due to the successful precedents of DMU and PSUP) lack of resources. Indeed Regional Offices have to combining the expertise of Focus Area colleagues be better equipped to fulfill these tasks if we want with the sub-regional knowledge and contacts of them to be more policy-oriented. our SHSOs. • I am also convinced that in our globalized world • A further step ahead should be for Regional the regional dimension should take more and Offices to integrate professionals from other more importance. This is another weakness of UN- Divisions as it is done in UNEP and was tested by HABITAT as we find it almost impossible to raise the BP programme and the Water Programme in funds at regional level. Our Global Programmes Latin America and SCP in Asia. This would be a and Focus Areas should be more regionalized to way to change the silo culture still persistent in be more meaningful. It is primarily at regional some parts of the agency. and sub-regional levels that policy makers should exchange best practices and policies. The Asia- Under Panel 3 (Impact of Technical Cooperation Pacific Urban Forum (APUF) is an interesting step on national policies) we need to recognize our in that direction. limitations and publicize our successes. I submit three important ideas: • From Global Programmes, our Regional and country teams are expecting knowledge and useful • We know that our current portfolio is rather tools. We have to insist on the tools needed by unpredictable as it prioritizes post natural disasters national staff in all areas of the HABITAT Agenda, and in-crisis countries. In the coming years, we from GIS to pricing mechanisms, from community have to move deliberately towards providing contracting to land use planning. To build technical assistance to national policy reforms, capacities, through training or learning-by-doing, in both the housing and urban development simple and effective tools are indispensable. areas. This should become our top priority, i.e. normative support at country level. In fact I Under Panel 5 (Project and programme administration) propose that RTCD be transformed into the Policy the discussions were extremely animated. Many Implementation Division of UN-HABITAT. colleagues from PSD attended and were much welcome. Moving beyond our criticism of the • To succeed in this transformation we will have increasingly cumbersome bureaucratic procedures. to involve professionals from other Divisions and a variety of partners, including academic We could make at least these clear proposals: and research specialists and local government • Delegated decentralization of authority remains practitioners. Of course we will also need to rely a must, and should be associated with full more and more on national expertise and promote responsibility and accountability. Despite MTSIP more intense national dialogues (e.g. through declared intention to promote ‘excellence in National Urban Forums). 52 • Human Library Conference Report
management’ progress in this field has been very be explored further, but Global Programmes (such as slow. To compete with other agencies with field PSUP) are essential. For both types of countries, UN- operations such as UNDP and UNOPS we should HABITAT should create a Programme Development do what they have been doing for years: delegate Facility to provide seed money for project preparation much more authority to our regional offices and and evaluation. country teams and exert post-facto controls. This • In middle-income and emerging economies, we is indeed a cultural issue: we should replace the have to be very selective and work essentially with culture of suspicion with the culture of trust. their own funds. This applies in particular to East • We heard loud and clear that, in the UN, only Asia, the Arab States, Latin America and Eastern financial rules are cast in stone. The other rules Europe. To be attractive, we need to build our and procedures are agency specific, in our case credibility and reputation as the UN policy body or designed by PSD or OED. Therefore, we could think tank on sustainable urban development. This have a lot of flexibility for recruitments and is a huge challenge for UN-HABITAT and its new ED. procurement, project approval and reporting, for • Finally we should keep our funding performances staff transfers and promotions, etc. We should under permanent review and have a contingency improve our administrative processes through a plan or decline scenario updated in each and every proper inter-divisional review. biennium. Since 2003, I have proposed to the • Noting that UN-HABITAT is top-heavy and that CPR and GC a reform in the way Regional Offices PSD and UNON are overlapping and duplicating are funded in order to transform our ROs into in many areas, an immediate option would be to teams of regional advisers and move away from abolish or radically downsize PSD. The functions the overhead- generation constraints. As for the of PSD could be redistributed to OED (programme 2008 global financial crisis, I think that this reform and budget), UNON (recruitment, contracts and will only be undertaken when we have no other procurement, staff administration) and substantive choice. For the time being we should reinforce our divisions (PMOs). PSD staff could be re-deployed policy expertise and increase the visibility of UN- accordingly. HABITAT at all levels. Fund mobilization cannot succeed without sufficient seniority, substantive Under Panel 6 (Fund mobilization) we appreciated knowledge and adequate negotiating skills. This the continuous growth of RTCD budgets mobilized at is what we have learnt over the last 25 years. country level but noted the geographical disparities, with a very successful ROAP contrasting with other To conclude, I wish to support a final recommendation less fortunate regions. related to the continuation of our stock-taking exercise. I am convinced that our three-day meeting • Being a UN agency we have to focus on vulnerable was very useful and could be periodically replicated, counties and vulnerable people. Therefore, our probably under different formats and with more priority countries fall into two categories: interactions with present staff members (the ‘young i. The countries in crisis and in post disaster generation’). I leave this idea with my successor and situations, and with UN-HABITAT Management and I shall be happy ii. The Least Developed Countries. to join all of you very soon in the Human Library of UN-HABITAT. For the former category, we should continue to mobilize donor funds and confirm our reputation as Elaborating on Hampate Ba’s famous saying, I would an efficient reconstruction and recovery agency. For like to suggest that: “In Habitat, an active elder is an the second category, fund raising is more difficult open human library!” and rather ad-hoc. ‘One UN’ funds are an option to Human Library Conference Report • 53
ANNEXES PERSONAL REFLEctIONS
I also assisted regional bodies such as ALBERTO PARANHOS the Assembly of Housing and Urbanism Alberto Paranhos, the former Ministries (MINURVI) (that inspired similar Director of Planning of Curitiba, was bodies in Africa and Asia), and the the recognized ‘Pillar of ROLAC’ for Federation of LAC Cities, Municipalities his 18 years with UN-HABITAT. and Associations (FLACMA), now part of UCLG.
am an urban economist with a PhD Although I hold Portuguese citizenship, in Urban Economy and Planning I was born in Brazil. During my IDevelopment in Developing Economies. time with UN-HABITAT, I used my After 11 years serving as Director of the Brazilian citizenship. This led to a Planning Institute in the Municipality of few disagreements with the national Curitiba, Brazil, and seven years as an government as well as the suspension international consultant with the World of a few entitlements. While the overall Bank assisting local governments prepare relationship with Brazilian authorities and submit bankable urban investment was friendly, there is an important lesson projects, I was invited to join UN-HABITAT to be learned here. HSOs should not and UNDP during the celebration of the be fielded in their countries of origin. It World Cities Forum in May, 1992, where must become clear to the country that I also served as the Executive Secretary HSOs are an agency asset for assisting reporting to both the International country-members and not a country tool Union of Local Authorities (now UCLG) to promote national interests inside the and United Nations Conference on agency. Environment and Development (UNCED) Several LAC countries and cities are Secretariat. not poor, but rather poorly managed. I joined UN-HABITAT in September Yet, they tend to seek UN advice for 1992 as a SHSO and was assigned to implementing their own projects and TCD Unit IV, later renamed ROLAC programmes, provided that this advice is when it was moved to Rio de Janeiro. free of charge. Many other LAC countries My previous experience working with (and cities as well) are poor in both local governments allowed me to financial and human resources terms. strengthen UN-HABITAT’s partnerships They do need technical, yet politically with municipalities and other forms of neutral expertise, but cannot afford it. sub-national government. My position in Finally, bilateral agencies are rearranging Unit IV, as well as within ROLAC, included themselves around political ideologies assisting sub-national governments and commercial bounds, making TC improve their performance considering disappear as a tool to improve the quality both the quality of the urban planning of territorial and sectoral management process and their measurable results. leading to improved quality of life of 54 • Human Library Conference Report
all inhabitants, especially the poorer and more be obtained. It is different from the UN agencies vulnerable. finishing with ‘O’ (as in Organisation) like UNESCO, ILO, FAO, ICAO, that have a different kind of Human interaction and living internal structure and governing body. I have always memories been amazed that MINURVI country members, for instance – even though recognizing the importance As far as in-house activities are concerned, I feel that of this mechanism to share experiences and ideas the purpose and mandate of Regional Offices were – never accepted the principle of funding its often not clear enough for the agency. Perceptions varied inexpensive operations. from a representational body to a more complete fully entrusted Office supporting all partners within It is important to also mention that many LAC the region. With very few exceptions, Global countries seem to see UN agencies as ‘‘interesting Programmes did not understand the value and institutions’ but not necessarily ‘desirable”. This strategic importance in the expansion of Regional makes a lot of difference. Although there is respect Offices. for the agencies (when technical expertise is really undisputable), university teams and national Regarding the overall idea of ‘Delivering as One’ governments tend to only want a partnership with within the UN, it was clear that big agencies will UN agencies to get a formal approval to their ideas always try to get the best portion of the cake and and projects. Moreover, countries seem to consider push away smaller agencies. In addition to being a that this kind of ‘clearing house’ mandate cannot funding agency and the political representation of be charged for, since the governments already the UN System as a whole, UNDP was also authorized contribute to UN general funding. This attitude to become an implementing agency in 1994. But, varies a lot across the region and the distribution of the system was severely unbalanced. Several initial UN funds within the countries is also very uneven. exercises were more a partnership for ‘Delivering with UNDP’ rather than as originally imagined. In Additionally, the tentative efforts to raise funds from cases where UN Resident Coordinators had a real the private sector – although quite promising in Brazil understanding of being representative of the whole – are not yet sustainable for the future, unless there system – like in Uruguay, which was unusual – the is an immediate focus for placed on work generating exercise had several positive points, although the political visibility and social-economic impact. For weight of UNDP in comparison with other agencies this reason, I still recommend exploring a medium is always difficult to re-imbalance. But, there are or long-term partnership with UNICEF that enjoys cases where UNDP staff fully recognizes UN-HABITAT private sector support for their mandate. UN-HABITAT as an important partner and adviser, like in Ecuador, would only need to include the territorial dimension Colombia and Cuba for example. to improve and increase this window of opportunity.
Finally, regarding the perception from countries and cities – at least within the LAC region – it was Future perspectives unusual to see a country member looking for TC. • ‘Be selective to be effective’ - UN-HABITAT needs The most common feature was receiving requests to further concentrate activities towards one yet for no-cost expertise or just some funding for the important and impressive theme, such as ‘urban national or sub-national government to implement sustainability’ as its key mandate. While UN their own projects. I suspect that titling UN agencies reform does not come and agencies continue to as ‘UN Programmes’ like UNDP, UN-HABITAT, step over each other for funds, UN-HABITAT has UNEP – along with well known funding agencies to keep improving upon its expertise to become like UNICEF, UNCDF, UNFPA – gives government undisputable within the UN to raise funds for officers the wrong perception that ‘programmes’ TC activities. are similar to funds where financial resources can Human Library Conference Report • 55
• Together with UNEP, UN-HABITAT has a clear other key funding bodies. Those posts would territorial mandate regarding rural development be funded by a fraction of the funds raised with and food production, which is evident within the intermediation of UN-HABITAT Foundation Target 11 and Goal 7. While other key agencies (through overheads). directly deal with improving or highlighting human • Strategic partnership with selected UN agencies: being attributes (education, health, employability, within the spirit of ‘Delivering as One’, UN-HABITAT sex, gender, etc), target 11 of goal 7 should inspire needs to explore and strengthen operational and guide UN-HABITAT priorities and programmes. partnership with funding agencies such as UNEP, • Lateral movement: it is important for a TC UNICEF, UNFPA. Combining this partnership with agency to improve and extend the experience joint funding of posts in regional offices will certainly and technical expertise of its officers. Therefore, increase and improve UN-HABITAT’s presence and lateral movement, especially among RTCD and importance in the field. Global Programmes, including Regional Offices • Finally, UN-HABITAT can also explore being the and HPMs, is a strategic tool and should be means through which direct TC among developing strengthened as much as possible. countries is carried out. The world is becoming • Representation within key funding agencies: more complex regarding groups of interest among as a TC agency, UN-HABITAT must maintain countries, while both developing economies as well a continuous flow of external funding, since as some poor countries have indeed quite good country-members still do not understand the practices and ideas to share and contribute to more importance and value of technical cooperation; developed countries. This should be more evident they still prefer to get a loan, i.e. a debt, rather when related to cities and urban sustainable than to pay for TC. Therefore, while promoting development. Local governments have difficulty the many advantages of TC (cost-efficiency, keeping and improving direct external relations, transfer of knowledge, etc), it may be strategic while their global associations are becoming more to strengthen or to create specific posts within and more political rather than cooperative. There is (or near) the WB, the EU, Regional Banks and a window for opportunity there. 56 • Human Library Conference Report
a single, integrated entity composed ALI SHABOU of whatever individual substantive divisions and subdivisions. This requires Ali Shabou was Chief of our Arab transparent complementarity between Information for decades and familiar all divisions and subdivisions operating with the activities of all Middle East from within a central system, capable of countries. smooth and clear flows of information to different recipients.
uring my 30 years with UN- From a national perspective, one of the HABITAT I have performed the major advocacy assets in UN-HABITAT Dduties of Regional Information are its flagship reports and technical Officer and then Chief, Regional publications. These publications Information Office in Amman, Jordan. I document current views and opinions on was also the special representative of the the different issues of the housing and Secretary-General of Habitat II for Arab urban development in various types of States, based in Amman and, finally I economy and societal structures. These assumed the duty as Chief, UN-HABITAT publications are widely recognized by Office in Amman with my responsibilities academic institutions and professionals, covering, in addition to Jordan, Syria, but poorly known in the central and local Lebanon and the Gulf countries. I have governments of many countries in the been assigned twice to Nairobi with Arab region for lack of sufficient copies various functions. My last role in Nairobi of these publications and/or because of before moving to Amman was Advisor to sending them to the wrong departments/ the Director, RTCD. sections or even wrong individuals in the Government or municipality. My duties in Amman focused mainly on advocating UN-HABITAT’s global Flagship and technical publications, mandate reporting on our best examples together with well-drafted promotional of work at the national and local levels materials including easy-browsing and for the benefit of Arab States and content-rich websites are crucial for promoting technical cooperation and the advocacy work of UN-HABITAT operational projects with central and local worldwide. Clearly, there is a deficiency governments, as well as fundraising for in our advocacy work in the field and that the operations of the Amman office and is mostly because of weak motivation in its advocacy and substantive activities. the field and the type of material staff are receiving and using for the promotion of Human interaction and UN-HABITAT, but more important is the living memories absence at the HQ of a binding strategy on advocacy which could translate the My experiences were in three sectors thoughts, trends and directions of the which are complementary and management of UN-HABITAT. interdependent: advocacy, technical cooperation and fund-raising: Such clear strategy on advocacy could form an excellent path towards increased Advocacy: There is a need for UN- and enhanced technical cooperation for HABITAT to have a corporate image which both central and local governments. mirrors the Programme to the world as Human Library Conference Report • 57
Technical cooperation: I believe that technical possibility of including an additional branch or cooperation remains the backbone of all our work. section that can also help in urban policy reform. Governments at central and local levels need to Fund Raising: Most fundraising activities are tied show concrete results to their constituencies through to specific projects or activities. Obviously, each case implementation of housing and urban development needs special packaging for each potential donor. In projects. A common problem, however, is limited the Amman Office, I have been able to raise funds for or lacking financial resources. Thus, cooperation the operation of the office and to finance technical must be based on innovative solutions and genuine and other substantive activities. In one case a fairly partnerships with various actors of civil society. The large amount was raised for a potential project on outcome of such projects should be documented as municipal finance and management, but there was good practice or as a test ground for a set of normative several months of internal conflict between branches elements. Needless to say that some projects can also and divisions over control of the allocated funds and develop a number of normative elements. confusion with the authorities in the country over To face this complexity in technical cooperation the funding. work, UN-HABITAT should adopt, at the HQ level, a This and similar cases call for more coordination and set of easy-to-understand guidelines, clearly stating establishment of a transparent mandate interpretation central or local governments requirements and for funds utilization among divisions and subdivisions, avoiding bureaucratic and lengthy procedures. The if only to eliminate fighting over turf. guidelines should be clear on each step to be taken by the central or local government for cooperation Future perspectives to materialize, including funding rules and possibility of financial assistance from various donors. • Formulate an advocacy strategy that caters for the need of all divisions and subdivisions, capable Experience has also shown a coordination deficiency of reflecting the entire - one UN-HABITAT - to all between field offices (Amman Office is an example), partners. Such strategy should empower strategic RTCD and UN-HABITAT’s other substantive branches partners to act as UN-HABITAT agents in the field. and sections. This becomes apparent when a request comes, for example, for specific training • UN-HABITAT cooperation must be based on real or for another specific action like, for instance, the innovative solutions and genuine partnership establishment of an urban observatory. I have noted with all actors of civil society. The outcome of clear segregation between and within the divisions such cooperation should be documented as good and branches which forced me to work mostly practice or a test ground for a set of normative with one entity within UN-HABITAT and excluding elements. the others. Once the funds are committed for such • Technical cooperation should adopt, at the HQ project, the financial part of the project is disputed level, a set of easy to understand, step by step, between the concerned branch, the generating guidelines, clearly stating the requirements for entity in the field (i.e. Amman office) and RTCD. This the central or local governments and avoiding usually results in very weak technical support from to the maximum the bureaucratic and lengthy headquarters which affects the quality of assistance. procedures
Consequently, there should be a procedure • Set a system for full coordination at the simplifying the coordination process between RTCD headquarters and field levels. The coordination and other UN-HABITAT divisions to enhance work, should establish a transparent cross-border outcomes and visibility. I take the example of a mandate to be use as a vehicle among and between request for establishing urban observatory and hope the divisions and subdivisions in order to eliminate that the coordination procedure could ultimately possible ambition for territorial protection. suggest, to the requesting entity in the field, the 58 • Human Library Conference Report
could contribute for success or failure of Antonio Yachan a programme. After analyzing different aspects, I concluded that good human Antonio Yachan was a senior HSO relations with the immediate and the in ROAAS for many years and larger working team and good relations is still very active in Chile as an with partners and counterparts was international consultant the most significant aspect to take care of if the aim was the successful implementation of a programme or any efore taking early retirement endeavour in life. Conflicts and problems in 2006, I worked for different are unavoidable; the difference is the BUN agencies, including UNEP attitude towards finding a solution or (consultant on environment and enhancing the positive side. vernacular housing), UNICEF (fixed term on rural development and rural Adequate communication, inclusive settlements), UNDP (consultant on attitude and proper participation are key capacity building and management), FAO factors contributing to good relations (capacity building for regional planning between colleagues. and management), UNHCR (consultant Knowledge: UN-HABITAT is a relatively on post conflict sustainable solutions) new and small agency that is working and UN-HABITAT. to get human settlements issues on the With UN-HABITAT, in 1998 I joined the global agenda. To be recognized, UN- Oil for Food Programme in Iraq where HABITAT has to offer country specific I had the opportunity of managing services, responsive to needs. a programme, which in its highest It is difficult to believe that UN-HABITAT moment had over 500 professionals after 35 years of existence does not delivering more than ten million US have an updated guideline for slum dollars per month. In 2003 I joined upgrading, something that could guide ROAAS as a SHSO covering Lusophone countries in defining a city strategy or and Anglophone countries. assisting governments determining the necessary elements for urban and Human interaction and housing policies. It is absolutely clear living memories that there are no human settlement After 30 years of experience in Africa recipes that can be applied in every and the Middle East there are hundreds context, but this is not an excuse for of experiences and valuable memories, not been able to provide the basics to However if I have to identify the key assisted countries. factors that contribute to improving the For UN-HABITAT to gain a recognized lives of the most vulnerable, three aspects position among governments and can be highlighted: attitude, knowledge development partners, it has to become and management. These three can be the centre of human settlement considered as the three pillars of my knowledge in the world and should personal human library. produce what is not available, continue Attitude: Days after retiring I was asked updating what is most relevant and set up to identify the most significant aspect I adequate channels of communication. Human Library Conference Report • 59
During my working experience I noticed that the Future perspectives empirical knowledge and experiences of affected It is obviously challenging to summarize the key communities testified to a great deal of rationality recommendations in a few lines, but I would suggest concerning their immediate surroundings, needs the following: should be considered: and aspirations. That empirical knowledge and experience is highly familiar to the community, it is • Attitude and knowledge: Normative and openly disseminated within their own boundaries operational divisions in the agency MUST set- and there is willingness to apply such knowledge up an improved system for working together, to solve their problems. However, limitations were complementing each other and not competing identified in bridging between each community’s as seems to be the pattern today. The production aims and potentialities, and the support provided of knowledge (normative division) is necessary for by governments and external agencies. improving the identification and implementation of projects (operational division). On the other A different attitude from governments and the hand, empirical information is one of the most development community is required recognizing that valuable sources for producing and updating beneficiaries do have knowledge and experience and knowledge. Therefore, a common normative and there is a need to articulate the academic knowledge operational programme is required with joint with locally empirical knowledge and needs. Both, objectives and priorities. the academic and the empirical, should be source of knowledge for UN-HABITAT. • Knowledge: UN-HABITAT should become the world forum for producing, discussing and If UN-HABITAT does not take the lead in producing, exchanging relevant knowledge for: (i) better systematizing and publicizing knowledge for housing, urban management for large, medium and shelter, slum upgrading, urban governance, urban emerging cities; and (ii) slum upgrading and management, urban economy and other substantive prevention. These two, interrelated topics should areas, the agency will be excluded and will lose its be the backbone of UN-HABITAT focus on potential to provide relevant technical assistance to knowledge. the least developed countries. We must also ensure to maintain the knowledge we’ve acquired through • Some valuable experience exists in-house our work; without keeping it current and updated, and could be enhanced initiating a series of the agency risks losing its credibility. exchanges; recognized experiences exist in partner countries and communities for what could be the Management: UN agencies in general and UN- basis for further exchange of knowledge and HABITAT in particular, are advocating for delegation experiences. UN-HABITAT could also integrate of authority and decentralization of decisions for external knowledge from academia, inclusive of better urban governance, housing and shelter universities and research centers in its work. programmes as well as for slum upgrading. This is the core message transmitted by our staff to country • Additionally, based on field priorities, new partners. However, during the past few years, there knowledge and updating existing information has been a continuous re-centralization of authority should be based on a priority list of topics defined within UN-HABITAT and a similar trend exists with in a participatory way. concentration - and duplication - of unnecessary • Management and rules: Management should be administration that is leading to unbelievable delays serving agency’s objectives and timeframes and in recruitment, approvals, payments etc. Without for this, the secretariat rules have to be followed. adequate management, there is no knowledge or Whatever has been added to the secretariat rules attitude that can help in assisting those that needs a should be eliminated and whatever is taking the better built environment. longer path for implementing the secretariat 60 • Human Library Conference Report
rules should be modified, using the shortest system is providing the best arguments to and simplest method. If there is something governments, alternative UN agencies and others that should be studied in UN-HABITAT is how for excluding UN-HABITAT from the development to process projects, approvals, recruitments, community. It is the Trojan Horse destroying the payments, agreements and all sort of managerial agency. and administrative procedures in the shortest and • Management and source for salaries: In UN- most efficient way. UN-HABITAT has to rethink its HABITAT, all staff is supposed to be equal. management, truly responding to the field and However, while staff in most divisions have their the needs and challenges which are demanding salaries paid from Regular or Foundation funds, and very competitive. Other UN agencies and the majority of staff in the Regional Technical development institutions have already found more Cooperation Division has to produce overheads efficient alternatives. to pay their salaries and for those who work in • Management and delegation/decentralization/ the RTCD offices. This fundamental difference accountability: The UN system structure can has been taken for granted. I would strongly accommodate delegation and decentralization recommend that this practice is changed and the of authority. It is strongly recommended agency pays staff in the same proportion from to decentralize technical, managerial and the different sources of funding available without administrative decisions away from the centre. placing an unfair burden on selected staff.
• Even one day of delay in the field is attributed to UN-HABITAT inefficiency. The present management Human Library Conference Report • 61
field is closely related to the preparations DAVID KITHAKYE at HQ through the direction and facilitation provided. This is what makes the relationships between the Regional David Kithakye was a senior HSO in Technical Cooperation Division and other ROAAS for many years and remains UN-HABITAT divisions very important. I very active in Kenya. would like to describe what I believe has been a great learning experience for me N-HABITAT’s unique mandate at HQ and in the field. is captured in the Habitat II Uthemes: “Adequate shelter for Human interaction and all” and “Sustainable human settlements living memories development in an urbanising world”. I have had the privilege of engaging The realization of these themes has with UN-HABITAT since its beginnings in defined the work of the Programme since 1978. As an architect-planner with the 1996. The challenge of urbanization and Nairobi City Council, I was privileged to its attendant impact on living conditions, contribute in the preparations for the experienced globally over the past 50 Kenyan Government’s National Report years, has increased the urgency of the to the First United Nations Housing realization of these aims Conference. This engagement prepared Since Istanbul UN-HABITAT been going me for work at the United Nations through a series self examinations and Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) reviews of the way it operates. The latest after 12 years with the World Bank of these is the Medium Term-Strategic especially concerning governments and Institutional Plan sets out the new communities, and contributions to the direction in addressing current issues – establishment and the running of the rapid urbanization, the increase of slums Municipal Development Programme in spite of several years of upgrading for Eastern and Southern Africa – a programmes, lately also climate change capacity-building programme for local and poverty in developing countries, and authorities and urban development. especially in Africa and the countries I was therefore ready for the work in UN- in which I was involved. Headquarters’ HABITAT at both HQ and in the field. review involves the whole staff body Experience at headquarters included and, subsequently, I was involved in all continuous interaction with professional of these reviews at different levels with peers expounding and implementing my contribution mainly on review of the the Habitat Agenda. These interactions relationships between HQ and the field. should engage all professionals and Working in the Regional Technical capture their individual and collective Cooperation Division brings experience competencies. Where this aspect of in several countries and different headquarters activities was executed, it Medium Term-Strategic Institutional effectively produced lasting programmes Plan situations as one interacts with for headquarters and the field. government officials, communities and Engagement in headquarters activities development partners. The effectiveness is important to develop the corporate of any human settlements officer in the identity of UN-HABITAT. Activities such as 62 • Human Library Conference Report
budgeting should be transparent and participatory. but also by acceptance of the recipient as equal Involvement of programme managers in budgeting partner. will define programme linkages and synergetic What about interaction with other external support relationships. This is also a learning experience in agencies? Like UN-HABITAT, each one of them preparation for field work. has its own mandate and approach to realize the Over the past 20 years, highlights included the same aims. The South African People’s Housing elaboration of the implementation of the Habitat Programme, for instance, which was funded by Agenda which outlined the Campaigns for Urban the Government of South Africa, the Norwegian Governance and for Secure Tenure. The Campaigns Government and USAID required rationalising the were meant to be the vehicle for the realization of mandates and requirements of the actors. Learning the Habitat Agenda. The implementation of the to respect the governmental statutory position campaigns brought staff members together, both was also important in Nigeria in developing the at headquarters and in the field. The elaboration expansion of the Sustainable Cities Programme and the implementation of the Urban Management and in mobilising local funds for the Dar es Salaam Programme (UMP) and its successor programmes Action Plan for upgrading unplanned and unserviced – Sustainable Cities Programme and the Safer settlements. Cities Programme is an example of interdivisional engagement. The elaboration and implementation Future perspectives of the Cities Alliance involved all divisions of UN- Key recommendations I would make to UN-HABITAT Haitat, the World Bank and other UN agencies. colleagues for the future: Headquarters experience should essentially prepare • The work of UN-HABITAT should be guided by one for work in the regions, individual countries and professionalism at the highest level of integrity and communities. Effective work in the field requires a respect. The relationships between various levels – unique combination of understanding headquarters executive directorate, management, seniors and and the realities in the field. the others are critical in this regard. How could I communicate at the country level and • An arrangement should be found to ensure that to institutions and communities in a manner that staff is encouraged and their capacity enhanced would endear them to the critical issues of the to improve delivery. The PAS system should be Habitat Agenda and at the end of it all leave them reviewed to make it less cumbersome and more empowered to carry on with development of good relevant. housing policy, sound infrastructure development and delivery adequate housing for all? • Professional competence can only be achieved through professional honesty and respect. There Countries, institutions and the communities all have should be due respect between divisions and their own expectations that need to be responded professionals. No single division can deliver UN- to. My experience is that effective collaboration HABITAT’s mandate on its own. can only develop from trust between the local level institutions and RTCD. What was expected of me? • Budgets should be tied to activities and not to How did I measure up to the expectations? I have divisions or branches. The success of a programme asked myself these questions all the time when I should be measured on how well it delivered its engaged with stakeholders and external support responsibility through the involvement of all agencies. This was necessary from the initial stages divisions and as many branches as possible. of programme formulation to the completion of the • Field operations should be guided by the political programme. RTCD programmes and approaches and other reality of the country and partners. should be guided not only by technological solutions Humble acceptance that some institutions out Human Library Conference Report • 63
there are better managed than the Agency is for all” and Sustainable human settlements necessary so as to enable them to learn. development in an urbanising world” as the late Hassan Fathy observed “a house is the visible • All countries deserve to be reached and supported symbol of a family’s identity, the most important in their efforts to realise the Habitat Agenda. material possession a man can ever have.” How will the Agency rise to the occasion without discrimination?
• Finally, UN-HABITAT should carefully consider a return to its core business – “Adequate shelter 64 • Human Library Conference Report
donor funded projects. Next, as a staff Disa Weerapana member of UN-HABITAT working from its HQ, the Regional Office, and a UNDP Disa Weerapana joined Habitat in Country Office in the capacity of a 1989. He negotiated the opening of consultant. ROAP with Toshi Noda and Daniel From these stations, I experienced how Biau and was Deputy Director of the the mandate of the UNDP came to be Fukuoka Office until 2001. interpreted and reinterpreted over the years due to a constantly changing donor joined the then UNCHS in 1989 environment, and demands for reform and held increasingly responsible and change, both internal and external, Ipositions in the Technical Cooperation that came with it. Since UNDP was Division of UNCHS (Habitat) until my the lead UN agency in Sri Lanka, these retirement in 2001. My first assignment changes affected the other UN agencies with UN-HABITAT was Coordinator present. Small technical agencies, such of the Global Support Programme for as UN-HABITAT, depended on UNDP for Shelter, a programme under the Global resources and for country representation Strategy for Shelter (GSS) that supported and were the most affected and under the formulation of enabling shelter pressure to adapt and change, while strategies in six countries. I was the first keeping the best interests of UN-HABITAT Coordinator of the World Bank/UNCHS in mind. It was a difficult task because Joint Programme on Housing and Urban decisions were mostly unilateral, and HQ Indicators. had little guidance to offer.
In 1990, I joined the Asia and Pacific Interestingly, the UNDP I saw as a public Unit of TCD and later became its Acting servant in Sri Lanka in the 1980s was the Coordinator. With the establishment closest thing to a ‘One UN’ I have ever of regional offices in Latin America/ seen. We only had the UNDP Country Caribbean and Asia/Pacific in 1996, I Office to deal with. The UNDP had no moved to the Regional Office for Asia pretense of technical competence to and the Pacific as its Deputy Director and manage everything in development, retired from service in 2001. After my and technical assistance requests from retirement, I also had a brief spell as the the government were met through the first UN-HABITAT Programme Manager in relevant technical agency. More often Sri Lanka during a period of uneasy peace than not, UNDP even funded the initiative, between GOSL and the LTTE, and when a either partially or fully. The Government tsunami devastated a large section of the negotiated with UNDP which used its residential belt in Sri Lanka. discretion in determining priorities and negotiations with the relevant technical Human interaction and agencies. Under this arrangement, large, living memories multi-year technical cooperation projects were implemented in Sri Lanka as UN During my career as an HSA, I worked projects. with UNDP in different situations. First, as a Sri Lankan senior civil servant in charge When I returned to the country office of donor negotiations and managing 15 years later the UN had changed. Human Library Conference Report • 65
There were many UNs - each agency in direct embedded expertise. The concern was that whereas communication with the Government through one the technical agencies had articulated development or multiple counterpart Ministry/Ministries. In the philosophies underpinning their interventions, the absence of UNDP funds, there was competition for UNDP had none. As a result, as we observed during a share of the available resources. UNDP had lost post tsunami reconstruction, for instance, contractor- its leadership in the country and the UN. It was no built housing was considered efficient; community longer the office of first call by the government. participation a waste of time; incremental housing unsightly; and community-led savings and credit a I have seen UNDP in two extremes. First as a friend source of corruption - a reversal of principles we had and financier, when we could walk into a resident worked for years to promote. representative’s office by appointment, and following a short sales talk around a good idea, walk out with a In this scenario, the concept of ‘One UN’ seeks to pledge of half a million dollars. Most country offices promote coherence and effectiveness across various did not understand our ‘gobbledygook’, enabling agencies. ‘One Leader, One Programme, One Budget approach, affordable standards, people-centered and where appropriate, One Office’ was a good idea development, inclusiveness etc in what they thought to bring the UN back together to work as a team. was a simple task of producing a house, and asked How does it work in actual practice? Of its four us very few questions. From these comfortable days components, ‘One Office’ needs time in the non- came the rough times, such as national execution pilot countries because of logistics. System-wide when we were given just 10 per cent of the budget, planning such as CCA and UNDAF seem to work but had to bear the full share of the blame for with wide participation and active consultations with any shortfall. On top of that we had to take the the Government. However, bringing the agencies blame from our own bosses for the drastic drop together to agree on a common set of priorities of the overheads we brought home. Next, came a involves time. The planning process is expensive and time when UNDP funding dried up and we had to time consuming consultations, conferences, reviews negotiate with donors from a distance and share and retreats. The resources most agencies can them with UNDP. And more recently, when UNDP pledge over the medium term are largely indicative billed us for every little task we asked them. and unpredictable, and resource gaps during implementation are common. UNDP competes with all technical agencies in fields like shelter, urban development, humanitarian Although, UNDAF draws its priorities from the assistance, livelihoods, disaster mitigation, gender, national planning frameworks, in reality it is a environment, just about everything, for a bigger parallel planning process led by UN agencies. The share of the limited development resources. UNDAF interventions are implemented outside the Agencies such as UN-HABITAT, without country government mainstream projects and programmes. presence to engage in protracted negotiations with donors, generally lose out in the competition, even Future perspectives in resource-abundant situations such as post-conflict Can UN-HABITAT influence the process? Habitat reconstruction and tsunami. Not only do they insist was missing out by not participating in the UNDAF on passing through arrangements with UNDP in process. However, without country representation, it a collaboration with any another UN agency, they was difficult. also elbow out other agencies by claiming in house competencies and expertise to deliver components • With the appointment of HPMs, UN-HABITAT has that legitimately belong to other agencies. made significant strides in participating in UNDAF as a member of the UNCT. However we are still The more serious concern however was not the behind in mainstreaming the Habitat Agenda in diluted focus of the UNDP through claims of in the UNDAF framework. Our inherent weakness 66 • Human Library Conference Report
of unpredictable resources to back the ideas is a an opportunity to be first in the field. Experience key factor. The big agencies able to bring their has shown, being on the ground helps to own resources exert a greater influence on the attract donor attention and gets a voice in the final selection of priorities. Smaller agencies play negotiations for more funds. a subdued role. In most countries housing is still • We should consider what would be a good considered a welfare item rather than a key sector indicator to measure the impact of our collective of the economy, and marginality of the Ministry efforts? Could it be Millennium Development of Housing complicates mobilizing government Goals: Goal 7, target 11? support. • What have we achieved in the countries where we • HPM performance has received positive reviews have our best operational presence? and their position should be strengthened in UNCT deliberations and to productively engage in • How well have we inserted the right to housing, the UNDAF process. There is still the issue of the right to tenure, inclusive cities, and people acceptance of HPMs as full members of the UNCT centered development? and even when accepted, the eradication of status • Are the normative and operational arms of the difference. In large programme countries where UN-HABITAT sufficiently linked? the HPM carries responsibilities beyond his/her capacity, support with more staff and budgetary • Can UN-HABITAT claim the progress other resources is required. agencies have achieved on MDG targets within their mandates? • UN-HABITAT should explore the creation of a core funding for initiating operational activities • How many PRSPs have a chapter on slums? How in countries where potentials exist for funds many countries have a performance target on Goal leveraging. Bringing core funds gives any agency 7, Target 11 in their national MDG Strategies? Human Library Conference Report • 67
On March 2000, I joined UNOPS as Doudou MBYE a Senior Portfolio Manager at its sub regional office in Abidjan. I handled Doudou Mbye has worked as a CTA a portfolio of almost US$ 47 million in several reconstruction projects in several Anglophone West African since 1995. countries. In 2001, I was promoted to the position of Deputy Division Chief and the following year as the Chief of the Abidjan rior to joining UN Habitat on Office. With the civil unrest of September January 2, 1995 I had been with 2 2002 in Cote d’Ivoire, UNOPS was obliged P(two) World Bank financed urban to relocate its offices to Dakar, Senegal at development and management projects the end of May 2003. The relocation was and was on the verge of launching the undertaken with minimal disruption to the ‘public works and employment creation office activities by virtue of a well planned programme’ with the Bank when the and managed relocation exercise. offer came from UN Habitat RTCD to fill the position of Chief Technical Between 2004 and 2005 UNOPS Adviser of a US$ 1 million project titled underwent a major restructuring that ‘Rehabilitation de la ville de Kigali’. This upgraded the UNOPS Dakar Office into a project was jointly formulated by UN Regional Office for West & Central Africa. Habitat & UNDP Kigali to support the Prior to becoming a Regional Director recovery process in Rwanda following I was handling a portfolio of projects the genocide that killed almost 800,000 that were mainly infrastructure type of tutsis and moderate hutus. The project projects with heavy procurement of good entailed a) identification of suitable and services components. The clientele I sites for the resettlement of returnees, served included the African Development b) rehabilitation of several symbolic Bank, UNDP, UNCDF and several other UN government buildings, c) procurement of agencies. vehicles, office furniture and equipement After leaving Djibouti and prior to for key ministries. Within 6 months after joining UNOPS I had the opportunity of launching the project and demonstrating undertaking a couple of consultancies, visible results on the ground, UNDP Kigali namely, a) Identification and formulation invited UN Habitat to take over a US$ of an urban project in DR Congo for UN 14 million project from another sister Habitat and b) mid-term evaluation of UN agency to rehabilitate government ‘small markets infrastructure project’ buildings at the district level that were jointly implemented by FAO and UNOPS damaged during the war, namely, offices for a US consulting firm. and residences for local authorities. September 2006 I moved over to A couple of years after launching the Indonesia to bail out UNOPS after a dismal project and setting up the project performance in delivering the UNICEF implementation unit in Kigali and kick financed post-tsunami schools and starting all the project components I health center reconstruction programme. was reassigned to Djibouti to oversee I delivered the programme along with the completion and handing over of the additional health centers and opened Balbala Social Housing project and related the new UNOPS Indonesia Office prior to assets to the central government. 68 • Human Library Conference Report
returning home to UN Habitat – Iraq Programme to would then be relegated to a back seat tantamounting manage the Iraq Programme. to missed opportunities.
Another serious issue that is worth remedying for B. Human interactions and living the operational aspects of UN Habitat is the lack memories of empowerment to the national staff. There is UN Habitat has a mandate – delivering sustainable ‘centralized control’ at HQ to the extent that teams shelter solutions – an all embracing and encompassing in the field are somewhat reluctant to take on new one. Shelter solutions have widely been subject to a business given the anticipated delays in launching and lesser degree of importance by countries because in implementing projects. as much as national governments make allocation for Most of the issues highlighted above could easily be sectors like education, health etc. while placing shelter resolved if the will to take hard decisions exists at the issues at a lower level of importance. Donors too level of UN Habitat senior management otherwise have shown total unwillingness to finance housing the ‘cash cows’ of UN Habitat might as well belong construction in the third world because it is very to other agencies that have the right tools to deliver often regarded as a public good which would in turn programmes in the field. increase aid dependency on the side of beneficiaries. I often ask myself the question - Why is UN Habitat C. Future perspectives unable to mobilize resources like the UNICEFs, The empowerment of offices away from HQ in terms UNHCRs, FAOs etc.? Is UN Habitat not strategic of programme delivery ought to be treated with enough in its quest for funding given the positive the utmost urgency possible to increase efficiencies impact investments on housing would have on an in the field. Delegations of Authority should be economy. Housing is equally an economic good and commensurate with the resources being managed as should also be seen as having a ‘multiplier’ effect on well as the authority relative to the seniority of the housing whose effects would be felt by other sectors officials, for example, Regional Directors and Divisional of the economy. These are salient questions that puzzle Directors. those that value the work of UN Habitat particularly as it pertains to the most needy of societies. A well thought out resource mobilization strategy based on adequate business development intelligence Apart from the administrative hoops field offices is a sine qua non to the acquisition of new or repeat have to jump in getting contracts approved, clearing business. UN Habitat ought to understand and and signing MoUs, it is very gratifying to note that appreciate donor priorities in a world wherein aid is UN Habitat is increasingly thriving to improve its dwindling. With all the regional offices searching for knowledge base on shelter solutions and urban funds being knowledgeable on donor priorities for planning. Ultimately this body of knowledge is funding is a head start. To maintain a positive and extended to ENOF (Enhanced Normative & Operational gainful relationship with donors it is equally important Framework) countries benefitting from UN Habitat to have a ‘client relations manager’ who serves as technical cooperation programmes. the focal point for donors. The objective is to ensure At the UN Country Team (UNCT) level, UN Habitat that there is enough information built on this donor ought to be more assertive in terms of pursuing its that is readily available to colleagues in all parts of the mandate as opposed to the ‘small agency’ mentality world to facilitate interaction with such donors. It is that tends to keep UN Habitat away from country also important that donors do not perceive UN Habitat teams. The mindset that UN Habitat is a ‘small agency’ divisions to be competing against one another for the does not bode well for teams in the field because it same resources. places UN Habitat at a disadvantage. The agency Human Library Conference Report • 69
Policy Adviser, Indonesia, for UN- EMIEL WEGELIN HABITAT - intermittent, June-October. The assignment involved policy and Emiel Wegelin had a long and strategy advisory support to ASSP (a successful career with UN-HABITAT UN-HABITAT/UNDP support programme as urban management programme to the Government of Indonesia (GoI)’s co-ordinator and strategy and policy Aceh rehabilitation and reconstruction adviser. strategy), focusing on getting ASSP off the ground and developing its strategy in the local government areas have worked for Technical Cooperation to be covered by ASSP and its partner Division on and off for the past 25 programmes and agencies, adding Iyears in both long-term and short- support to the reconstruction of Tsunami term assignments. The most significant affected areas. were: 2005-2006: Team leader, Mid-Term 1985-1988: CTA of the UNCHS/UNDP/ Review of the Sustainable Cities IBRD-supported technical assistance Programme (SCP)/Local Agenda 21(LA21), project for the Integrated Urban for UN-HABITAT and the Netherlands Infrastructure Development Programme Ministry of Foreign Affairs, intermittent, (IUIDP) in Indonesia. IUIDP aimed October 2005 – February 2006. The to integrate the provision of urban SCP/LA21 programmes were both infrastructure physically, financiallyglobal support programmes for urban and institutionally, and to decentralize environmental management supported responsibility for initiation and by a range of multi- and bilateral External formulation of projects and programmes Support Agencies. The Mid Term Review from central to local government. comprised a forward-looking assessment 1993-1996: Programme Coordinator, of SCP/LA21 programme implementation Urban Management Programme (UMP) during 2003-2005, with the objective of Phase 2. The UMP was a long term providing programme direction for the global technical assistance programme to next phase 2006-2008. strengthen the contribution that urban 2006: Evaluation of UN-HABITAT areas in developing countries make Programme Managers (HPMs) toward human development. UMP Phase performance and impact of the HPM 2 (1992-1996) translated the results system in 35 countries focusing on: a) of Phase 1 into operational support for integrating shelter and urban poverty policy action planning in programming issues into the UNDAFs and national at national, provincial and city levels. It poverty reduction strategies; b) promoting thematically covered: municipal finance UN-HABITAT’s global and normative and administration; urban infrastructure mandates; c) supporting operational management; urban land management; activities of UN-HABITAT at the national urban environmental management; and and local levels, while also including an urban poverty alleviation. assessment of the administrative and 2005: Aceh Settlements Support financial arrangements and relationships Programme (ASSP) Strategy and that condition the HPMs work. 70 • Human Library Conference Report
Human interaction and living positively built on the experiences gained in IUIDP memories and UMP and further articulated UN-HABITAT’s potential to respond in an integrated and My two long-term assignments were profoundly interdisciplinary manner to urban management formative in many ways: and development challenges. • Highlighting the imperative for an integrated, Clearly, the above would not have been possible if multi-disciplinary approach in urban management, there had not been the build-up of teams of colleagues working with colleagues from different walks of working towards common objectives and in a life, and recognizing one another’s roles. cooperative spirit. TCD was instrumental in enabling • Recognizing the need for decentralization, both in that within its institutional and bureaucratic limitations. central-local government relationships and in the management of a complex, geographically spread- Future perspectives out technical cooperation programme and acting UN-HABITAT is the only UN agency with the mandate on that within the limitations of the programmes’ of addressing urban management challenges. settings. Given the complexities, the enormity and the • A somewhat more negative experience relates growing significance of such challenges in a rapidly to the two programmes both being embedded urbanizing world, it is imperative that the mandate in a rigid UN procedural system not designed to is maintained and developed further. handle such complex programmes. In both cases Successful national and global programmes such internal decentralization with decentralized budget as IUIDP and UMP suggest that a judicious mixture responsibility should have been taken much further, of normative and operational content is vital in but the procedures at the time did not allow for that. the development of new international support Similarly, in both programmes there was need to programmes in urban development, while the balance institutional rivalry between implementing elements of cross-learning and capacity-building are agencies and need to continuously fund-raise and essential to sustain success. deal with different donor priorities which took a disproportionate amount of time and effort. Financial and institutional sustainability must be addressed head-on in the design stage of new • The design and implementation of the Cities support programmes. This is perhaps the most Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), an Asia- difficult challenge UN-HABITAT must be prepared wide regional initiative established in 2007 by the to work on in coalition with a range of hard-core Asian Development Bank and the Government stakeholders, who should be identified on the of Germany, with additional support of the basis of their ability and willingness to sustainably governments of Sweden, Spain and Austria), co-finance the programme through established or which I co-manage as GIZ Programme Coordinator new legal institutional (national and international) together with my ADB counterpart, has drawn on entities. UN-HABITAT needs to develop an internal the organizational design (governance framework) capacity to deal with such issues. and operational procedures developed in the UMP. Fund-raising from a broader range of international • Despite some of the above criticism, I strongly sources will always be a complex and time-consuming feel that UN-HABITAT is well-placed to design exercise. This is most effectively done on the basis and implement programmes such as IUIDP and of an appealing programme or product concept. UMP through RTCD. Its staff reflects the multi- UN-HABITAT must be ready to invest more in the disciplinary nature of co-operation activities, human resources required to develop such concepts, although this could be given more emphasis. as this will be the key to institutional survival in a • The subsequent three short-term assignments competitive world. Human Library Conference Report • 71
This solidarity and trust in the division ERIC VERSCHUUR was crucial as often it did not exist at other levels, where RTCD was considered a ‘rogue’, irresponsible entity that was Eric Verschuur’s had a long career taking risks and disregarding all UN rules with UN-HABITAT, with posts in and regulations. But the facts tell the real Nairobi and Rio de Janeiro. He works story and have demonstrated that the currently at UNEP. implementation of the project portfolio over the past two decades – involving I have worked for UN-HABITAT for the well over one billion US dollars - has past 20 years in various capacities, as never had any serious irregularity. follows: The division has indeed always been (1991-96) RTCD, PMO Latin America willing to take calculated risks in order to and Caribbean Region (Unit IV), Nairobi. develop its portfolio, very often in difficult post-conflict/disaster environments, and (1996-1997) RTCD, PMO Regional Office ensure its sustainability and growth. It for Latin America and the Caribbean should not be forgotten that the division (ROLAC), Rio de Janeiro. has always been expected to generate the (1997-2006) RTCD, PMO Unit I & II vast majority of its resources, including merged into Regional Office for Africa the salaries of core staff. and the Arab States (ROAAS), Nairobi. The real growth of the division probably (2006-2008) RTCD, Senior PMO, RTCD/ started in the mid-90s when the decision ROAAS, Nairobi. was taken to decentralize the technical (2008-2009) Global Division, Senior cooperation division and create regional PMO GD, Nairobi. offices in their respective regions. The process started with the Rio office, (2009-present) UNEP, Chief, Project responsible for Latin America and the Management and Administration Unit, Caribbean, where we not only had to Paris. face the physical relocation but also design and negotiate a whole new Human Interaction and decentralized administrative structure living memories with an appropriate delegated authority. By far the most positive memory from ROLAC was soon followed by ROAP my UN-HABITAT years was the incredibly in Fukuoka and by ROAAS in Nairobi. positive and stimulating environment that Those early years were complicated existed within the Technical Cooperation and required a creative approach as the Division. This atmosphere - at all levels - offices had to establish themselves in of trust, of mutual support, of respect, their regions, develop a project portfolio of solidarity and of friendship was the and face increasing competition from driving force behind the growth and the UNDP and UN-OPS. Luckily - thanks to success of the division. I used to think the vision of Jorge Gavidia - the division that such an atmosphere was normal, was able to ‘get a foot in the door’ of the but now realize that it is an exception Iraqi Oil for Food programme, starting and that we were privileged to have been from an initial USD six million project part of the experience over the years. to close to USD 800 million, generating 72 • Human Library Conference Report
sufficient resources for a number of years. This is being implemented by UNDP and/or UN-OPS. Yes, breathing space gave the division and regions the UNDP has the country presence and very often the opportunity to establish themselves and to ensure RC has the administrative set-up at country level to sustainability through, among other things, the quickly initiate new activities, has the coordination implementation of large projects in a number of role and UNOPS has the tools and a much stronger post-conflict/disaster countries such as Afghanistan, marketing. But Habitat has the technical know-how the Tsunami countries, Rwanda and Somalia. and the proven experience in some parts of the world that unfortunately is not yet replicable. The division has been sustainable for all these years, despite many difficulties. But questions might be Future perspectives asked. Could we have done better? Have we missed opportunities? Could we have grown more? Could Assuming UN-HABITAT wants to expand its presence we have been less dependent on post-conflict/ and portfolio at country level and assuming it also disaster emphasis? Do we have the right tools to wants to be able to play a major role in post-conflict/ allow competition with other agencies? Are we able disaster operations, it would seem crucial to develop to set up rapidly new operations and are we able to its capacity in the following areas that have all been convince our partners that we have the capacity to mentioned during the MTSIP process but have not implement? yet necessarily been implemented. What does it miss? What should it have? The answer is ‘yes’ to some of these questions, ‘no’ to others. • Let’s start with trust and accountability. Controls are obviously required in any organization but UN-HABITAT has, due to its dual, normative and not to the extent that the control mechanisms operational, mandate a unique selling point that should become a bottleneck for the development and have been exploited much more than it has been. This implementation of programmes. This is currently is a clear advantage compared to competitors such still the case in UN-HABITAT and a long road is as UNDP and UN-OPS. But is UN-HABITAT using this required to decentralize/delegate to the right advantage to its full potential? Is Habitat entering operational level. or developing new activities at country level with its full normative and operational brainpower, with its • Habitat misses the capacity to demonstrate its full financial capacity? After all, convincing partners normative edge at country level whenever an or the ‘One UN’ to allocate resources to our sector opportunity arises. Staff from other divisions is a lot easier when you are able to bring your own (or even from other regions) are rarely able to ‘dowry’. Two years ago, I’m afraid the response to be redeployed rapidly (language skills, time these questions would have been in the negative, but constraints, workload, willingness to go to difficult perhaps the MTSIP has been able to support this much environments, internal politics) needed integrated approach. • Habitat does not (or not sufficiently) pool its Does Habitat have the right decentralized tools, resources to develop a joint programme at country the right institutional set-up to allow rapid level. development and implementation of large scale • Habitat has rarely been able to invest seed capital projects and programmes? The answer seems again in new (emergency) operations to be ‘no’ as a recent example demonstrates that only the technical assistance component of a large • Willingness to take a certain level of risk (ensuring programme is being entrusted to Habitat while year contracts for staff without necessarily having the bulk of the ‘physical’ implementation (the part concluded all agreements with potential donors) where we should be earning our bread and butter) and to provide bridging funds Human Library Conference Report • 73
• A dedicated technical and administrative support cooperation agreements, opening of local imprest unit (with immediate access to and support from account, etc. the highest level of the organization) • Authorizing ‘special’ procurement rules to match • has to be established/reinforced for start-up those of competitors in emergency operations, of emergency operations and eventually, if ensuring preferential treatment at UNON whenever required, for continuous support throughout required (as was done during Oil for Food) the implementation of the project/programme. Moving along these lines should hopefully facilitate This should include a pool of experts and the future development and implementation of PMO’s able to move at short notice (recruit on country level activities and ensure the future growth temporary appointments, advertise generic JO of UN-HABITAT to meet the challenges of an as DPKO), appropriate immediate access to increasingly urbanizing and vulnerable world. CITRIX, immediate delegation of authority for procurement , local recruitments, signature of 74 • Human Library Conference Report
funding, and the Housing Policy section, Farouk Tebbal that lacked financial resources, I devoted a large amount of time to the preparation Farouk Tebbal, former cabinet and launch of the GCST in about 15 Minister in Algeria, joined UN- countries, using analytical resources from HABITAT in 2000 working mainly in the two sections as well as from external the area of housing policy and slum resources. The campaign was funded upgrading. mostly by the Belgian government and entailed:
worked for UN-HABITAT for nearly • discussing with regional offices eight years. Five of these were spent opportunities of campaign activities Ias Chief of the Shelter Branch and the and identifying recipient countries for rest on secondment to the Cities Alliance the campaign. in Washington, D.C. where I coordinated • assessing through regional offices the activities of the Slum Upgrading country problems and issues related section. I joined the UN system after to secure tenure and identification a long career as a civil servant in my of potential policy reforms and country, Algeria, working in construction stakeholders involved in the process. regulations and dealing with reforms to • using the launch of the campaign as urban and land legislation complying a highly visible event to ensure that with the changing political system from governments are officially committed a centrally-planned to a market-oriented to accept and implement policy economy, including implementation of reforms and action plans. large scale social housing programmes for the lower-income segment of population. Launches took place in several countries Therefore, I joined UN-HABITAT with in Asia (Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia), practical first-hand experience. Africa (South Africa, Namibia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Uganda) and Latin As chief of Shelter Branch, I was in America (Brazil, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico). charge of coordinating three sections It should be noted that the GCST worked (Water and Sanitation, Housing Policy, hand in hand, from an early stage, with Land and Tenure), as well as managing Global Urban Governance Campaign. the global campaign for Secure Tenure This dual approach proved to be very (GCST). However important changes relevant given the complementary nature were decided by management that of the two campaigns. I was also involved significantly affected the capacity of in the Eastern and Southern Africa slum the branch. Staff and scope of work upgrading initiative. was sharply reduced, and the branch structure disturbed especially as the WS section was removed to become an Human interaction and living memories autonomous entity, one that completely stopped its contacts with the Shelter As mentioned, managing the Branch branch at a time when its support to the and the GCST, entailed a number of campaign was needed most. Along with interactions within and outside the the supervision of the Land and Tenure Branch. section, that developed with substantial Human Library Conference Report • 75
Within the Branch, management of a relatively small and analytical roles of the Campaigns’ managers. team did not entail micro management and support As an example, the very successful campaign in was essentially of an advisory and coordination the Philippines was the result of the Asia office nature to streamline the activities of the sections senior task officer, the local representative (who within the GCST: eventually became HPM and then full staff) and the two campaign managers in the headquarters • The Housing Policy contributed essentially to the and their colleagues. This scenario was not always Housing Rights Programme in close coordination as successful in all countries as the “sensitivity” to with the UN system, but had only indirect impact the campaigns was not equally shared in house. on the GCST, given the lack of human and financial Another striking example is the impact that the resources. Branch and RTCD achieved in Morocco where • The Land and Tenure section had few staff but was the Campaigns’ launch triggered a wide range of comfortably funded, essentially by the Swedish policy reforms and programmes in line with the government. However, as much as the input of advocacy principles of UN-HABITAT. this section was needed for the campaign, and • Several other units such as: given that the fund was earmarked, the section was largely focused on setting up of the Global The Global Urban Observatory, essentially on issues Land Tool Network, expected to give UN-HABITAT related to the MDGs (measuring progress, defining high visibility. objectives, etc.). Gender unit (including gender in the advocacy and normative activity of GCST), Outside the Branch, interactions took place with the Training and Capacity Building Unit for the most of the Global Division programmes as well as preparation of tools related to the campaign. Slum Regional offices under DRTC, including: Upgrading Fund, and Youth. I also joined the Cities • The Governance Campaign, given its link to Alliance in September 2006. the GCST. Preparation and launch of the two The coordination efforts have not always been up to campaigns were conducted jointly. GCST our expectations as the struggle for funding diverted contributed some financial resources to the the attention of senior staff. The following describes Governance Campaign in a few countries. an example of an embarrassing situation related to While demonstrating a coordinated UN-HABITAT this issue of coordination: approach at country level, the two campaigns failed to develop joint normative tools, probably A presentation of activities made by senior staff and because of the lack of finance at a time when heads of programmes was made to major donor strong practice and experience was developed. delegation (Dutch). Almost none of the presenters Indeed, by the end of 2005, funding for the two demonstrated any coordination/interrelation with campaigns came to an end and, unfortunately, at other units or programmes. Needless to say that a time when the campaigns started to show results this fact did not go unnoticed to the delegation at national and global level (e.g. the setting up of which made a clear and loud comment about this a global entity, the Advisory Group against Forced ‘shortcoming’. Evictions). This situation prompted the merging of It is important to also note that coordination of the two campaigns in the Global Campaign for activities by division was poor, entailing micro- Sustainable Urbanisation, as an outcome of the management by top management, often disrupting MTISP process. activities. • The regional offices, through the GCST, applied Some rewarding situations need to be recalled such knowledge of the local situation and strong as working with community representatives, either networks developed at national level by DRTC in Nairobi (Mungano wanavijiji, Shelter Forum) or in staff, reinforcing the link between the operational 76 • Human Library Conference Report
other countries, and at regional and international expected Belgian fund with the LA21 programme level (SDI). before the new government decided to fund only environment related activities and all the funds Future perspectives where reversed to the LA 21 programme without a chance to share it with GCST! Therefore UN- From my experience within the UN system, I suggest HABITAT should have some latitude in the use and the following: allocation of soft earmarked funds. • Recruitment of staff should take into account the • To ensure that the scarce human and financial need to have a good mix of ‘field people’ You resources are used efficiently, UN-HABITAT should get more credibility when asking country or city consider having two types of cooperation at officials to exert accountability, transparency, if country level. they know that you also have been exposed to their situation. • A few well targeted countries where UN-HABITAT will give intensive and long term support (first • Conversely, junior staff should have the opportunity desk countries). to work in the field with partner agencies. • And countries (desk two) that may benefit • Funding has always been the achilles’ heel of from advisory support and guidance until they the Programme as earmarked funds depend on demonstrate a will to reform their policies, making the will and whim of the donors. In 2005, the them eligible for first desk status. GCST explored the option of sharing part of the Human Library Conference Report • 77
of the Programme Support Division. HEINZ KULL In summary, I have served UN-HABITAT at various functions over a period of Heinz Kull began in Myanmar and approximately two decades under three Haiti. He became Chief of the Africa different Executive Directors, a major Unit and co-leader of the Disaster restructuring exercise and a fundamental Management Unit in 1994. Then he shift from developing activities to an was the first Director of PSD. He increased importance of the so-called lives in Berlin. “relief to development continuum”, a shift that had a particularly strong impact on the agency’s operational activities and am a civil engineer and urban its financial set-up. planner, educated in Germany, but Iinfluenced by an early and longer term Human Interaction and working experience in French consulting living companies in Paris. It was there that I first established working contact with Lessons learnt at the Technical the then so-called developing world, in Cooperation Division: The operational particular Africa and Asia. approach of UN-HABITAT’s TCD in developing joint activities with a recipient After an assignment with the “Fonds country started with a project/programme Européen de Développement” concerning idea whereby, after the assessment of a infrastructure development in Côte d’Ivoire, given situation and possible improvement I joined the Berlin Technical University as measures, a certain number of objectives, a lecturer in the field of “Planning and results and activities had to be identified, Building in Developing Countries”. including required budgetary provisions, During 1981, I undertook my first work plans etc. Due to the fact that these advisory mission with UN-HABITAT to projects/programmes were to be financed Madagascar: Tananarivo Development by external donors, a compromise had to Strategy. be found between the specific interests of the recipient government, the donor Two UN-HABITAT assignments as Chief and our own agency. Considering the Technical Advisor, in Myanmar and Haiti often very different views of the partners respectively, followed, dealing with involved on outputs to be achieved, on master plan studies in Yangon, Myanmar, staffing or training needs etc, the final and secondary cities development in project/programme design was the result Haiti. of sometimes lengthy negotiations where In 1989, I joined UN-HABITAT institutional influence, means and also Headquarters Nairobi, where I successively personal affinities carried weight. served as Human Settlements Advisor, For many years, activities of TCD had Coordinator of the Francophone Africa, been guided by the need to generate Arab States and Europe Unit, and parallel sufficient overheads to contribute to the to that I was the Coordinator of the newly financing of its three regional units. On created Disaster Management Unit. Next, the one hand this led to the presence I became Head of the Planning and of very dedicated human settlements Coordination Office and, finally, Director advisors for whom no effort was too 78 • Human Library Conference Report
big to identify, design and execute new projects/ questioned by UN-HABITAT governing bodies (CPR programmes. On the other hand, there was not and GC), some Habitat staff and also by potential much time to think beyond projects/programmes, beneficiary groups. In fact, although we witnessed their financial volume and the next TCD Quarterly that in many countries new policies were effectively Report, where the relative success of the various followed by such as facilitated access to land, stable Human Settlements Advisors was expressed in terms financial mechanisms and, in a few countries, of project numbers and financial volumes. improved supply of building materials - there were also countries that were lagging and where it took The then existing projects/programmes concerned time to realize that. housing policies, urban design, urban safety, construction of urban infrastructure, land The general lesson has been that once UN-HABITAT development, housing design and construction, technical cooperation projects were completed, housing finance, community finance, institutional government agencies and private sector units often set-ups, employment creation and income encountered serious problems to ensure larger scale generation, community participation and its replication of initially jointly executed housing and organization, reconstruction of war-torn societies infrastructure operations. and those hit by natural disasters, etc - whatever It is therefore suggested not only to measure the thematic issue falling under UN-HABITAT’s mandate success of UN-HABITAT-facilitated new housing was taken up and translated into – very often – policies by the number of countries where these have meaningful ventures. been introduced, but also by the volume of concrete But while we were introducing these undertakings follow-up operations they generated. Monitoring of for the benefit of at least fragments of the initially projects’ success would therefore not end with their identified target groups, we had to take note of the final evaluation but go well beyond that and leading, fact that the sheer number of those living under if necessary, to further technical assistance. precarious housing conditions grew seemingly Evaluations: Within UN-HABITAT’s monitoring inevitably in volume. mandate, evaluation of projects/programmes UN-HABITAT’s restructuring process, undertaken was not highly considered among the staff. The in the mid 1990s, tried to reorient our efforts in a understanding that evaluations are not just a more focused way but could not provide an answer time consuming burden or a given prerequisite of to above mentioned dilemma nor prevent that more the UN machinery - but are in fact a very positive and more UN agencies established their visible management tool - may have developed since. presence in the housing sector, UNDP and UNHCR However, the temptation may still be there to in particular. circumvent this instrument by drafting the Terms of Reference of evaluations in such a way that sensitive National housing policies: There is much evidence issues are excluded or by modifying over time and for that “UN-HABITAT’s technical cooperation has, in no acceptable reason project/programme objectives several countries, resulted in new national policies on and results, work plans etc. housing and urban development.” This is particularly true with regard to housing policies where there have Likewise the fact that a certain number of countries been numerous projects/programmes supporting try to nominate only candidates of specific ethnic the formulation and adoption of national housing background for studies abroad and other capacity policies - a great achievement in itself. building measures should be met.
However, if these undertakings have been generally It is therefore suggested that no effort should be successful at the institutional level (formulation and spared to maintain UN-HABITAT’s proven record with adoption, training of staff, etc) their direct impact on regard to transparency and accordance to rules and the improvement of housing conditions is sometimes regulations. Human Library Conference Report • 79
Future perspectives impact on UN-HABITAT, in budgetary terms but also in terms of priorities and design of future policies/ Fund-raising by other agencies: When attending a programmes. concert of the “Berliner Philharmoniker” you will find at the entrance of the concert hall a signboard I suggested that TCD (jointly with other interested inviting you to donate to UNICEF and UNICEF flyers staff) takes up these matters and their possible effect are freely available. At many grocery shops you are on the agency to be prepared for new developments. invited to buy as much vegetables as possible as it ‘Scenario thinking’ is required, very similar to that serves a good cause – for every one Euro spent, three in the early 1990s, when funding shifted almost cents will go to FAO. WHO, FAO and UNICEF are overnight from development aid to emergency aid. active all year round with reminders to support their External advisory group to the ED: This HLC may activities regularly updated. A year ago, when Haiti result in a huge number of suggestions and was part of the daily TV coverage, these agencies’ recommendations. They will have to be structured, activities as well as their respective bank account packaged and evaluated to operationalize them for numbers were repeatedly screened to all household the purpose of the agency. I suggest we examine fund-raising approaches used This exercise can of course been done in-house. by other agencies to check their suitability for UN- However, an external, independent look at these HABITAT. issues may be beneficial. New challenges for UN-HABITAT: The effects of I suggest that we explore how the agency can the recent financial crisis, the emergence of new benefit from the institutional knowledge and powers in Asia and Latin America, an ever growing experience of retired and former staff members. A gap between the rich and the poor in almost every first practical test in that sense could be undertaken country, the lack of evident answers to rising public by an external assessment of the HLC results. This debt, unemployment and shortcomings in the would not prevent the agency from doing its own health and education sectors have undermined in-house assessment. many citizens’ trust in governments and the stability of their political system. This situation will have its 80 • Human Library Conference Report
to three months, averaging around 40 Jan Meelker participants. During this period, I also was responsible Jan Meelker has worked for UN- for backstopping and replacing the PMO HABITAT and other UN agencies in in West Africa and Arab States during his various locations around Africa and absence. other parts of the world The Regional Staff exchange programme concluded and I worked on the set-up/ worked for UN-HABITAT between management of the Regional Coalition 1990 and 1994 as Programme of Housing Finance Institutions where IManagement Officer (PMO), TCD, institutions from India, Republic of Korea Asia & Pacific Unit; Regional Programme and the Philippines participated. Officer, TCD, Asia & Pacific Unit and I was project manager for the UN/ Human Settlements Programme Advisor FINNIDA funded project ‘Reconstruction (HSPA), Dhaka, Bangladesh of Rural Housing in Flood Affected Areas’, Other organisations I worked with where I provided technical guidance to included: UNDP/UNIDO in Zaire (DRC); GoB (central and local governments), DRA, a Dutch consortium in Rwanda; consultants and 19 participating NGOs/ UNDP in Lao PDR; Dutch MFA (DGIS) Community Based Organisations on in Benin; the European Commission in low-cost disaster resistant housing Jerusalem/ Palestine and Cyprus; UNOPS/ and (revolving) loan issues, institution UNDP in Cyprus; and NV, Netherlands building, policy issues, gender, Development Organisation in Tanzania. financial management, budgeting and Activities carried out: In collaboration procurement of equipment. I participated with HSA Dinky von Einsiedel, I worked in programme/project reviews/ donor on the ‘Regional Staff Exchange on meetings. From 1993 until 1994, I was Urban Management in Asia’ programme a project manager for the following in which nine countries participated projects: ‘support for urban management (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, and municipal services programmes’ Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri and ‘support for area development and Lanka and Thailand). Each participating Shelter programmes’, both UN-HABITAT/ country had a country coordinator and UNDP/ World Bank projects. a high level official from the relevant Ministry (Planning/ Housing). The Human interaction and management and coordination of the living memories programme was done from HQ in From a management and coordination cooperation with these coordinators. perspective, the ‘Regional Staff Exchange The objective of the programme was on Urban Management in Asia’ was to exchange urban management a complex programme, it was also a knowledge and experience (peer-to- highly successful programme as it clearly peer) and establish regional technical reached its objectives. The on the ground networks. Participating countries took ‘peer-to-peer’ learning approach was turns hosting these meetings for periods highly appreciated by the participants lasting anywhere between four weeks and informal networks were established Human Library Conference Report • 81
and used after the programme ended. It provided construction and loan management monitoring a valuable insights on urban management issues in Greek consultancy firm was contracted. The overall the different countries. An additional value of the planning, management and oversight was the programme was that it brought together three responsibility of the HSPA as well as liaising with the levels of participants from each country (policy, UNDP Office. In addition to UN-HABITAT procedures management and practitioners) who normally never this project fell also under UNDP financial procedures met. The programme therefore enhanced relevant and management lines, which sometimes caused in-country communication. delays. In the beginning of the project two million US dollars was given to Grameen Bank, who at the However, organizing the exchange sessions was time of financial reporting was unable to account complicated in the sense of timing and getting the for this grant as ‘it had become part of their ‘general appropriate participants as well as in timely arranging loan portfolio’. travel, DSA, venues and last minute changes often took place. A great deal of flexibility and creativity Though the project achieved its objectives with were required. For example, there was an occasion regard to number of houses constructed and number in Kuala Lumpur when I had to go to the bank and of loans issued and recuperated, at times relations withdraw money for the venue and participants’ with UNDP were difficult. This was partly due to the DSA’s and walk back to the venue with over 40,000 UN-HABITAT management structure where an expert ringgit in cash in my pockets. From an administrative consultant came in for one month every quarter, perspective UN-HABITAT procedures did not hamper even though the overall planning, management progress and even last minute changes could be and oversight was the responsibility of the HSPA accommodated with some effort. as was liaising with the UNDP Office. This led to a lack of clarity as far as lines of communication and Due to the success and appreciation of the responsibilities were concerned, thereby affecting programme, additional funding was made available relations. by UNDP. In the end, the programme’s success contributed to the shift in overall UMP management Some interesting outcomes of the project were that from UNDP to UN-HABITAT. NGOs who were rooted in the areas of operation enjoyed much higher lower (?one or the other) Bangladesh ‘Reconstruction of Rural Housing in Flood loan repayment rates than NGOs who came from Affected Areas’ was a large emergency programme outside the area. Also, where women were the loan set up after the devastating floods and cyclones of takers, the group collateral system worked better, 1991/92 which caused great damage and suffering repayment rates were significantly higher and the in the country. The idea was to set-up disaster money was better used for the intended purpose. resistant housing for the poor, basically consisting of a strong concrete frame with wall of choice of Future perspectives the different communities. Some choose bamboo or a combination of mud bricks and bamboo, while During my tenure with UN-HABITAT, administrative others opted for corrugated iron sheets, which made procedures were not too cumbersome. Also, being the houses feel like greenhouses with temperatures based in Nairobi, I had an added advantage with well over 40 degrees C. direct access to the administration. But, when stationed in Dhaka, this became more difficult and The beneficiaries paid for the houses through a approval processes became lengthier. revolving loan facility which include a part for income generating activities (the Grameen Bank From experiences with other organisations and model). Construction and loan management was donors, I can say that administrative procedures in done by 19 different NGO’s in different parts of general became heavier over time with more steps the countries. For the technical advisory part of the for final approval of expenditures. Implementers 82 • Human Library Conference Report
and funders are under increasing pressure to be the flexibility to go ahead with implementation accountable to their constituents, which almost of activities and shift within budget headings, if inevitably leads to more layers of control, slowing needed. Preapproval is only needed when shifts from down implementation. The paradox, however, is one budget line to another is necessary. Detailed that there is also increasing pressure to show quick expenditures were accounted for in the financial results. Project/programme managers especially are reports and approved ‘a posteriori’. This approach caught between two fires: the pressure of complying works very well and avoids unnecessary delays in with cumbersome administrative procedures on one daily implementation. hand and the pressure to show results on the other. It is important that a workable balance is found, In my present position in Tanzania we solved this by satisfying accountability requirements as well as agreeing with the donor on a broad (semi-annual) timely achievement of results, which often depends work-plan describing only the outcomes and a on the momentum and good relations with general budget with only the main budget line counterparts. headings beforehand, giving me as project manager Human Library Conference Report • 83
working in the Fukuoka Office as a Senior JAN MEEUWISSEN Human Settlements Officer.
Jan Meeuwissen started at UNCHS Human interaction and (Habitat) 29 years ago in Lagos. He is living memories our longest serving manager, the de The changing role of UNDP has caused facto deputy of Toshi Noda in ROAP. most strain in my relationship with that agency over the past 15 years. While joined UNCHS in 1982 as an Associate UNDP’s role was clear before that time, Expert in Architecture and Urban as the coordinator and funding agency Planning in a project implementing of development activities of the UN I system, the decision to implement their the Master Plan for Metropolitan Lagos, Nigeria. Earlier, I had worked own projects was the beginning of a as a volunteer for a UNCHS project in highly competitive rather than a partner Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1979-80. I also relationship. It also created the need for worked over five years in Habitat technical the establishment of a new coordinating cooperation projects in Bhutan and Sierra body in the UN system, the UNDG. Leone before joining Headquarters in However, as this body is administered 1988 in Nairobi, where I coordinated the by UNDP, its full independence as a truly UNCHS/Danida Community Development neutral inter-agency body still needs to Programme for nine years. be achieved. In the meantime, we’re faced with a situation that personalities This Programme with activities in Africa, in the post of UNRC and UNDP Country Asia and Latin America provided a Director will determine the relationship unique blend of innovation, research, with UN-HABITAT in that country. policy development, advocacy and pilot operational activities. The knowledge and As I have worked both in RTCD as in what experience gained from this programme was then the Research and Development has formed the basis for many successful Division, now split in Global Division projects in Asia during my 13-year tenure and Monitoring & Research Division, I at the Fukuoka Office, which I helped understand the work ethics and priorities establish in 1997. as well as the normative aspects. This has enabled me to maintain good The success of the Regional Office for relations with the various branches and Asia and the Pacific is well-known and their staff. The largest gap I see is that I believe I contributed significantly to the divisions have too little interaction the achievements of this Office, not and consequently, the Global and only by resource mobilization for and M&R Division do not benefit from the management of its large project portfolio, experience and knowledge built up in but more importantly by analyzing trends RTCD. Therefore, the normative products and introducing innovative approaches of UN-HABITAT, such as the capacity such as a poverty reduction strategy, building materials, documentation community contracts and a systematic collected and policies prepared, are only community-based methodology for post- partially reflecting the rich experience of disaster and post-conflict recovery and RTCD. I also believe that the staff of the reconstruction projects. To date, I am still normative divisions is insufficiently aware 84 • Human Library Conference Report
of the normative activities undertaken through the While ROAP has good relations with most global operational projects. ENOF is designed to change programmes, some of these persistently ignore the that, but in reality this is not yet working. regional office and, at times, cause embarrassing situations at the country level. The impact of UN-HABITAT Technical Cooperation on national policy reforms is one of the most Project and programme administration is by far the underestimated achievements of RTCD. For projects weakest area of UN-HABITAT. Since the time that which are designed as normative projects it is probably all projects were administered by UNDP at country understood, but many other projects have influenced level fifteen years ago and today, hardly any progress government policies. Even the post-conflict and post has been made to establish workable operational disaster projects have made a noticeable impact procedures for project implementation. A strong on national policies. In the Asia-Pacific region, I centralistic regime has been enforced, which does can quote the examples of the National Solidarity not take into account the realities in the field. New Programme in Afghanistan, which has made a legal instruments have been devised, which are very community-led approach the norm for Afghan cumbersome and delegation of authority is extremely development programmes, or the post-earthquake limited. This is further aggravated by a financial and programme in Pakistan, which introduced an owner- administrative management information system, driven approach for the housing reconstruction which is archaic and again heavily centralised. The programme. Also, the Governments of Sri Lanka and system barely works for development projects, let Indonesia adopted more owner-driven approaches alone for emergency assistance, which is a nightmare for their housing reconstruction programmes after in the present circumstances. the success of the UN-HABITAT-initiated programmes Only the creativity of ROAP staff in engaging project in these countries. In essence, the lesson is that good personnel and creating new instruments (such as examples with practical experience will be followed, community contracts and payments to beneficiaries, rather than introducing top-down academic policies, which are merely tolerated, but not fully accepted), which often have not been tested. has kept project administration manageable. It is The regional office in Asia and the Pacific has amazing that UN-HABITAT after all these years still very good experience in exchanging innovative can’t recruit its own national project staff on Service approaches between the countries in the region. The Contracts. ROAP alone has over 2000 of them and office has functioned as a catalyst to identify good had to come up with ingenious ways to recruit them practices in some countries and introduce them in through third parties. others. In the development sphere, a systematic The growth of the project portfolio of the ROAP- approach for slum improvement linked with poverty Fukuoka has been steady with a spectacular increase reduction, which was initially developed in Sri Lanka as from 2005 when it got involved in helping people under the Community Development Programme, to rebuild their housing after the Indian Ocean has been introduced in a number of other countries tsunami and the earthquake in Pakistan. At the in the region very successfully. Years later, when the end of 1997, the year ROAP was established, the project portfolio of ROAP shifted from development Fukuoka Office had 19 projects with a total budget to humanitarian activities, this community-based of US$ 31.8 million. approach was adapted to a post-conflict and post- disaster situation and again proved to be very The flip side of this spectacular growth is that it is successful. depending heavily on post-conflict and post-disaster Human Library Conference Report • 85
projects. The development oriented projects are and human resource management, is required. At this small in size and more difficult to find funds. point in time, just tinkering and further centralising is inadequate. A major overhaul is already overdue. Future perspectives Financial sources for the funding of development UN-HABITAT is one of the UN agencies which makes activities are decreasingly channelled through the UN a difference in the daily life of people. This is mainly system. Therefore innovative ways to attract finances because of the operational projects and programmes for operational projects must be found to continue at in the countries we serve. As there are still millions the present level of operations. One of the ways is to of people living in slums or lost their homes due be represented stronger at the regional and country to conflict or disaster, the UN-HABITAT operational level in order to be closer to the sources of finance. activities should continue. UN-HABITAT must make a difference in the life of There is the need to improve the relation between people living in slums and assist those who have lost the global programmes and the regional and country their homes in conflicts or disasters. Urban planning, activities in order to make UN-HABITAT more effective. housing policies, land administration, infrastructure The implementation of ENOF must succeed. strategies, financial models and capacity building will help, but action is required. In my vision, UN- The present financial and administrative arrangements HABITAT should inspire that action by providing are not conducive for efficient and effective project leadership in the human settlements sector by word and programme implementation. A serious review of and deed. the operational modalities, including legal instruments 86 • Human Library Conference Report
our projects made hardly a dent in the JAY MOOR vast needs. Many governments only talked about a national urban strategy; Jay Moor started in 1990 in the Asia funding was unsustainable; partners Unit. He created the GUO, moved were fickle; competition was ruthless; to the indicators programme and and lack of accountable and transparent initiated the State of the World’s governance distorted project benefits. Cities Report series. He lives in Montana, USA. Human interaction and living
ecause the United Nations The 1990s featured a series of embraces a set of universal extraordinary UN conferences. In 1994, ideals that are applied for the I volunteered for the Secretariat of B Habitat II, the second global conference betterment of all humanity, I regard working for the UN as the epitome of on human settlements. I wrote the first public professionalism. It has been my draft of the Habitat Agenda, setting privilege to be engaged in that work down essential principles. Since the 1976 from 1990 to 2005. Habitat conference, city planning had evolved to encompass civic engagement My pre-UN career spanned 25 years as and community-based development. an architect, urban-regional planner These were given prominence in the and public policy analyst. During the first draft of the Habitat Agenda. Good mid-1970s in Asia, I worked as a city governance - an unutterable phrase planner, sub-contractor to the Centre for among national governments - was Housing, Building and Planning, before also included. Subsequent debate it became UNCHS. In the early 1980s, I resulted in the retention of the phrase was regional planner on a UN-HABITAT in its constituent parts: openness, project in Montenegro. accountability and transparency.
In 1990, I was hired by UN-HABITAT The Habitat Agenda provided a mandate and deployed out of Nairobi to a dozen to monitor urban conditions and trends, Asian countries, backstopping a variety at all levels. UN-HABITAT was charged of development projects. I found UN- with managing global M&E and, soon HABITAT to be politically weak but after the conference, I was asked to create symbolically muscular. TCD was caught the Global Urban Observatory (GUO). I in a ‘consultant-for-hire’ mode, deferring integrated the global Urban Indicators to donor interest to obtain overheads. As Programme (UIP) and the GUO as a single a result TCD was hardly infusing national capacity-building programme to help policy with UN ideals. local authorities, through Local Urban I oversaw projects, working with Observatories (LUOs), collect and analyse national and international professionals, a set of urban indicators that would community organizers and governments help describe internal urban inequities. in Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Sri A City Development Index (CDI) of easy- Lanka and Thailand to improve urban to-collect indicators was intended as slums and help governments respond to the basis for periodic State of the Cities urban poverty. Despite many successes, reports at the local and national levels to Human Library Conference Report • 87
help governments and citizens identify priorities for indisputable role as The City Agency with convening policy and action. Indicators and the CDI would also and coordinating authority. Argue that the city is become mechanisms for measuring global progress not just another sector of national development, toward the goals of the Habitat Agenda. but the place where all development aspects comes together. Advocate strongly for cities as: During the late 1990s, the GUO focus altered. Rather than capacity building for local data generation, • drivers of economic development analysis, and reporting, it was decided to create a • vehicles for social betterment global database using national urban data to feed UN-HABITAT’s global reports. In 2001, I managed the • population absorbers first State of the World’s Cities report and produced • cultural touchstones the first strategic vision statement for UN-HABITAT, which argued for urban slum upgrading as the • keys to environmental sustainability and principal mission of UN-HABITAT. • the future of humanity.
Resist UN-HABITAT becoming just a shelter agency. Future perspectives Hire urbanists and planners as advocates for strong Many of UN-HABITAT’s problems have their origins planning. Nearly all MDGs come together in urban within the United Nations system. UN-HABITAT slums and by focusing development on improving was born from a 1976 global conference with the lives of slum dwellers, member states will be some of the world’s great futurists in attendance. more effective in meeting all the MDGs. Understanding that global urbanization would Technical Cooperation and One UN: Competition accelerate, participants supported the creation of for funds and status within the UN system at the an agency for cities. UN-HABITAT was conceived in country level have created roadblocks to technical a still-hostile environment of rural interests. Most cooperation. The Resident Coordinator system developing countries had not yet urbanized and and the UNDAF were to coordinate development could not bring themselves politically to support an assistance. It appears that these have been relabeled agenda beyond shelter. Donors too were reluctant One UN and Country Programme, respectively, to push UN-HABITAT beyond its old shelter mandate. with UNDP as coordinator. Cities are still regarded Moreover, the UN included agencies that also as just one of many sectors. Unless UNDP steers claimed cities and felt that UN-HABITAT was too to comprehensive development through regional small to be effective. Habitat II and UN-HABITAT’s socio-economic and geographic analysis, One UN subsequent elevation in status to a UN Programme will lead to les than optimal sectoral results. If cities changed some of that. are central to national socio-economic development, UN-HABITAT cannot be effective if it must fight UN-HABITAT should be included in overall national for position. Since Habitat II, UN-HABITAT’s policy planning. UN-HABITAT must lobby for this reputation has grown despite its lack of strategic approach to national development assistance and perspective, insufficient urban expertise and inability staff-up accordingly. to follow up. It is internally split into entities with City Monitoring and Reporting: After two editions redundancy, competition and areas of neglect. of the State of African Cities report, the weakness External programmes and projects, like those of in relying on national statistics and national surveys the Cities Alliance, control superior resources and has been revealed: We are running out of data. move independently into UN-HABITAT’s substantive UN-HABITAT may find it politically expedient to territory. avoid independent generation of urban data within The number one task is to make UN-HABITAT the countries, but as a practical matter it eventually champion for cities. Convince the S-G of Habitat’s becomes necessary. Clearly, reporting on the state 88 • Human Library Conference Report
of any city requires uncovering and comparing intra- UN development assistance priorities ought to city conditions and trends. Sub-city comparisons be based on strategic analyses of regional and help establish the relative magnitude of problems, global conditions and trends, independent of set priorities for action and determine effectiveness those produced by powerful financial interests. UN of policies and programmes. assessments must be as wide-ranging as possible and should incorporate alternative assumptions, UN-HABITAT should redesign and apply the City objective data, indicators, and other information. The Development Index (CDI) as this index can raise UN has the authority to convene the best strategic awareness of urban issues; be used for national, city thinkers to explore the probable future. UN-HABITAT and sub-city comparisons; correlate strongly with can play a key role, helping to build local capacity both good governance and poverty; and elevate for generating the kinds of information needed for cities in national development policy. global analyses, national policies, and local actions. There are local institutions throughout the Cybernetics – the process of feedback, analysis developing world with analytic abilities, or the and policy response – is an essential management potential to acquire them. Under the Habitat tool. Because of rapid global change, UN-HABITAT Agenda’s monitoring and reporting mandate, UN- technical cooperation in urban management should HABITAT should return to a capacity building and be enhanced to help anticipate incipient conditions, support mode for monitoring and reporting on local design responsive policies, set priorities for allocating urban conditions and trends using a small, universal resources, and take necessary pre-emptive and set of urban indicators, modified for local conditions. mitigating actions. Strategic Planning and Urban Cybernetics: Our world Habitat III: If it is held, Habitat III, in 2016, would is entering a phase of profound change and instability. be where a new global plan of action, agendas and Oil-based economies are facing structural inflation mandates will be agreed. Delegates to the 2012 WUF with transport, construction and farming increasingly should help draft the conference agenda. Designate expensive. Commodity and food prices are surging, UN-HABITAT as the Secretariat, mandating inputs especially in developing countries. Wealthier countries from the 2014 WUF, and integrating the 2016 WUF are accelerating their economic colonization of LDCs as the civil society component of Habitat III. to capture critical commodities and food security. Climate change makes economies less dependable UN-HABITAT should soon thereafter issue guidelines and economic forecasting less reliable. Where political for collecting data for local and national reporting stability depends upon economic stability, massive on progress in implementing the Habitat Agenda discontent and periodic eruptions of anger and and the MDGs. RTCD should be included in Habitat violence may become the norm. III in a useful and compensated role, and all activities involving UN-HABITAT should be fully funded. The “market” has been notoriously bad at anticipating global risk because of its reliance Habitat II saved UN-HABITAT. But, it also bankrupted on upon mass optimism. Through corruption of the agency. If there is merit in a third global governments, control of media and co-opting of conference on human settlements, UN-HABITAT economists, markets sweep aside objective points of should begin this year, 2011, to gather political view because these often challenge existing power and financial support, including a host country with and its self-serving policies. Potential problems are means. ignored or disguised as inconsequential – until it’s too late and crises ensue. Most of this plays out in the city, the bellwether of systemic change. Human Library Conference Report • 89
j’acceptais en 1999, le poste de Jean Marc Rossignol responsable de l’exécution du programme de reconstruction, de réhabilitation et de on parcours avec ONU-Habitat réinstallation des populations déplacées (CNUEH-Habitat à l’époque) pour la Province d’Erbil (Kurdistan irakien) Ma commencé en 1982 à dans le cadre du programme des Nations Bujumbura au Burundi comme VNU Unies «Pétrole contre nourriture». dans le cadre du projet «Développement Mon dernier poste long terme avec intégré de l’Habitat social » (quartier ONU-Habitat date de 2005-2006 en Musaga). Mes principales fonctions qualité de conseiller au Ministère des ont consisté au suivi des travaux de Infrastructures à Kigali – Rwanda sur un construction des équipements et programme visant l’établissement d’une infrastructures de base du projet (centre politique d’urbanisation et la formulation de santé, bornes fontaines, blocs latrines, d’un programme de renforcement des centre communautaires, écoles) et de capacités institutionnelles tant au niveau réaménagement du quartier, ainsi qu’au central que décentralisé. suivi et à l’encadrement du programme pilote de construction de 25 habitations Human interaction and économiques (en briques adobes) avec la living memories participation des bénéficiaires organisés sous forme coopérative. Mon expérience avec le CNUEH-Habitat puis ONU-Habitat au cours des quatorze Ma contribution au « projet Musaga » années passées sur des postes longues s’est poursuivi en 1984 avec le statut durées et au travers des différentes d’expert sur un projet plus ambitieux missions que j’ai réalisées pour l’agence puisque portant sur l’extension du quartier ont été riches en terme d’expérience tant Musaga sur 60 ha (infrastructures et professionnelle qu’humaine. équipements de base) et la construction assistée de 700 maisons économiques. Les différents postes que j’ai occupés sur le terrain m’ont permis d’acquérir J’ai par la suite occupé le poste de une bonne expérience et expertise en Conseiller technique principal du matière de programmes et d’opérations Projet d’appui à l’établissement public de développement urbain social au sein (ECOSAT) créé à partir des deux projets de d’équipe multidisciplinaire. développement urbains (Banque mondiale et CNUEH-Habitat) réalisés sur Bujumbura Les projets pilotes pour la plupart, auxquels j’ai eu la chance et le plaisir de Je quittais le Burundi en 1990 pour participer, ont en outre permis de tester rejoindre pour deux ans un nouveau et démontrer la faisabilité et l’efficacité poste de CTP à Dakar dans le cadre du des programmes de restructuration et projet « Appui technique et logistique d’amélioration des quartiers précaires au BASHO » (Bureau d’assistance aux et des opérations de développement de collectivités pour l’habitat social). nouveaux quartiers sur des standards Après une parenthèse de sept ans au adaptés aux capacités financières des cours desquels je réalisai néanmoins bénéficiaires (Musaga/Burundi). Tant au plusieurs missions court terme pour Burundi, qu’au Sénégal, la possibilité Habitat dans différents pays d’Afrique, de faire participer et contribuer 90 • Human Library Conference Report
financièrement les populations cibles à faibles Outre la nouvelle expertise acquise dans chaque revenus a été démontrée, au travers de dispositifs de affectation, les différentes postes que j’ai occupés « location-vente » (Musaga) ou coopératif (Sénégal). ont été pour moi l’occasion de travailler dans un Les taux de recouvrement des prêts (3.500 dossiers contexte très enrichissant tant sur le plan personnel de prêts individuels) atteignaient les 80% à l’ECOSAT. et relationnel que culturel. La découverte des pays Ces opérations ont également démontré qu’il était et cultures dans lesquels j’ai séjourné n’aurait pas possible d’aménager des quartiers offrant une mixité été possible de la même manière dans un autre sociale sur la base du principe de péréquation des contexte. Que ce soit au Burundi, au Sénégal ou au coûts (subvention des parcelles sociales par les Kurdistan. Je conserve d’ailleurs de solides attaches classes plus aisées). dans ces différents pays.
Le transfert de connaissances qui s’opérait dans le cadre Un des points importants pour moi dans mes de ces projets et le renforcement institutionnel auquel relations professionnelles avec le CNUEH-Habitat ils ont contribué, ont été très positif. L’établissement puis l’agence ONU-Habitat réside dans le caractère public chargé de l’aménagement de terrains et de la convivial et amical qui a toujours caractérisé les promotion de la construction (ECOSAT) et le fonds rapports que j’ai eu avec les différents responsables de promotion de l’habitat urbain (FPHU) créés entre ou autres membres de l’équipe du siège à Nairobi 1988 et 1989 sont toujours en place plus de vingt que ce soit dans le département technique ou ans ainsi qu’une bonne partie du personnel initial l’administration. (ECOSAT), même s’ils ont malgré tout soufferts des Je pense que la taille de l’agence plus petite que années de crise que le Burundi a traversé. d’autres agences onusiennes, constitue un atout Les rwandais réfugiés au Burundi qui avaient connu dans les relations humaines et qu’il est plus facile le projet d’habitat social Musaga et Jabe avaient la dans ce contexte de rencontrer les gens et de les volonté de reproduire ce type d’approche au Rwanda connaître. lorsqu’ils sont rentrés au pays après les événements de 1994. Sous la pression de la demande et suite Perspectives à certains choix des autorités locales, ce transfert Durant ces dix huit dernières années, mon parcours ne s’est pas fait dans les quartiers précaires et les professionnel m’a conduit à intervenir avec ONU- nouveaux quartiers de Kigali hormis et en partie Habitat mais également dans d’autres cadres et seulement dans le cadre de l’aménagement du avec d’autres organisations (ex Caisse Française de quartier Kimironko par ONU-Habitat dans les années Coopération, Banque mondiale). Ces expériences 2000 (ce quartier fait encore référence aujourd’hui ont été différentes et l’expertise acquise avec au Rwanda en terme de mixité sociale). Habitat m’a toujours été fort utile dans ces autres Ces projets ne se sont pas toujours réalisés interventions. facilement et les résultats ne sont pas toujours Ma dernière intervention avec Habitat remonte à apparus aux échéances prévues initialement (Cas 2005, et je suis aujourd’hui établi au Rwanda à titre des coopératives d’habitat au Sénégal). Mais c’est privé comme architecte-urbaniste. Je ne suis donc avec beaucoup de satisfaction que j’ai eu l’occasion pas pour le moment impliqué directement dans les de visiter plusieurs années après les quartiers réalisés programmes de l’agence et faute de temps, je ne dans le cadre des projets auxquels j’avais participé suis que d’assez loin l’évolution de ses activités. activement et de constater les résultats atteints et l’évolution de ces derniers. Mon expérience professionnelle de ces dernières années m’amène cependant au constat que ONU- La reconnaissance des bénéficiaires a également Habitat a encore un rôle important à jouer dans été pour moi au cours de ces années l’une de mes plusieurs domaines et notamment : principales satisfactions. Human Library Conference Report • 91
• les politiques de développement urbain d’une nouvelle politique de développement urbain (politique d’urbanisation) tenant compte des réalités • la restructuration des quartiers précaires et la du terrain et des défis à relever pour faire baisser la tenure foncière pression humaine sur le foncier rural. • la mixité sociale dans le développement urbain L’appui apporté par l’agence a également largement • les politiques de développement urbain et les contribué à l’adoption d’une législation foncière moyens de viabiliser de nouveaux quartiers pour et d’une loi sur les expropriations beaucoup plus les populations à faibles revenus équitables pour les populations.
• la mise en place auprès et l’adoption par les La mise en œuvre de ces nouvelles politiques et autorités locales d’outils de planification et de législations rencontrent néanmoins sur le terrain des gestion urbaine adaptés à leurs besoins. obstacles, réticences et autres difficultés qui ne sont Si je fais référence au cas du Rwanda, Habitat a eu pas encore surmontées... un rôle important dans la formulation et l’adoption 92 • Human Library Conference Report
Development Division (SSHSDD), the JORGE GAVIDIA Monitoring and Research Division (MRD), and the Financing Human Settlements Jorge Gavidia started in RDD. He Division (FHSD) for regional/global was co-leader of DMU, managed programmes for normative, monitoring our Iraq programme and became the and research tasks. second Director of ROLAC in 2002- However, as the activities and reach of 2007. He lives in Helsinki. UN-HABITAT evolved, a series of initiatives were launched to develop regional and joined the Building and Infrastructure global programmes from RTCD as well Technology Section, Research and as regional/global programmes with IDevelopment Division, of UNHCS in a country-operational content from 1982. From then until 2007 I had the SSHSDD/MRD/FHSD, but with mixed opportunity to work in different units. results. This involved both normative tasks and The Cities Alliance and Risk and field operations which allowed me to gain Disaster Management Programme a wide view of UN-HABITAT activities. are some examples of the first. Water Undertaking various management and Sanitation, Sustainable Cities, tasks with increasing responsibility Indicators, Best Practices, and Safer Cities also facilitated understanding of the programmes are examples of the latter. challenges faced when attempting to Achieving synergies between these achieve substantive objectives within activities has often been interpreted as, the administrative and management or limited to, improving coordination structures of the time. between divisions and has frequently been I feel that my last two assignments as Chief clouded by intra-institutional competition of the Disaster, Post Conflict and Safety for resources and recognition. Section / Risk and Disaster Management Some of the characteristics and operational Programme, and Director of the Regional attributes of country-level, regional and Office for Latin America and the Caribbean global programmes can be decisive in (ROLAC) may have had a greater influence promoting or discouraging synergies. on me, but my comments are the result of my overall experience with the agency and its mission. Country-level operations: • Ad-hoc paucity in the demand for There is no doubt UN-HABITAT has technical cooperation. accumulated over the years a varied experience in implementing country- • RTCD need for constant assessment level, regional and global programmes. of potential or latent demand for Implementation has sometimes been technical cooperation and formulation interpreted as the compartmentalized of project proposals. preserve of four different organizational • Shorter periods of implementation units of the agency: the Regional and (2-3 years), which can take the form Technical Cooperation Division (RDTC) for of a quasi ‘country programme’ when country-level operations; and the Shelter extended. and Sustainable Human Settlements Human Library Conference Report • 93
• Source of funding is increasingly the national HABITAT. counterpart or third parties with fixed policy • Activities of regional/global tend to have objectives and conditions. predefined policy, technical, research or • Increasing demand for reduction of agency implementation approaches and ca be less support costs, arguing that these should be the responsive to specific country demands, and limit agency’s counterpart contribution. the scope for cooperation with other programmes or country-level operations, unless pre-defined in • Activities tend to be country (or project) specific the programme design responding to particular country needs. • Include activities for developing learning processes • Limited scope for introducing learning processes targeted to a supra-national audience, and targeted to a wider audience, or scaling up beyond envisage scaling up beyond country level the country level (limited normative feedback). • While programme activities are normally • Unpredictable funding, rendering project self- predetermined, they do have certain flexibility contained within the budget and implementation in the implementation of their components, period. including field applications, within the agreed • Ad hoc management, defined by specific project budget and implementation period. arrangements and implementing partner-manager. • More centralized, homogeneous management for • No fixed implementation model responding to all activities in response to programme objectives. project-specific demands and negotiations; • Greater intensity of the technical input provided • Variable intensity of the technical input provided by UN-HABITAT. by UN-HABITAT, subject to a large extent to the capacity and vocation of the backstopping officer. Issues to be considered:
There were some aspects in the management of UN- Regional and global programmes: HABITAT activities that impacted on how synergies • Existence of a perceived, or assessed demand for were achieved between its functional units. knowledge development and thematic technical • Cooperation among programmes and within support. country-level operations was generally ad hoc, • Normally supply-driven processes of programme based on individual initiatives, rather than formulation, even if consultations are made with systematic application of corporate policy. stakeholders and potential users of the knowledge • The engagement was at times opportunistic, based and technical inputs to be provided. on a positive environment for fund mobilization • Normally include country activities on research/ rather than institutional objectives. The latter, in knowledge acquisition, capacity development; essence is not necessarily a negative approach and and field application. In certain cases “field could be applied as part of a global institutional application” takes the form of quasi conventional strategy. technical cooperation. • Programmes were often developed at the • Source of funding is mainly from third parties/ initiative of individual officers or units. Significant donors and programme activities and conditions institutional support followed only if the initiative tend to discourage resources to support UN- proved successful in fund raising. This created HABITAT core activities and normally require a bias away from programmes resulting from (human and management) resources from UN- institutional strategy. Individual initiative should be 94 • Human Library Conference Report
promoted, supported and rewarded, but within an The concepts I present are general in nature. Some institutional strategy. require gradual implementation, most demand persistent management commitment to bring all • In the absence of a corporate strategy to develop the staff of the agency to a common view and fully and implement programmes, these were left to motivate them for their achievement: their own resources, tending to wither away when funding diminished. • Within the mandate of the agency, to “promote socially and environmentally sustainable human • Functional units had sometimes decidedly settlements development and the achievement different visions on substantive issues, country of adequate shelter for all”, define few core level conditions, implementing partners, national issues on which the efforts of the agency should policy context, and implementation modalities. In focus. Target qualified staff and regular and extra- the absence of a common institutional strategy budgetary resources on those issues. this often led to outright lack of cooperation and missed opportunities. • Other issues important to the mission of the agency should be developed in partnerships with other • Institutional mandate, management structure, institutions which should take the operational operational and financial procedures, and lead. When an opportunistic engagement in availability of project pre-investment resources activities becomes necessary, ensure that full were not appropriate for projects that required agency back-up is available. The agency should rapid administrative response. focus its limited resources and not disperse them. • There was no policy for continued updating • While the Governing Council and the World Urban and development of in-house knowledge. In Forum are key instances for review of activities an urbanizing world where countries develop and the UN-HABITAT Agenda, their formats are national capacities and resources, demands for not conducive to in-depth review of agency goals, know-how and inputs become more specialized impact of activities, and assessment of emerging and state of the art. The agency has the mission issues. A small group of thinkers and experts on to respond to the demands of the most needy human settlements and development should be countries, but without knowledge development it established to advise the agency annually. could run the risk of becoming marginalized and technically outdated. • The agency should become globally relevant on global human settlements issues and not simply • Finally, UN-HABITAT developed a management for a diminishing population share to increase its culture where cooperation and positive credibility in tackling local issues; competition was not promoted. Rather, institutional fragmentation, negative competition • Establish a common operational platform for the and unclear performance recognition and rewards support and implementation of activities: regional/ took hold. global programmes, country level operations; M&E, knowledge dissemination and networking. Future perspectives • Establish a professional, unified, fund-raising and To steer UN-HABITAT into the next years as a relevant donor relations facility. international actor in human settlements issues is • Introduce a management culture based on not an easy task given the multiple restrictions to performance, continuous learning, and merit- change. There are no quick fixes. based recruitment and promotion. Human Library Conference Report • 95
logement, une partie de la population à Kariba Traoré faibles revenus avec comme objectifs:
• améliorer les conditions de vie de la Il a obtenu un doctorat d’ ingénieur population à bas revenus de Djibouti à la faculté de constructions civiles en leur offrant des structures d’accueil de Bucarest (Roumanie), après un adéquates; parcours universitaire à l’Ecole Nationale d’ingénieurs de Bamako. • promouvoir l’établissement et la pérennisation des institutions au niveau du District de Djibouti nécessaires pour a. Activités à ONU-HABITAT un programme permanent d’habitat social; De Janvier 2008 - Octobre 2009: • participer à la création d’emplois et Conseiller technique principal au Bureau le développement des entreprises Régional pour l’Afrique et les Pays Arabes artisanales ainsi que l’émergence d’une (Nairobi) en charge des pays suivants : industrie locale de construction; Djibouti, République Démocratique du Congo, République du Congo, Rwanda, • promouvoir la définition des standards Tchad, Burkina Faso, Guinée, Mauritanie. d’équipement et de construction accessibles aux ménages à bas De Septembre 1990 - Décembre 2007: revenus. Conseiller Technique Principal (CTP) dans différents pays : Haïti, Djibouti, Rwanda, Résultats obtenus Burundi, Tchad. • Projet d’aménagement d’un site Haïti : particulièrement difficile, la plupart des fouilles pour les caniveaux, les Projet d’amélioration des conditions de canalisations d’eau et les latrines vie dans 5villes (la capitale Port-au-Prince ont été réalisées à l’explosif par des et 4 villes secondaires). Projet arrêté températures moyennes de 50° C à après réalisation de la phase préparatoire l’ombre. (études d’exécution pour quelques infrastructures dans chacune des villes • la viabilisation de 37 hectares au Nord- Port-au-Prince, Hinche, Gonaïves et Port Ouest de Balbala dont 16,2 hectares de Paix) et démarrage de quelques travaux cessibles; (Port-au-Prince, Hinche, Gonaïves). Le • le lotissement d’un total de 1390 document de projet, l’époque, était parcelles sur ces terrains, dont 770 beaucoup plus orienté vers la description parcelles de 105 m2 équipées de fosses et l’énoncé des activités à entreprendre. sanitaires, de soubassement de murs Les études préliminaires et techniques mitoyens, 450 parcelles de 120 m2 et détaillées constituaient la première phase 170 parcelles de 160 m2 ; du projet. • la construction d’un millier de logements Djibouti : pour des ménages ayant un revenu mensuel au plus égal à de 25 000 avec Ce projet d’habitat social de Djibouti visait d’effort admissible de 30% maximum. faire accéder à la propriété foncière et au 96 • Human Library Conference Report
Burundi : Pour le PNUD, l’intérêt dans ce projet visait les axes ci-après : La crise qui a frappé le Burundi depuis 1993 est venue amplifier les déficits des deux provinces • l’assistance au Gouvernement pour la réalisation en matière d’infrastructures collectives. L’objectif des investissements du FENU ; global du projet était d’améliorer les conditions • la lutte contre la pauvreté ; socio-économiques des populations de Karuzi et de Cankuzo: • la fixation des populations dans leurs terroirs (les rapatriés ou les déplacés) ; • améliorer l’accès aux infrastructures et services répondant aux besoins prioritaires en matière de : • la bonne gouvernance. éducation, santé, alimentation en eau potable, Rwanda : Projet de réinstallation après le génocide pistes rurales et infrastructures économiques et de 1994. productives ; En avril 1995, comme conséquence à la perspective • mettre en place des mécanismes de gestion et du retour massif des réfugiés (environ 700 000 d’entretien des infrastructures et équipements ; personnes étaient attendues), le Gouvernement • améliorer les mécanismes de planification, de du Rwanda le PNUD ont entrepris la mise en coordination et de suivi. place d’infrastructures d’accueil en vue de leur réinstallation. Le “Programme Prioritaire de Les résultats obtenus ont été Réinstallation d’Urgence” qui en résulté, a été • la réalisation d’infrastructures (3 centres de santé, conçu comme une trame d’interventions afin 3 écoles primaires; de constituer un mécanisme pour faciliter la mobilisation de fonds. Deux axes d’intervention ont • le renforcement des capacités de gestion et été retenus: d’organisation des Administrations communales. • la création urgente et accélérée d’un volume • le renforcement des capacités de planification, important de parcelles viabilisées pour l’habitat de coordination et de suivi par les Cabinets dotées d’équipements communautaires de base des Gouverneurs et les Antennes provinciales et la mise en place d’un processus dynamique du Plan, l’appui au suivi des organisations de production de logements (aménagement, communautaires (comités, associations, etc.). viabilisation et équipement des trames d’accueil et réhabilitation de l’environnement). Difficultés rencontrées • l’appui institutionnel pour l’élaboration d’une Les difficultés majeures de ce projet sont les stratégie nationale de l’habitat et formation conséquences des divergences de fond entre les en service des cadres nationaux des structures parties, sur la méthodologie de la mise en œuvre du gouvernementales en matière de planification projet: urbaine, de mise en place de processus de Pour le Gouvernement, il fallait tout de suite mobilisation de ressources pour l’aménagement commencer par la réalisation d’infrastructures. de terrains et la production de logements.
Pour le FENU, il s’agissait initialement de consommer Les activités se sont développées dans les villes de rapidement le reliquat des fonds de l’ancien Projet Kigali (Gisozi, Kagugu, Gaculiro et Kimironko) et de « ACU ». Cette vision du Projet a ensuite évolué Butare (Tumba, Rango, Nkubi et Sahera). suite à la revue des mandats du FENU, qui voudrait Difficultés rencontrées et recommandations: voir le Projet, s’orienter vers une approche plus nette de décentralisation. • la mise en place des fonds ne s’est pas fait au rythme des besoins en financement. Human Library Conference Report • 97
• le délai d’attribution des marchés par le National • réhabilitant les quartiers à habitat précaire pour y Tender Board est trop long. garantir la sécurité de la tenure ;
• les différents changements de tutelle du projet • dotant les plus grands centres urbains de plan n’ont pas permis la cohérence souhaitée dans les stratégique de développement urbain ; interventions de l’Administration. • mettant en place deux organismes personnalisés, • la faible performance des bureaux d’études locaux l’un devant s’occuper de l’équipement des terrains et des entreprises. urbains et l’autre du financement de l’habitat social;
• dans le court terme, il a été suggéré d’entreprendre • contribuant à la formation du personnel du des actions en vue de mobiliser des fonds pour le MATUH et des autres institutions impliquées financement du reliquat de travaux de voirie. dans le projet afin de garantir la réplicabilité des opérations d’habitat social. • la mise en place projet d’assistance technique (renforcement de capacités au MINITERE) en Le projet a contribué aux réalisations suivantes : vue de l’identification et de l’élaboration des • les études de viabilisation du site de la Patte d’oie documents de requêtes de financement. à N’Djaména et d’un autre site à Doba dans la • pour le long terme, il a été demandé au région pétrolière, au sud du Tchad; Gouvernement et au PNUD de définir un cadre • les études de restructuration du quartier tramé de de coopération en vue de soutenir les deux Madjorio à N’Djaména; campagnes mondiales de l’agenda HABITAT à savoir: la bonne gouvernance urbaine et la • les études de drainage de d’environ 950 hectares sécurité de la tenure (sécurité de la propriété au Nord-Est de N’Djaména; foncière). • les travaux de viabilisation et de construction de 70 logements pilotes (Patte d’oie); Tchad : • les études d’un lotissement de 2 200 hectares au Pour faire face à ses nombreux défis de Nord de N’Djaména ; développement et de lutte contre la pauvreté en particulier, le Gouvernement du Tchad a entrepris • le renforcement des capacités des experts un vaste programme de développement urbain nationaux et du MATUH, et d’amélioration de l’habitat par lequel il s’est • la création d‘une agence de promotion immobilière engagé à investir, sur la période de 2004 à 2013, (SOPROFIM) ; d’importantes ressources provenant en grande • la sélection des ménages pour l’attribution des majorité de ses ressources pétrolières. Le projet parcelles sur la base de critères d’éligibilité et des de Développement urbain et d’amélioration de critères de priorité. l’habitat (DURAH) est l’un des tout premiers projets d’envergure de ce vaste programme. Il a été conçu Au titre des difficultés rencontrées par le projet on avec l’ambition de jeter les bases d’une solution peut citer entre autres: opérationnelle et durable à la problématique de • un environnement national marqué par l’accès d’une frange importante de la population, une administration très difficile et par des notamment celle à faibles revenus, au logement et périodes récurrentes d’insécurité pour cause aux infrastructures de base en: d’affrontements armés ; • mettant à leur disposition des parcelles assainies ; • des lourdeurs et lenteurs dans les prises de décisions • mettant en place un système de financement par les autorités compétentes (Gouvernement, adéquat pour la construction de leurs logements ; PNUD et ONU-HABITAT); 98 • Human Library Conference Report
• des retards récurrents et considérables dans le • le projet de réinstallation du Rwanda a été versement des contributions du, un facteur déterminant dans le processus d’opérationnalisation du National Tender Board. • le faible niveau d’expertise de certains membres Il a également permis d’une part, la réinstallation du personnel ; immédiate de plus de 30 000 retournés et Les leçons à tirer sont les suivantes : d’autre par de fournir des éléments de base • l’envergure des projets et programmes devrait pour le développement et l’extension de la ville être ramenée à des niveaux compatibles avec les de Kigali. En outre, certains bureaux d’études moyens raisonnablement mobilisables. et entreprises de construction ont acquis un certain professionnalisme. • l’Agence devrait éviter une implication trop importante dans la gestion des ressources fournies • en ce qui concerne le Tchad, l’intervention par le Gouvernement, d’ONU-HABITAT a permis relecture des textes réglementant les opérations d’urbanisme, la • dans les projets exécutés par l’Agence, seules ses construction et la gestion domaniale et foncière. procédures de passation de contrats (Procédures L’aménagement du site de la Patte d’Oie a été un des Nations Unies) devraient être applicables. catalyseur pour la compréhension de la notion de viabilisation de parcelles. La construction de Réponses aux questions poses sur le logements témoins sur des parcelles de 250 m2 panel 3 a été une innovation.
1. ONU-HABITAT doit s’impliquer dans la • au Burundi le professionnalisme dans le programmation au niveau pays, aussi bien au processus de construction des équipements niveau du Gouvernement qu’à celui du système solaires et sanitaires ont amené les Autorités des Nations Unies. Cette activité doit être basée locales et le PNUD a confier à ONU-HABITAT la sur une bonne connaissance des objectifs et construction de plusieurs autres équipements. des programmes des autres partenaires au développement du pays. 4. La formulation de politiques est par essence une activité normative qui n’est pas perçue par les pays 2. Pour que le développement des capacités ait une comme base des interventions physiques qui ont valeur ajoutée aux réformes politiques au niveau plus de visibilité pour la propagande des décideurs pays, il faudrait qu’ONU-HABITAT dispose des politiques. Ainsi, il devient très difficile au niveau stratégies claires de mise en œuvre des domaines pays de mobiliser les partenaires, en particulier les clefs de son mandat. nationaux, pour trouver un financement pour les 3. Le Projet d’habitat social à Balbala (Djibouti) aspects normatifs des activités d’ONU-HABITAT. a été succès aussi bien dans sa mise en œuvre 5. Pour mieux articuler ses futures activités, ONU- que dans ses résultats. Le Gouvernement, muni HABITAT devrait (a) mobiliser des ressources de l’expérience du projet, a créé un organisme financières propres pour les domaines de national pour la mise en œuvre de sa politique concentration de son mandat, (b) insérer le MTSIP d’habitat social. Les bénéficiaires cibles du projet dans le processus du UNDAF (c) faire en sorte que ont été respectés à plus de 80% et le taux de la prise en compte du HCPD soit effective dans le remboursement avoisinait les 90%. plan de travail du Gouvernement du pays concerné Human Library Conference Report • 99
Idi Amin; and the first UN project in MARK HILDEBRAND independent Zimbabwe (ZIM/80/001), leveraging UNDP funding to mobilize Mark Hildebrand started in Chad in USAID capital funding for self-help 1976, then joined the Africa Section housing in Gutu and Kwe-Kwe; and coordinated the APA Unit (Asia, 1983-1989 - Coordinator Asia, Pacific Pacific and LAC) during 1983-89. and Americas Unit of TCD, managing He was Chief, TCD until 1994, then a three-fold increase in delivery while Director of Programme Coordination. developing large scale projects in: He initiated, the UMP and was the first manager of the Cities Alliance in • Dhaka, Bangladesh, that helped to 1999-2006. prepare and support implementation of the World Bank’s and Asian Development Bank’s first urban y first UN assignment began in projects in Bangladesh. 1976 with the UN Centre for M • Indonesia’s National Urban Housing Building and Planning, UN- Development Strategy (NUDS) and HABITAT’s predecessor organization. Integrated Urban Infrastructure I reported directly to the UN Centre Development Programme (IUIDP) for Human Settlements (UN-HABITAT) that helped to decentralize flows of in 1978 when its headquarters was Government’s budgets and World established in Nairobi. Positions and Bank investments for infrastructure to activities carried out included: provincial and local authorities. 1976-1979 - N’Djamena, Chad: Rural • Supported the transition in Sri Lanka School Construction Project. Chief from the ‘hundred-thousand houses Technical Advisor, building 360 primary programme’ to the ‘million houses school classrooms in rural settlements programme’ and the concomitant nationwide. Leveraged UN Capital major shift in Government’s role from Development Fund resources with World the direct provision of housing to Bank education project funding in what enabling low income communities to became the country’s largest construction upgrade their own housing and living project. conditions. 1979-1983 - Human Settlements Advisor, • Played lead role in initiating and Africa Section, Technical Cooperation preparing the 1996 meeting of the Division (TCD), identified, negotiated OECD’s Development Assistance and backstopped Habitat’s Technical Committee (DAC) which was its Cooperation projects in East and first meeting focused on urban Southern Africa, including the technical development cooperation components of the World Bank’s first urban project in Madagascar; • Worked in partnership with colleagues setting up an Emergency Reconstruction from the World Bank and UNDP to and Development Authority in Uganda design, establish and jointly manage to expedite the reconstruction of Masaka the Urban Management Program and Mbarara, badly damaged in the (UMP), negotiating additional fighting which led to the downfall of financial contributions from a number 100 • Human Library Conference Report
of bilateral donors for Habitat’s first global action plan, subsequently adopted at the UN by the programme focused on urban development. world’s heads of state in the Millennium Declaration in September 2000. I also expanded Alliance 1989-1994 - Chief TCD, providing leadership in membership to include Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa, pursuing joint programming and new alliances UNEP and the Asian Development Bank and led focused on urban development with both multi- successful efforts to mobilize over USD 80 million for lateral and bilateral development agencies, doubling the Cities Alliance Trust Fund and managed grants the technical cooperation resources managed by with over 160 cities worldwide, linked to over USD 6 UN-HABITAT (with budgets totaling over USD180 billion in investments. million), supporting the establishment of new initiatives including the Sustainable Cities Programme Human Interaction and living with UNEP, and pursuing efforts to achieve and monitor achieving the goals of Agenda 21’s Chapter Technical cooperation resources often have their 7 on Human Settlements. greatest potential impact on improving human settlement conditions when they are focused on local 1994-1999 - Director of Programme Coordination authorities and their partnerships with communities. for Habitat’s three substantive programme divisions Conversely where resources are captured by – TCD, RDD and IAVD. Played a key role in successful central government ministries and do not reach efforts to focus the Habitat II conference on cities local government and low income communities, and to engage with what were then the four major efforts to improve human settlements conditions global organizations of cities, supporting their efforts are compromised as is accountability, since mayors to form an alliance (the G4+) so that mayors and and local leaders typically have the greatest and other local government leaders could for the first most direct accountability for improving human time actively participate in a UN global conference. settlement conditions. Managed the UN secretariat for what became known as “The City Summit” held in Istanbul in The positive impacts of sound policy advice and 1996, bringing together over 15,000 participants reforms are greatly enhanced where technical from 171 countries. I led efforts to produce Habitat’s cooperation projects are linked to capital first annual report. investments, even more so when these are local investment resources. 1999-2006 - Manager of the Cities Alliance, providing leadership in conceiving, establishing and managing Self-reliance and development starts with people and the Cities Alliance as a global coalition of cities and their communities and government built housing their development partners committed to scaling up most often creates dependency, undermining successful approaches to urban poverty reduction. I individual accountability, local initiative, local initiated discussions to create the Alliance, negotiated investments and sustainability. its charter, and its approval by all G-7 governments, Well over 30 years of human settlement pilot projects, along with the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, demonstrating the same lessons over and over again UN-HABITAT, the World Bank, and the world’s and often pursued separately in the same city by major associations of cities. I established Alliance multiple donors, have become part of the problem, partnerships with developing countries and cities to since for the most part they have not been replicated prepare city development strategies that link their citywide or nationwide and therefore have seldom economic growth and poverty reduction objectives, achieved scale commensurate with the challenge. and improve their ability to attract long-term capital investments for infrastructure and services. Led Systematically engaging local universities, local preparation of the Alliance’s Cities without Slums polytechnics and local professionals, along with Human Library Conference Report • 101
local authorities in all aspects of the design and Especially now at the time of new leadership at implementation of technical cooperation activities UN-HABITAT, this is an important opportunity builds local capacity and strengthens self-reliance as to fundamentally and critically examine present opposed to perpetuating aid- dependency. and likely future demand, as well as alternative mechanisms, for both the funding and delivery of Future perspectives technical cooperation.
Obviously there is no room for complacency or How can Habitat best leverage its capacity and self-congratulatory sentiments since, by and large resources to help governments provide the right and with only few exceptions, at the end of most incentives and infrastructure to enable self-sustaining technical cooperation projects the problems we have initiatives to work at scale? helped governments face were bigger than when we started. 102 • Human Library Conference Report
Human interaction and MATHIAS HUNDSALZ living memories
My early years working in Uganda Mathias Hundsalz was Chief, RDD, and Burkina Faso made me realize until 1999 and a negotiator of that personal achievements and the Habitat Agenda in Istanbul. accomplishments remain limited. Despite He started in the field in Uganda good or even excellent project results, and Burkina Faso, and went back if measured through conventional to RTCD at the end of his career. development yardsticks (houses built, More recently he evaluated the first people trained, building loans extended, generation of the Habitat country technical services provided) the overall programmes Documents (HCPDs). impact on human and institutional development (poverty reduction, y experiences with the United sustainability, social justice) remains very Nations date back to the small, particularly in the long run. M70s, before UN-HABITAT was But aside from this acceptance of the established. I was recruited in 1972 as limitations of the life of a ‘UN bureaucrat’, associate expert in the now defunct the working years in UN-HABITAT are very Office of Technical Cooperation of the UN valuable because of the number of people Secretariat, with a technical cooperation with whom I worked as colleagues, be assignment in Uganda, followed by they bosses, peers or persons under my Burkina Faso (1973-1976). supervision. Considering the wide range From 1976 until 1978, I worked as Social of backgrounds, it might be considered Affairs Officer with the Centre for Housing an achievement that working together Building and Planning, which was then on a commonly defined and agreed transformed into UNCHS, rendering me cause is possible at all. an HSO. In Nairobi, I undertook various Several supervisors gave me substantive assignments from R&D and TCD, until direction and opened my eyes to the I took early retirement in 2002. My last importance of the subject, be it for position was Acting Director, RTCD, after operational work or research and having served as Head of the former RDD development. One of them was Guy until 1999 when the post was abolished. Lemarchands, my project manager in This long involvement with UN-HABITAT Burkina Faso, who provided lots of and its predecessors had allowed me to be encouragement when I experimented part of many institutional developments with early concepts of sites and services and substantive achievements, including and urban upgrading. In New York, I the Global Shelter Strategy, the IYSH, owed a lot to my supervisors Rafael Mora Habitat II, or the Global Reports on Rubio (Chief of the Housing Section Human Settlements and a long series in CHBP) and to Wilson Garces (Chief of substantive publications. I was also of the R&D branch of CHBP), who had involved with other assignments, such an impact on me changing gradually as the drafting of reports to Habitat’s from a chaotic student to a serious UN governing bodies, Medium Term Plans or bureaucrat. In Nairobi, the then Chief two-year work programmes. of the RDD, Bruce Hyland, understood Human Library Conference Report • 103
his job as exercising compulsive editing of what it operational through interdivisional teamwork. the young staff members of RDD were drafting as Recently, efforts have been made to show its inputs to technical publications, Everybody feared assumed inter-linkages and integrative qualities his comments on the routing slips with which he through the ENOF. returned the (often inadequate) drafts, like “I have Setting up ENOF as an interdivisional task force is never read such rubbish”; “I gave up on page 3”; or not enough. Programme managers have to define “Please translate into English”; what encouragement joint work objectives and expected results in their for an aspiring young professional! respective programmes and be willing to allocate Consider yourself lucky, if you have a decent parts of their resources to joint-programming which supervisor. If not, a young professional needs quite can demonstrate real achievements of integrating some tolerance and perseverance to work in UN- normative and operational work. Otherwise, it HABITAT. Otherwise, another career should be remains just another bureaucratic exercise. considered. There is no systematic procedure of feeding results, lessons learnt and best practice from operational Future perspectives project activities into the normative work of the The history and present prospects of collaboration agency; they remain hidden in technical cooperation and cooperation between the agency’s divisions is reports which nobody ever looks at. The Global characterized, to some extent, by the personalities Report rarely reflects on the agency’s lessons learnt of their respective divisional leadership. This is quite from projects. Project managers and HPMs do not normal for any organization. Some difference can be benefit systematically from Habitat’s normative made by the agency’s overall leadership, with respect work. Managers of global programmes often prefer to a preference for the style of encouraging and to set up their own networks of country activities. guiding a corporate team spirit, or rather working Rather than work with RTCD and their HPMs. through a ‘kitchen cabinet’ in a non-transparent top- There are some good examples of global programme down style. The recent past of the agency appears managers working with RTCD and country HPMs to be characterized by programmes, divisions and which can serve to demonstrate the real life programmes competing for funding from donors advantages of integrating normative and operational countries and interdivisional collaboration and work through ENOF. If such examples can serve to be cooperation remain at the level of task forces with the norm in interdivisional work, it may be the time good agendas but limited results. to rethink (again!) the current structure of divisions, The agency requires a deputy with operational and and make them more integrative along the lines of normative human settlements experience to give ENOF. direction to interdivisional cooperation. There are serious political and systemic limitations The artificial distinction between normative and to the relevance and usefulness of trying to operational activities has characterized UN-HABITAT formulate and present yet another set of ‘key since its very beginning. It has never been fully recommendations’ to the present and future understood, particularly not at the field level, or Habitat managers. The shelves of offices are full in countries at national and local levels. As the old with well-meaning recommendations, generated by RDD took up operational activities in the1980s, committed human settlements workers at hundreds TCD started programmes with normative content of workshops, expert group meetings and through like urban management and sustainable cities. consultancy reports. The distinction remains artificial as a tool of the There is nothing wrong with most of these UN development jargon – useful in dialogue with recommendations, whether they are rather general donors, but it requires determined efforts to make or very specific on particular topics. 104 • Human Library Conference Report
The problem of not being implemented or even it on professional substance or bureaucratic and ignored is largely connected to the human factor and institutional shrewdness, which restrains such team institutional limitations of a UN bureaucracy more work ingredients like sharing information, shared focused on control than on creativity and impact. responsibility and open debate. Cases in point are the continuing recommendations In consequence, I shall refrain from making another to set up ‘mechanisms and procedures’ to achieve set of recommendations, like calling for more and certain objectives. We all know of those cases where better coordination, teamwork and institutional such administrative and coordination mechanisms mechanisms. Having observed the more recent years have been set up through interdivisional task forces of UN-HABITAT from the position of retiree with etc, while the expected benefits do not emerge. a long institutional memory, I want to make the Similarly, the ubiquitous call for ‘teamwork’ cannot point that the organization needs a revitalized spirit be challenged, and there is basically nothing wrong of shared vision and responsibility. It appears from with the concept of teamwork which is thought many conversations with former colleagues who are to achieve more coordinated and sustainable presently in different positions in the hierarchy, that results through a participative process. However, such spirit has somewhat gone astray, also because productive teamwork remains rare, as long as the the previous leadership of UN-HABITAT did little to institutional incentive of the UN for achieving results encourage transparency, participation and openness through teamwork remains limited. Staff members among the divisions. are judged on their individual performance, be Human Library Conference Report • 105
of ‘environmental’ concerns, but more OLE LYSE that authorities were interested in an urban planning and management Ole Lyse was the key pillar of SCP, approach which could help dialogue and he worked with ROAAS in several engagement with stakeholders and in African countries and now lives turn restore reputation and credibility. A happily in Kenya. routine action-oriented mechanism, to engage with citizens, academic expertise, private sector and NGOs through a am a civil engineer and I worked for participatory and consultative process, UN-HABITAT from 1992 to 2007 in was attractive as a way to increase both Ithe field of infrastructure engineering human and financial resources to deal design, local government/municipal with overwhelming problems, especially engineering, international development with regard to poor basic urban services cooperation, rural development planning and sustainable urban mobility. and UN technical cooperation. Many cities were ‘buried’ with day-to- As Chief, Urban Environment Section/ day crisis management with little time Programme coordinator, I was a senior or resources to be forward looking, even member of the Urban Development with short-term development planning. Branch (UDB) team, managing its Urban Cities also found the process particularly Environment Section which included useful to help address at least part of the coordination and supervision of the UN- ‘urban-poverty nexus’, like improving HABITAT/UNEP joint global Sustainable access to basic urban services and better Cities Programme (SCP), the LA21 social inclusion in decision making. Programme initiatives and general urban The GIS-based tool ‘environmental environment matters, intra-agency and management information system’ (EMIS) with global partners such as UNEP and was popular among planners to help ICLEI. identify both best suitable and most The main thrust of the initiatives was sensitive land use. Engagement through to assist cities with more sustainable UN-HABITAT cooperation agreements urban planning and good governance with international support organisations approaches. The vehicle for this was for like the Dutch IHS, and with local/ the Sustainable Cites Programme (SCP) - a national urban institutions on EPM long term joint UN-HABITAT/UNEP global capacity-building, tools review, curricula facility for implementation of sustainable development and documentation of urban development approaches, and in experiences, was another very important the LA21 Programme. and valuable element. At the end of 2006 the urban environment Interaction and living section operated these initiatives with 64 memories cities in 21 countries, which was only Key Lessons: The SCP/LA21 city projects possible through effective inter-branch/ were, by and large, positive experiences, divisional collaboration within UN- and the UN-HABITAT cooperation was HABITAT. First and foremost with RTCD well received by city authorities. Perhaps regional offices right from joint resource the initial interest was not directly out mobilisation (often fitting into UNDP CCF), 106 • Human Library Conference Report
formulations, technical assistance/ backstopping complementary, combining global/national at country level, normative global support through normative environmental mandate with local EPM/SCP tools and capacity building anchored with operational (i.a. water, sanitation, waste, air quality, urban institutions – national or in the regions, to industry). Urban linkages and local action on global evaluations. Particularly ROAP support to developing environmental topics (climate change, biodiversity, the final global EPM/SCP process baseline curriculum coastal area mgmt, rivers, transport), GEO for cities, and training modules based on Asia experiences joint efforts in Cities Alliance, joint tools, joint was of utmost importance. The network of ‘SCP- events (SCP/LA21 global meetings, WUF, CSD, GCs), city’ partners and institutions also conveniently built monthly joint operation & coordination meetings - into various other regional TCD initiatives, often were all good lessons, adding value and portrayed a facilitated thru bringing all SCP partners together in “One United Nations” to partners. occasional regional and global meetings. Others were more through parallel collaboration, With TCBB: very constructive advice and joint such as: efforts in capacity building, work with urban training • ILO: offered cities participation in ‘decent jobs and institutions included formed joint platform for better services’ regional training workshops, skills, training of elected leaders. and employment programmes at country level. The global campaigns: supported and engaged SCP • UNDP-PPPUE: cities in global learning network, city and national partners in launches and national and could seek innovative partnership grants. follow up; helped to disseminate/operationalise the joint PUDM tools (participatory urban decision • InWEnt (German NGO): offered long term making). training, joint proposals e.g. on documentation and knowledge management database, regional Intended relations with, for example, WSIB, to link networks. EPM process and technical interventions in water and sanitation initiatives, especially the Lake Victoria • ICLEI (global network of local authorities): WATSAN; and with GUO on developing a guideline linked partner cities to environmental awareness for urban practitioners on environment-poverty initiatives, and collaboration through an MoU on links/indicators/ MDG relevance were, at the time, local action on global environmental topics. not very successful. Though this type of collaboration gave no direct The level of ‘in-house’ collaboration is a constant debate. financial support to UN-HABITAT, it surely added Collaboration is neither consistent nor necessarily value and strengths to what the programme could always useful. Importantly it should respond to a facilitate to the participating cities. two-way relevance. Sometimes it is actually enforced for primarily ‘political’ reasons. For it to be successful Future perspectives it requires individual willingness and commitment. Accepting “The Urban Poverty – Environment” When relevant it is of course valuable and even crucial Nexus and its implications for environmental sometimes (like the above SCP example), but it always planning & management is important. Urban poor raises issues around staff time, resources, recognition, and marginalised groups are often the most affected team interest and coordination, all of which should by environmental degradation, yet overwhelmingly best be clarified in advance. excluded in decision-making affecting access to In this experience, various external partners also and use of environmental resources, levels and played an important role. standards of environmental services. Environmental institutional arrangements and legislation needs to Firstly the long-term cooperation with UNEP. recognise and help to change this. The agencies’ respective strengths are largely Human Library Conference Report • 107
A global routine mechanism and approach is • Include an implementation process at municipal required to promote building local capacity for global (local) level. environmental topics and agendas – contributing local • Promote meaningful stakeholder involvement. experiences and know-how, priorities and concerns to the formulation of global principles and norms. • Importance of replication and upscaling capacity and mechanisms. An ecosystems approach to more “sustainable urbanisation” is needed. Cities need to better situate • Importance of a national capacity-building themselves in wider ecosystems management. How infrastructure that also facilitates international/ for example can urban planning practices better sub-regional support to reach national/ local levels. recognise and adapt and respond to the increasing • Facilitate networking for exchange of experiences- “footprint” paradigm – city expansion and use of documentation- learning relationships and environmental resources, both for consumption and interactions by all partners at all levels. for disposal. • Development of and use of demand-led tools. From EPM capacity development experience, it is found that a ‘programme’ approach is a good vehicle • Incorporate a modular system for inducing the for promoting and operationalise an advocacy capacity-building elements and tools. initiative, and for seeking collaboration. Should be • Engage national and sub-regional urban long-term and wide-ranging containing a number of development institutions on training, courses, mutually supporting elements such as: documentation, tool adaptations, translations, • Build upon a generic concept (commonly accepted curricula development and research. basic principles for long term objective). 108 • Human Library Conference Report
We were able to establish UN-HABITAT as ROBERTO OTTOLENGHI a major player in the LAC region and built a sizeable portfolio - mainly through third Roberto Ottolenghi started in RDD, party and national cost-sharing funds to where he was the active promoter of make up for dwindling UNDP resources. regionalisation and founder/director But the strains and inefficiencies deriving of ROLAC in Rio in 1996. Since 2002 from managing LAC from Nairobi (and he is a senior consultant, often the damage to our legitimacy as recipient working for UN-HABITAT. of national funds) prompted me, in 1993, to advocate for regional decentralization. This was supported by two successive spent 21 years in UN-HABITAT EDs (Elizabeth Dowdeswell and Wally (1981-2002) after which I took early N’Dow) who asked me to head a task Iretirement and become a consultant. force on the subject, and by the TCD Since then I have worked each year Chief, Mark Hildebrand. It was a difficult for UN-HABITAT and other agencies, job, full of pitfalls and not immune from which means that I have 30 years of opposition, though the initiative rapidly uninterrupted collaboration with UN- elicited strong interest not only in LAC HABITAT. but also in Asia.
I initially joined the Research and The LAC Unit moved to Rio de Janeiro Development Division - the predecessor in 1996. That was the watershed which of the present Global Division - where I later allowed, in a much easier way, the spent six years as a Human Settlements opening of other regional offices. In my Officer in charge of Pilot Projects in Slum view, this enabled Habitat to operate and Squatter upgrading. This allowed more in line with the expectations of its for a perfect blend between normative national partners and more responsive research and operational activities. Land to the demands of a much changed sharing in Bangkok and the pilot projects multilateral environment in Sri Lanka, which would soon expand into a major scaling-up under the One When I felt it was time for me to go, Anna Million Houses Programme, were the Tibaijuka asked me to first come back highlights of those years. to Nairobi to head RTCD, which I did in 2002. It was a nice way to conclude my In 1987, I joined the Technical Co- experience UN-HABITAT experience, at operation Division in the Asia, Europe that point much changed from my early and Latin America Branch and was days in 1981. immediately assigned, as HSA, to Latin America and the Caribbean. My Human interactions and challenge was to try to demonstrate living memories that the LAC region could provide sufficient project opportunities to justify When I look back, there is inevitably a TCD-branch in its own right. In 1989, a feeling of missed opportunities due the then Executive Director, Dr. Arcot to institutional drawbacks, heavy Ramachandran, decided to establish a bureaucratic demands and constantly separate Unit for the LAC Region and I shifting ground. After all, we have had was asked to head it. six different Executive Directors between 1993 and 2000. But, I feel that what Human Library Conference Report • 109
we achieved has been noteworthy and sustainable. which the international community all too often Strategies we introduced have become mainstream, approaches almost exclusively in its humanitarian while staff we trained have gone up the ranks and dimension. have not forgotten. The balance sheet is clearly • When (R)TCD began to focus directly on local positive and significantly so. authorities (and advocate among donors for It is not possible to list a comprehensive set of support mechanisms to this effect), the formula examples (I have by worked in more than 60 was not just innovative, it was almost untried in countries), but just a few may give a sense of what the UN system. Until then, rigid UN-Government I mean: counterpart arrangement requirements channeled 90 per cent of multilateral resources to Central • After more than 30 years, I went back to the first Government. Quite differently from today. Sri Lankan squatter settlement (Wanatamulla) we helped upgrade from 1982. I was not sure I was • Another panel I am to be involved in is on the in the right place, but I was: a former swampy relationship between country-level and regional/ ground covered by shacks is now a formal area of global activities. Internal collaboration has often town where people-driven housing consolidation been uneasy, but I am persuaded that, when has gone a really long way (and this was not an we managed to make it work, the quality of our isolated case, it was replicated and scaled up). operations and our impact on policy change was much enhanced. • In Haiti, the reformed Governance mechanisms we helped introduce in the early 90’s (fiscal reform Future perspectives and revenue raising, land management etc.) have not been undone by the endless series of political The world of development cooperation has and natural calamities that have hit the country dramatically changed. Less money and donor and the strong municipal system we helped create interest in a multilateral role for development is now perhaps the best guarantee for a brighter projects (multilateral banks, bilateral agencies, future. private firms have clearly upstaged the UN). No longer does anyone need generic providers of • In Colombia, we helped rescue finance institutions technical assistance. A UN agency’s worth is its which were on the brink of bankruptcy and turned ability to promote structural change. To this end, them into functioning and efficient entities till Habitat should step up its advocacy and constantly today. refine its tools designed to make genuine difference • In Guatemala, the indigenous communities we (legal reforms, land policies and administration, helped resettle in the late 90’s after long years urban management, housing sector reforms, land of exile are now safe and established. Yet, the and housing rights, vulnerability reduction etc). Only Agency has learned a great deal more in terms that will guarantee Habitat’s continued presence on of crisis recovery and resettlement strategies from the development map, in operational terms. those early days in which that type of project was In crisis situations, Habitat has become infinitely the exception rather than the norm it has become more clear about its mandate and in its effectiveness. now. There is no point trying to match the humanitarian • In crisis situations (conflict or natural calamities), agencies in front-line delivery. Reconstruction and from the initial engagements onward, there recovery are still a largely gray area where Habitat’s has been a progressive build-up of knowledge structural constraints (lack of country offices and that now allows Habitat to ‘go normative’ and seed capital) acted as drawbacks. The more recent show the way toward to recovery, by addressing good normative work and advocacy within IASC structural reform needs in the midst of operations and among donors has helped and is key to making 110 • Human Library Conference Report
Habitat’s role more central and better recognized by been proven right (OIOS positive audits of Regional donors. Offices testify to that). Operational activities have become more efficient, helping Habitat face Global Programmes can be seen as the (tiny) seed- competition, while normative and operational have capital for establishing a country presence and lead blended much better. Delegation of authority should to operational activities and/or support ongoing ones be strengthened and not feared. Regional offices in a focused way. There, increasing synergy between are key opportunities for mainstreaming Habitat’s Global and RTCD and, individually between each RO work in the regions. In that respect, lessening ROs’ and each global programme is the only way, a key high dependence on overheads could only help challenge for Habitat’s management. the agency as a whole. To this day, my biggest Regionalization has, in my view, changed much for satisfaction, when I look back, is seeing that Rio and the better Habitat’s standing in the Global map and Fukuoka still exist and knowing that I can claim a has worked well. Concerns in some quarters about chunk of the credit for bringing them to life. decentralizing administrative authority have not Human Library Conference Report • 111
Cet appui, quoique précieux, ne couvrait Seydou Sy Sall que partiellement les services dont les coopératives avaient besoin. Ce qui Former Minister of Housing in était déterminant dans leur projet restait Senegal and Project Director at UN- non couvert, à savoir : l’animation de HABITAT. l’assemblée des coopératives, la recherche du terrain d’assiette, la mobilisation de l’épargne en vue de la constitution de ous avons le plaisir de nous l’apport personnel, la confection du dresser à vous pour témoigner plan de financement, la mobilisation du Ndevant cette assemblée de financement. l’expérience du Sénégal avec ONU Habitat. Nous sommes d’autant plus Sous l’impulsion de Monsieur Daniel heureux d’en parler que celle ci est Biau, un projet d’appui au BAHSO, qui considérée comme fructueuse et venait d’être créé dans la mouvance du exemplaire. projet « Habitat Social », fut lancé grâce à un appui de ONU Habitat. Ce projet Il faut savoir que la coopération entre ONU bénéficia d’emblée du financement Habitat et le Sénégal plonge ses racines conjoint du PNUD et de la République dans une histoire profonde, depuis la Fédérale d’Allemagne. Paul Walter création du Centre des Nations Unies pour Bouda, architecte, qui fut responsable les Établissements humains(CNUEH) après à la Division de la coopération technique la mémorable Conférence de Vancouver de ONU-Habitat joua un rôle décisif dans sur les Établissements humains en 1976. l’implication de la République Fédérale En effet, sitôt cinq années après cette d’Allemagne. rencontre, le Sénégal bénéficia de l’appui du CNUEH sur un projet de promotion La détermination du Conseiller technique de la terre stabilisée. Ce projet permit principal, en l’occurrence l’architecte de mieux connaître les propriétés et les Jean Marc Rossignol, envoyé par ONU- qualités de ce matériau, de vulgariser son Habitat , devant une équipe nationale, utilisation à travers le pays. enthousiaste et dynamique permit d’aboutir à des résultats appréciables Ce projet jettera en même temps les , dont la réalisation de cinq projets de bases de la création d’outils pour l’appui logements coopératifs pilotes à Dakar, à l’habitat coopératif et le financement du Guédiawaye et Thiès, la création effective logement social. En effet, devant le déclin d’un fond roulant de renforcement de de la promotion immobilière publique, l’apport personnel des coopératives suite au retrait de la Caisse française de d’habitat, le renforcement des capacités Coopération Économique du financement d’une trentaine d’agents de l’État dans les de l’habitat, on assista au Sénégal à la techniques d’appui à l’habitat coopératif, résurgence de l’habitat coopératif. Les la consolidation du BAHSO et la création premières qui en naîtront s’appuyaient sur d’Unions régionales de coopératives les services du Ministère du Développement d’habitat et d’une Union nationale des Rural, en charge à l’époque de l’assistance coopératives d’habitat. du mouvement coopératif rural. Les coopératives d’habitat s’adressaient aux Les performances de l’habitat coopératif architectes pour l’élaboration de leur sont illustrées par quelques statistiques projet architectural. clés : près de 300 coopératives d’habitat 112 • Human Library Conference Report
regroupant plus de 50000 membres ont été créées rayonne encore sur notre pays, le Sénégal souhaitait dans la mouvance du Projet, leur épargne dans mettre en place un observatoire sur des indicateurs les banques s’élève présentement à prés de 30 urbains de logement. La contribution de ONU Habitat milliards de francs CFA, soit 60 millions USD. favorisa le lancement immédiat de quelques études sur cette question, lesquelles se consolidèrent dans Si l’habitat coopératif occupe aujourd’hui une place un observatoire. S’appuyant sur ces informations, centrale dans la politique du logement social, le quelques villes du Sénégal dont Dakar, Louga, Sénégal le doit pour beaucoup à l’appui de ONU Kaolack, Kanel sollicitèrent l’assistance de ONU- Habitat. Habitat pour l’élaboration de leurs profil urbain. Mais il fallait, dans l’objectif de réduire davantage Chacune de ces villes est aujourd’hui en possession les coûts du logement coopératif et le délai de sa de cet instrument qui permet la mise en place réalisation, mettre à la disposition des coopératives d’une politique urbaine efficace, reposant sur d’habitat du foncier préalablement titré, aménagé l’identification des besoins réels et des priorités ainsi et équipé. C’est en réponse à cette demande que sur l’engagement de la responsabilité de toutes pressante que l’État entreprît l’aménagement de les parties prenantes dans la ville. Les enseignements vastes opérations foncières à Dakar, à Rufisque et tirés des profils urbains de ces quatre villes et dans beaucoup de villes secondaires de l’intérieur l’expertise accumulée lors des études, constituent du pays. Un programme national d’une grande aujourd’hui des acquis inestimables, sur lesquels envergure, visant la réalisation, sur un horizon tous les gestionnaires des villes peuvent adosser d’une décennie de 50000 parcelles viabilisées, leurs interventions. fut lancé à partir de l’année 2002. La plupart des Les hasards de la vie firent que, après mon passage parcelles, particulièrement celles de Dakar, de Thiès comme Directeur national du projet d’appui et de Kaolack, ont déjà été livrées. La ZAC (Zone au BAHSO et un interlude au PNUD, comme d’aménagement concerté) de Mbao, à Pikine, est expert dans un programme sur les changements devenue une ville. La ZAC de Nguinth, à Thiès, la climatiques, j’étais appelé à la tête du ministère de ZAC de Kounoune, à Rufisque et la ZAC de Kaolack, l’Urbanisme et de l’aménagement du Territoire, en offrent les mêmes promesses. L’introduction de Mai 2001, une année après l’adoption par l’ONU de ce mode d’aménagement participatif et progressif la déclaration sur les Objectifs du Millénaire pour le dans la stratégie nationale du logement découle du Développement (OMD). Le Département s’adressa à développement du mouvement coopératif. ONU-Habitat en vue d’un appui dans l’élaboration L’habitat coopératif est donc devenu une identité d’un programme sur la résorption des bidonvilles et dans notre coopération avec ONU Habitat. taudis ainsi que dans la définition d’une stratégie Cette expérience a essaimé et beaucoup de pays pour le développement de la métropole dakaroise. francophones d’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre Après mon départ du Ministère, une nouvelle vie s’en inspirent dans l’élaboration ou la révision de professionnelle de consultant s’ouvrit à moi. Ainsi leur stratégie nationale de logement social. ma collaboration actuellement avec ONU-Habitat Deuxième élément, l’appui de ONU Habitat à la repose sur des missions de consultant en Afrique, gestion urbaine fait que notre relation avec cet sur la formulation de stratégies de logement ou sur organisme est devenue une pratique. Autour de l’évaluation d’opérations ou de politiques d’habitat. cette thématique et grâce à son appui diligent, de Appréciant à titre de consultant la stratégie de nombreux projets ont été entrepris. développement urbain du grand Dakar, nous Il faut se souvenir qu’au lendemain de la tenue par pourrions dire que ce projet ayant l’allure d’un ONU-Habitat de la journée mondiale de l’habitat programme est une réflexion prospective portant à Dakar, au mois d’Octobre 1994, dont le succès sur la conception du territoire métropolitain dakarois Human Library Conference Report • 113
pour anticiper les mutations à venir en améliorant programme. L’ensemble des partenaires ciblés sont : ses conditions économiques et sociales. l’Etat du Sénégal, les communes, Cities Alliance (ONU Habitat, Banque Mondiale),la KfW et la GTZ, Son objectif est de contribuer à la redéfinition d’un l’Union européenne, le secteur privé, territoire métropolitain cohérent planifié. Il comporte plusieurs thématiques et des sous-thèmes, dont le En conclusion, nous pouvons réaffirmer que, grâce foncier et le développement spatial, l’environnement, à l’assitance d’Onu Habitat, l’habitat coopératif la mobilité urbaine, les services sociaux de base, est devenu une réalité au Sénégal. Notre pays l’économie locale, la gouvernance métropolitaine, à compte à ce jour plus de300 coopératives d’habitat l’intérieur desquels, des projets sont identifiés. Une regroupant prés de 50 000 membres. Cette constatation double peut d’emblée être tirée de expérience fructueuse avec ONU-Habitat a placé, la coopération avec ONU-Habitat dans ce travail : sur cette question, le Sénégal dans une position c’est le volet sur l’économie qui confère aux de référence au sein de l’espace africain. De même, politiques urbaines locales son caractère stratégique le Sénégal s’est doté d’un observatoire sur les et développant et que, pour réussir dans cette indicateurs urbains de logement, suite à la tenue entreprise, il faut s’appuyer sur des leviers efficaces en octobre 1994 à Dakar de la journée mondiale de en matière de gouvernance. De nombreux projets l’habitat. Il nous faut insister sur le rôle déterminant sont issus de cette stratégie, dont la volonté pour la de Monsieur Daniel Biau, directeur de la coopération Ville de Dakar de création d’un nouveau pôle urbain technique d’ONU Habitat, qui n’a menagé aucun dénommé DKL(Derklé, Khar Yalla et Libertés) au effort pour l’organisation de cet événement dans centre géographique du territoire urbain. notre capitale. Enfin, grâce au soutien précieux d’ONU Habitat, le Sénégal à l’ambition de réhabiliter Enfin, le dernier élément et non le moindre qui les quartiers précaires de toutes ses villes à travers prouvera que, entre le Sénégal et cet organisme, la un ambitieux programme dénommé « ville sans relation est un projet ambitieux , c’est l’élaboration bidonvilles au Sénégal ». par le Gouvernement, grâce à un soutien précieux de ONU Habitat,d’un vaste programme sur la Ayant collaboré successivement en tant que résorption des taudis et bidonvilles, dénommé fonctionnaire, puis ministre en charge de l’Urbanisme « villes sans bidonvilles au Sénégal ». Il s’agit du Sénégal et enfin consultant avec ONU Habitat, d’un programme national de réhabilitation des nous croyons être bien placé pour constater cette quartiers précaires dans toutes les villes sénégalaises. fructueuse coopération entre cet organisme et L’objectif est d’aller au-delà des opérations isolées mon pays. Nous voudrions saisir l’opportunité pour de restructuration foncière pour s’inscrire dans un rendre un vibrant hommage à Monsieur Daniel Biau, cadre stratégique permettant de traiter les quartiers à Daniel, sans qui ces résultats n’auraient pu être spontanés sur toute l’étendue du territoire national. aussi satisfaisants. A l’occasion de son départ pour A l’horizon 2020, la population concernée par ce la retraite après de bons et loyaux services à ONU programme est évaluée à 1,8 million d’habitants Habitat, nous lui souhaitons plein succès dans cette pour une superficie de 5 855 hectares. La Fondation nouvelle vie. Droit à la Ville est le maître d’ouvrage délégué de ce 114 • Human Library Conference Report
sector’s importance in the transition SUDIPTO MUKERJEE period and positioned itself as a solid partner in the recovery process. At the Sudipto Mukerjee was the Chef same time, this did not adequately Technical Advisor (CTA) of the Iraq translate into sectoral allocations and Programme. He is now working with the Shelter sector received less than 2 UNDP. percent of the total ITF contributions. UN-HABITAT was effective in positioning am the former head of UN-HABITAT itself strategically within the UN Iraq Iraq Programme. An Architect Town Country Team leading on a number of IPlanner with nearly two decades of UNCT wide initiatives that included the management experience in International formulation of a number of strategy Development, I started my professional and programme documents (such as the career with the Government of India and Common Country Assessment and the later worked with the UK Department for UNDAF) and coordination of the thematic International Development. I am presently groups on Shelter and Infrastructure. the Head of the Economic Recovery and UN- Habitat Iraq has so far operated Poverty Alleviation Programme of UNDP under two exceptionally lavish funding Iraq. regimes, 1) Oil for Food, and 2) the As we all know, Iraq is a country emerging ITF (total resources USD 1.4 billion) a from decades of wars and persistent has remained a purely project-funded political and socio-economic impediments. operation. The UN has been a witness to the country’s At present, the ITF has been fully instability and has partnered with programmed and contribution from successive governments and the wider donors is closed. UNCT in Iraq is international community in numerous struggling to establish a successor UNDAF endeavours aimed at moving from Trust Fund, but the donor appetite for situations of emergency and humanitarian contribution is practically nil. The lack of to recovery and development. donor support results not just because of During this transition, positioning UN- the global economic recession, but also HABITAT as both a humanitarian and the perception that the Iraqi government development partner was crucial to has enough spare resources to finance its maintain credibility as well as in sustaining own national reforms and development the strategic space to operate in Iraq programmes. in line with its mandate. At the same Like most other UN Iraq agencies, UN- time, constrained by its own internal HABITAT relied almost entirely over the operational limitations that inhibited past few years on the ITF and secured rapid response, UN-HABITAT’s access to USD 90 million. A substantial part of that humanitarian funds was sub-optimal. amount came as earmarked Japanese The humanitarian post conflict and contribution, facilitated by the Regional recovery conditions that Iraq faced were Office at Fukuoka. With easy funds the main driver of the abundant ODA available through the ITF, it did not pay flows to UN agencies. UN-HABITAT sufficient attention to establishing effective successfully advocated for the shelter partnerships with bilateral donors. Human Library Conference Report • 115
All UN Iraq agencies presently face major resource humanitarian, recovery and development partner. mobilization challenges that include: a) the closure More focused efforts in the following areas should of the ITF; b) a rapid decline in donor interest to fund improve resource mobilization prospects: a middle income country; and c) overall reduction UN-HABITAT will also need to continue efforts to in ODA following the global financial crisis. On strategically position itself within the UNCT to enable the other hand, in the short term, the Government them to have a seat at the policy table, influence of Iraq may not be in a position to fund the UN’s the resident coordinator and mission leadership and development cooperation efforts as it not only faces improve its access to key donors and government a serious cash flow problem, but also has legal and counterparts. mindset impediments. UN-HABITAT also faces a unique challenge as housing is generally perceived UN-HABITAT will also need to maintain credibility by most donors as a ‘private good’ which should not through effective delivery. Successful resource be funded through international development. mobilization depends first and foremost upon the ability of the agency to show results and catalyze The ITF modality enabled UN-HABITAT to circumvent transformational change. To this end, there may be the problem of donors’ lack of interest through a need to strengthen capacities in HQ divisions and the possibility of using ITF un-earmarked funds, in UNON to support the country office in enhancing in addition to engaging in joint programmes with efficiencies in delivery. Greater delegation of other UN agencies under other ITF priority sectors. procurement and human resources management With the ITF no longer available as a source of authority to the country office are also necessary. funding, UN-HABITAT will need to revisit its resource mobilization strategy. Resource mobilization efforts should include strengthening existing partnerships and forging With the overall reduction in funding, competition new ones. The most critical one is that with the for funds is likely to increase and agencies with principal clients to ensure synchronization between better delivery capacities will potentially have better their and UN-HABITAT’s priorities. This will not only access to limited donor funds. To that end, UN- improve prospects for cost sharing, coordinated HABITAT’s delivery capabilities are impaired by an programming but can also help in joining up efforts operational set up that is somewhat inflexible and in approaching other donor partners. In addition, unable to respond rapidly. partnerships with donors and sister agencies will need to be strengthened. Future perspectives With donors, effective planning, management and Developing a Resource Mobilization Strategy that maintenance of relations are critical. This will need is grounded in the current ODA reality should be a a more effective use of donor intelligence tools. strategic priority. Such a strategy should go beyond The Iraq Office had developed a useful database specifying a role only that of the country office and on donors, but fell short of keeping it updated and should include strategic support from headquarters using it to inform resource mobilization efforts. There and regional offices in areas of donor intelligence, are also a number of good materials and guiding networking with donors, facilitating experience documents on resource mobilization prepared by sharing between country offices and also providing UNDG, DOCO and others, which UN-HABITAT resources to seed activities that can leverage should try to use. Finally, it should also be noted that external funding. the donors in Baghdad are a closed community and This strategy should be able to successfully market having credibility with one donor can help in forging UN-HABITAT’s knowledge and experience in relations with others. emergency, post-conflict recovery and development With other UN agencies, efforts must be made and accordingly position itself as a strong towards developing and strengthening partnerships 116 • Human Library Conference Report
with larger agencies such as UNDP, which have UN-HABITAT will need to look at more non- already well established relations with donors will conventional funding sources and approaches. Non- need to continue. UN-HABITAT should also advocate conventional sources could include the emerging for increased joint programming and more ‘joined- private sector in Iraq through their CSR funds, up’ efforts in resource mobilization paving way for regional donors and global thematic funds. cooperation rather than competition over the fast Other innovative approaches could include dwindling donor resources. approaching some donors for funding staff positions With the shift of donor priorities from funding that will allow UN-HABITAT to play its policy advisory large infrastructure works to more upstream policy, and advocacy roles in a sustainable way. advisory and capacity building, UN-HABITAT must Finally, an initiative does not need to be single donor work to repackage its experience in implementing funded. Breaking down the projects into components rehabilitation projects to provide technical assistance can help them to be financed by different donors. and capacity building for project management, environment friendly designs and technologies, procurement of works, asset management etc. Human Library Conference Report • 117
of the Liaison and Information Office in SYLVIE LACROUX Europe with representation towards UN bodies in Geneva, focusing on UN interagency coordination in humanitarian Sylvie Lacroux was section chief in affairs and human rights. RDD, then became CTA in Burkina Faso, later heading our Geneva 2006 and 2007 - I held two external Liaison Office. She is now Deputy research consultancies over a period Mayor of Ferney Voltaire. of six month each with the Monitoring & Evaluation Division/Global Urban Observatory (GUO): “Qualitative study y UN-HABITAT experience over on the Legal and Institutional Framework 22 years was divided into five (LIFI) Governing Security of Tenure” in Mperiods, as follows: Casablanca , Morocco and in Dakar, 1985-1990 - I was based at UN- Senegal. The consultancies were meant HABITAT headquarters under the to test the UN-HABITAT monitoring Research and Development Division strategy at country and city level and (RDD) undertaking research and advisory develop an index on security of tenure. services, contributing policy guidelines, My contribution to Technical Cooperation documenting best practices and activities varied in nature and intensity preparing training materials. over the assignments:
1991 and 1992 - I was posted with Period 1 with RDD was not particularly TCD in Burkina Faso as CTA of the related to TCD with the exception of a Urban Management Project covering 12 few advisory services provided mostly at secondary cities. The project focused on regional/sub-regional level. providing capacity building and support towards the construction sector, including Period 2 was performed directly under the small entrepreneurial sector. The TCD. While I was a CTA in Burkina Faso, project developed in an adverse national the regional office for Africa had not context of structural adjustment with been opened. At the time, a regional investments by the World Bank in the Urban Management Programme (UMP- capital Ouagadougou and the economic Africa) for Africa based in Ghana had centre Bobodiolasso. just begun and discussions to open an office in Abidjan/Côte d’Ivoire to cover 1993 until mid-2001 – I was at the Africa’s Francophone sub-region headquarters, successively heading the were underway. Shelter and Community Services Section supervising the operational Global Period 3 was a time when the agency Programme on Community Services went through major restructuring and implemented in Bolivia & Costa Rica, in activities shifted to promoting two Global Ghana & Zambia and in Sri Lanka and the Campaigns on Secure Tenure and Urban Land and Tenure Section, in charge of Governance (later combined) to be the Campaign on Security of Tenure and launched and developed at regional and Land Management. country level Interaction with the newly formed RTCD increased as well as with Mid-2001 until 2005 - I was posted in the newly established regional offices. Geneva with the OED. I served as Director This period also witnessed an increase in 118 • Human Library Conference Report
the interaction between normative and operational • There were meaningful contributions made work within the Agency. towards the preparation of a national decentralization reform (Ley of 1992). The World In period 5, the two consultancies I held applied Bank impacts were critical: major investments to countries actively involved with UN-HABITAT. were made in urban infrastructure in the two main Implementation was carried out with national and cities: Ouagadougou and Bobodiolasso. These local institution contributions. An Index on Security investments were conditioned by a structural of Tenure was prepared by a panel of local experts adjustment reform limiting the effectiveness of the guided by the international consultant. decentralization reform.
Human interaction and living Lessons learnt from the development of the Geneva memories Office functions:
Lessons learnt from the Burkina Faso country project • The Agency became a full-pledged programme experience: in 2002. As part of the “One UN” at global level, Habitat is becoming more active and • It is important to build local capacity in urban visible in the Humanitarian Sector, taking part management with emphasis on offering training in the Humanitarian consolidated appeals, in sessions for technical staff and for local elected the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Task Force, in authorities. Capacity building is the best guarantee operational activities handled from Geneva under for reducing external assistance. the coordination of OCHA, at field level under • It is important to link the onsite project training with UN Humanitarian coordinator and UNDG for the the national and sub regional training institutions, phases of rehabilitation and reconstruction. UN- such as the engineering and architectural technical HABITAT was called to guide the shelter cluster and higher schools existing in the sub region. together with UNDP, UNHCR, IFCR with increasing • Networking at the sub-regional level is essential to involvement with relevant international NGOs exchange experiences and to confront successes both at global level of coordination and at field and failures with peers. The UMP sub-regional level. office for Western Africa played this role and also • MoUs with UN Agencies were systematically facilitated a joint effort with the French bilateral renewed within the UN-system strategic cooperation active in the sub region. Framework. This was done under an excellent spirit • It is important to have decentralized cooperation of collaboration but required a regular monitoring (city to city, sub national region to other regions, mechanism, lacking in Habitat at that time institution to institution such as school, hospital • Global programmes benefited from the UN etc.). The Burkina Faso Habitat Project (1991- coordination platform offered in Geneva by 1992) reinforced the importance of local self- strengthening their partnership with other UN development when the central government failed Agencies and global organizations including those at playing the role of facilitation. from civil society. That was the overall case of the • There was positive and successful ILO-Habitat Disaster Management Programme, and to a lesser interagency collaboration in the area of labour extent, the joint UNHABITAT-UNHCHR Programme intensive services and infrastructure delivery at on housing rights, the Water and Sanitation local level but failure in building a meaningful Programme. collaboration with FAO/IFAD on planning for rural- • With renewed effort, some results were achieved urban interaction. by integrating the Habitat Agenda implementation Human Library Conference Report • 119
within the activities of the UNECE/Committee • Enhance the level of responsibility of the Geneva on Human Settlements (Regular participation Office Director to a D1 position to match other UN to the respective intergovernmental sessions, Agencies and Habitat’s New York Office. issuance of policy guidelines and harmonization • Strengthen the implementation of interagency of methodology for developing Country Profiles). global programmes by providing the framework Technical cooperation was significantly developed for field projects (No global programme without in the region with UN-HABITAT leading to the field implementation). establishment of subregional offices in eastern and central Europe and the CIS Central-Asian sub • Reinforce HQ interagency monitoring mechanisms. region. • Ensure a strong training and capacity-building • Some progress was made in attracting Western component in each field project, a necessary European countries to join the multilateral component for building national capacity and activities in the region (Italy, Germany, the Nordic sustainability of development Countries in the Balkans sub region). EU support • Analyze the long productive experience of the for the region was not easily accessible. Training Unit at HQ, evaluate the full adequacy of • Insufficient support provided to the Right to training material and tools and their appropriate Housing UN Rapporteur dissemination and use by national institutions at regional level. Lessons learnt from the consultancy work provided under GUO: • Strengthen the monitoring and evaluation component in each field activity. • While the methodology developed by GUO to produce national and local data was relevant, • Develop decentralized cooperation: North/South its application in the field failed due to poor and mostly South/South. coordination at HQ and field level. HPMs were not • Provide adequate support to the country missions yet fully operational at the time so the national of the Rapporteur on Right to Housing. panels were not organized and lacked the relevant local partners. Neither national nor local urban • Establish national and local urban observatories observatories were in place in the two countries before testing GUO methodology. where a test was meant to be undertaken. • Strengthen HS-Network to supply the UN-HABITAT Human Library. Future perspectives
• Facilitate the rotation of UN-HABITAT staff from HQ to regional offices and vice versa. 120 • Human Library Conference Report
housing policies and reform including TATIANA ROSKOSHNAYA housing rights, access to basic services and efficient decentralisation through Tatiana Roskoshnaya managed strengthened local authorities and UN-HABITAT’s Russian and Eastern institutional capacity building. Other European portfolio from 2002 to cooperation areas include sustainable 2010. She now lives in St Petersburg. financing, public/private partnership (particularly in urban infrastructure development), and identifying urban worked for UN-HABITAT for over seven trends through Local and National years, from 2002 until my retirement Observatories network. in the beginning of 2010. My activities I Some countries are very poor with per were very much orientated on the head income of two dollars or less per region of countries with economies in day. They are not listed among the LDCs transition. When I started, RTCD activities and donors rarely sponsor UN-HABITAT in the region were limited to some very activities at the regional level, but UN- small projects in Russia, funded by the HABITAT assistance is needed and could Government of the Russian Federation. make dramatic differences. With UN- Other operational activities took place HABITAT presence, activities would also in Kosovo, supervised by the Global contribute to enriching best practices and Division. The large Serbian project had add to further knowledge management, not yet been launched and negotiations including Global campaigns. with the donor (Italy) were still ongoing. Quite a number of activities carried out Cooperation Framework and Funding: by UN-HABITAT in the region during the Unfortunately UN-HABITAT presence in 1990s had no continuation and, as a the region is very limited and often it result, valuable experience gained by the cannot react timely. Only three countries countries during the transitional period in the region support UN-HABITAT was not properly shared. activities and to change this, some seed funds needs top be made available Knowing the needs of the countries of to arising situations. However, with the region, I did my best to find ways to limited regular budget and earmarked support them. This was not so easy and contributions UN-HABITAT activities in required good working contacts with the the region are under-funded. countries. That is why building relations was among the first priorities. Launching UN-HABITAT has long term Agreements operational activities was even more of Cooperation with Poland and the challenging, however UN-HABITAT made Russian Federation. The agreement with considerable progress in this area. Poland is related to a UN-HABITAT office in Warsaw since 2005. According to this Human interaction and Agreement Poland provides support to living memories the office. The agreement of Cooperation Cooperation with transition economy with the Russian Federation is over 20 countries started two decades ago. The years old, inherited from the Soviet era main priorities were urban and territorial and adjusted to the new political realities planning, governance improvement, at the beginning of 1990s, and further Human Library Conference Report • 121
developed in the new millennium. In 2006, the development. Among others, the Eurasian branch of updated agreement was signed in Nairobi for the UCLG has risen in importance. It covers the countries next five years with a possibility of its extension. of the former Soviet Union except for the new members of the EU (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) Establishing national-level contacts is an issue of and Moldova (although Moldova representatives prime importance, but not sufficient for launching attend all meetings) plus Mongolia. Total number of joint activities. A lot of effort must go into members (cities and organisations of cities) is over enlightening national officials about UN-HABITAT, its 100. The headquarters of the Branch are in Kazan. mandate and activities, and the benefits countries and cities might enjoy. Under conditions of frequent National partners are represented by numerous change it is very difficult to provide continuity, both NGOs, organisations of cities, public organisations, in terms of activities and contacts. On the other researches and academia. It is worth to make efforts hand, firm professional contacts and achieved to bring them closer in discussing urban development understandings might live much longer. At present, issues through National Urban Forums which might UN-HABITAT is much better known among the become a missing platform for more frequent countries of the region and there are good grounds contacts, sharing experiences and exchanging to further develop activities, build on what was opinions, joint elaboration of recommendations done, add value and look into the future. etc. My post and my activities were very much regionally orientated. This work is to be done in The One UN approach is implemented only in one close cooperation with UN-HABITAT representatives country of the region. In the majority of countries in the region. there are the same UN country teams. Although UN-HABITAT has contacts with some of them, to be Future perspectives an active member UN-HABITAT has to have a more regular presence in the countries and contribute to I would suggest: joint activities. One of the lessons learned is that it • The region of countries with economies in is very difficult to be an active member and advise transition should not be overlooked and become in our areas of expertise without a presence on equal partners in global and regional UN-HABITAT the ground. Some UN agencies are reducing their campaigns, programmes and projects working presence in a number countries of the region. For through offices in the region. example, UNDP has left Poland and the countries that became EU members (apart from Slovakia • All offices in the region are to be better provided where they continue to have a regional office). with UN-HABITAT information and publications. They are also reducing their presence in the Russian • Create a platform for regular exchange of Federation, which may result into new possibilities experiences/lessons learnt and search for efficient for UN-HABITAT. decisions to improve current situation.
Intergovernmental agencies prefer to work directly • Encourage countries to establish National Habitat in the countries and being able to demonstrate their Forums to address sustainable urbanisation issues. capacity and relevance. UN-HABITAT’s mandate and experience might be helpful in persuading donors to • Address joint identification of priorities. consider UN-HABITAT as a serious partner capable of • Establish regional workshops to facilitate the adding value to joint activities. development of key policies, such as participatory Recently, a series of new initiatives have emerged slum upgrading, improvement of local and gained importance in the region. These include government, gender mainstreaming in human cooperation through the Committee for Cooperation settlements, urban environmental improvement, in Construction of CIS – a new and very promising and the development of capacity building tools. 122 • Human Library Conference Report
• Fund raising issue remains an urgent matter, and their role in addressing urbanization and joint efforts are vital: under present conditions, urban development issues. At the same time, available financial support is very limited. Thus there are considerable differences in attitudes of new innovative approaches need to be developed governments towards NGOs. and implemented. • Both regional and bilateral cooperation are to be • Inviting countries to more closely cooperate, developed through regional programmes/projects. including through sharing experiences both • In many countries of the region the professional through thematic regional meetings and through level of local or municipal civil servants remains publications, including Urban World in Russian; extraordinary low and training activities facilitating • Urban World might provide the very platform to capacity building would be very welcome. discuss urgent matters of urban development in • Cooperate with universities (many introduced the region and sharing experiences; special courses and specializations related to urban • Cooperation of UN-HABITAT with NGOs and civil development issues) assisting them to include into society works only when governments do not their courses and programmes developed by UN- object. Some NGOs are strong and well-advanced HABITAT and its partners innovative approaches. with clear understanding of the importance of Human Library Conference Report • 123
SPECIAL MOTION3
It is a great honour, on behalf all my thank you most sincerely for the volume colleagues, to introduce a special motion and quality of your most impressive and make a statement of appreciation contribution to our work. to Daniel Biau, or as he might properly Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, in the be described - ‘UN Man’. For Daniel tradition of the French Academy, I want can proudly be considered one of the to make the “L’Eloge” and pay tribute founders of our organization and his to an exceptional man, a civil engineer retirement after almost a quarter century and urban sociologist a philosopher of service is a watershed moment for us. of contemporary urban planning and Under your guidance and leadership, governance, a manager and a visionary we conducted the first ‘Human Library of our time, a fond lover of urban Conference’, gathering over 25 retired bridges as links and continuum of urban UN-HABITAT elders, who contributed landscapes, a man who, for almost a their resources and valuable time to quarter of a century has devoted his time come to Nairobi to share with us their and his life to the continued success of impressive knowledge and insightful our organization. expertise. As a wise man once said: “The I mentioned earlier that Daniel might present needs the past to move into the called ‘UN Man’, but to be more correct future”. he should be called ‘UN-HABITAT Man’. Daniel, by your unmatched contribution For who else do you know who, when to UN Habitat, you have constantly joining our organization, transformed the reminded us of the need for real changes gate to his home by fashioning it in the to transformation our agency in order to design of the UN-HABITAT emblem! stay relevant, resourced and focused in A French citizen by birth, Daniel is truly responding to the challenges of a new an African by heart and mind. But that urban agenda. is perhaps hardly surprising as he came On behalf of all regional and office to the continent early in his life, living directors around the World, from with his parents, from the age of 6 to Amman to Rio and Cairo, from New York 9, in the Malian city of Gao. The city to Bangkok, from Geneva to Brussels, has since made him an honorary citizen from Nairobi to Fukuoka and from all in recognition of the great work he the Habitat programme managers and performed in West Africa. thousands of field staff, I would like to He and his lovely wife Regine also spent their honeymoon in West Africa – in the 3 By Alioune Badiane, Director, Roaas South Senegal region of Casamance. 124 • Human Library Conference Report
Daniel, thank you for your leadership and vision As you are joining the prestigious, select and and thank you for always leading by example. By privileged Club of Elders, I wish you and Regine your personal standing, your professionalism and and your family the best of success and happiness sense of justice and by your guidance in inspiring, and hope to welcome you often to our homes and directing and managing RTCD, and earlier on as offices when you revisit Kenya. Deputy Director of UN-HABITAT, you have helped Long life, good health and bonne chance! in making us proud, committed and determined to carry forward your mission. The main objective of the Human Library Conference was to provide an opportunity to draw lessons from 25 years of UN-Habitat’s technical and regional cooperation, as well as to explore new perspectives to guide the future work of the Agency particularly in developing countries.
UN-Habitat’s technical cooperation is not only about operations and on the ground project activities. There are many elements of policy, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation at country level which should be supported by sufficient human and financial resources from both development partners and beneficiary countries.
UN-Habitat being essentially a mix of global programmes and country activities, there is a need to better coordinate and articulate these two levels of intervention. The issue is not the question of normative vs. operational, but rather the need for ensuring real complementarity between global and country-level activities.
HS 125/11E
United Nations Human Settlements Programme P.O. Box 30030, GPO Nairobi, 00100, Kenya Telephone: +254 20 762 3120 Fax: +254 20 762 3477 [email protected] www.unhabitat.org