1 Table of Contents Introduction from the Chairs 2 Topic A: The Rights of Women and Girls in Cities 3 Introduction to Topic A 5 History of Topic 4 Discussion of Topic 7 Bloc Positions 9 Points a Resolution Should Address 12 Further Reading 12 Bibliography 13 Topic B: Tackling homelessness and slum upgrading in cities 14 Introduction to Topic B 14 Understanding the topic 15 Discussion of Topic 17 Bloc Positions 24 Points a Resolution Should Address 28 Further Reading 29 Bibliography 29 2 Introduction from the Chairs Dear delegates, Welcome to UN-Habitat at YorkMUN 2019. As the UK’s first Human Rights City, York is the perfect place to be simulating UN-Habitat, a committee which focuses on ensuring human rights and sustainability in urban areas! UN-Habitat is a committee which takes a very specific look at urban human rights and sustainability. As chairs we hope to provide you with a unique committee experience and unusual topics. The two topics we’ve picked are both very pertinent and, hopefully, will stimulate interesting debate! Topic A explores the intersection between the urbanisation and feminisation of poverty, which shows how urban living can impact human rights. Topic B explores the issue of homelessness and slum upgrading in cities. The two issues are interlinked and both explore very pertinent urban rights issues. We hope you enjoy discussing these issues at YorkMUN and we look forward to a weekend of debating, discussions and fun socials! Anna, Ashvini and Shama 3 Introduction to the Committee UN-Habitat is the United Nations programme working towards a better urban future. Its mission is to promote socially and environmentally sustainable human settlements development and the achievement of adequate shelter for all. In October 2016, at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development – Habitat III – member states signed the New Urban Agenda. This is an action-oriented document which sets global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development, rethinking the way we build, manage, and live in cities. Through drawing together cooperation with committed partners, relevant stakeholders, and urban actors, including at all levels of government as well as the private sector, UN-Habitat is applying its technical expertise, normative work and capacity development to implement the New Urban Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 11 – to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1978 to address the issues of urban growth, it is a knowledgeable institution on urban development processes, and understands the aspirations of cities and their residents. For forty years, UN-Habitat has been working in human settlements throughout the world, focusing on building a brighter future for villages, towns, and cities of all sizes. Because of these four decades of extensive experience, from the highest levels of policy to a range of specific technical issues, UN-Habitat has gained a unique and a universally acknowledged expertise in all things urban. 4 Topic A: The Rights of Women and Girls in Cities Introduction to Topic A Urbanisation provides women and girls both with new opportunities and new problems. While women can certainly benefit from increased and, potentially, easier access to healthcare, to public spaces and to community and public leadership roles, there are also several key issues they face, as outlined by UN-Habitat. These issues include the intersection between the feminisation and urbanisation of poverty and the effects of poverty on women living in cities. Another key issue is the safety of women and girls in cities, which can be threatened by things like sexual harassment and violence against women and girls. This topic guide will explore these issues and consider how the benefits of cities for women and girls can be reconciled with the problems urbanisation can pose. It will take an intersectional approach and consider issues of gender together with issues surrounding urbanisation as well as other factors women might be affected by, like socioeconomic status, age etc. 5 History of Topic ● 1979, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women -- often considered as the basis for the UN’s commitment to women’s rights, CEDAW set an important precedent in terms of clearly laying out the rights women should have. While it doesn’t specifically address the issue of urbanisation, it is relevant in any discussion of international women’s rights. ● 1985, Nairobi Conference -- for the first time since its creation in 1978, the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements recognised the need to importance of gender as a factor when considering the human settlements agenda, thus setting an important precedent for the rights of women and girls in cities. ● 1995, Beijing Platform -- another key precedent in terms of international women’s rights, the Beijing Platform established a set of goals for women’s rights and development. The issues addressed include violence against women and girls and the feminisation of poverty, both of which are key issues faced by women living in cities. ● 2000, the Millenium Development Goals -- the eight goals set out by the UN to improve human rights and to end poverty by 2015. Goal 1 specifically addressed global poverty, while Goal 3 focused on ensuring gender equality. ● 2010, Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces -- the UN launched an anti-violence against women and girls in cities campaign. The initiative now works in over 20 cities and has led to action, such as Egypt considering gender more carefully within their urban planning and Quito (capital of Ecuador) strengthening local laws to prevent sexual harassment in public spaces. ● 2014-2019, UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan -- UN-Habitat identifies gender as a key factor when considering urban issues and aims to take a gender-sensitive approach throughout its work. This includes consulting with women living in cities when considering new policies as well as running gender equality programmes. ● 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals -- similar to the Millennium Development Goals, the Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals. These include Goal 1, which is No Poverty, Goal 5, which focuses on Gender Equality and Goal 11, which is to ensure Sustainable Cities and Communities. The inclusion of Goal 11 is a testament to the increasing rate (and, thus, importance) of urbanisation and also addresses the need for inclusivity in cities, which includes factors like gender. 6 Discussion of Topic Violence and Harassment Women are at the intersection of urban violence and crime and gender-based violence, meaning they experience issues like violence and crime in a different way to others, say living in more rural areas or to men. It is thought that rapid urbanisation, when combined with preconceived ideas of gender identity can fuel gender-based violence. As ActionAid (2011) acknowledges, “[w]omen fear and experience violence that falls in two main dimensions: violence against women and violence arising from urban insecurities.”1 These two factors can be interlinked -- for example, a woman may experience violence or harassment then struggle to access appropriate healthcare due to poverty. The need for intersectionality in this example comes from the fact that this very specific combination of factors is something that a man living in urban areas or a woman living in rural areas might not experience in the same way. Exploring the specific ways in which urban women might experience violence, therefore, highlights the need for specific solutions to the problems they face. It has been found that violence severely limits women’s mobility, which can have effects on how they travel, where they go and, ultimately, how they interact with the cities they live in. Instances of harassment or abuse on, say, public transport or one routes home can have this impact. According to World Bank statistics, a staggering 80% of women worry about harassment occurring in public spaces, hence their assertion that “transport is not gender- neutral”. Female-only carriages, which could be one potential solution, are currently employed in transport systems, such as the Tokyo Metro (right), the Rio de Janeiro Metro and the Cairo Metro. According to 2014 data, 70% of women from a variety of countries said they’d feel safer travelling in female-only carriages.2 1Actionaid.org. (2011). Women and the City. [Online] Available at: http://www.actionaid.org/sites/files/actionaid/actionaid_2011_women_and_the_city.pdf. 2 Reuters. (2014). Does single-sex public transport help or hinder women?. [Online] Available at:https://www.reuters.com/article/women-poll-carriages/exclusive-poll-does-single-sex-public-transport-help- or-hinder-women-idUKL6N0S42MD20141029. 7 However, there is very little data to support the idea that this would actually lead to greater safety for female passengers. This is for several reasons -- the main one being that it is hard to measure rates of female safety and also to show a causal link between the two. It is also thought that introducing these can be seen as a “quick fix” and can prove counterproductive. According to one report, it “does not address the underlying issue [and confirms] that women should not be allowed to travel freely”.3 The Feminisation and Urbanisation of Poverty Due to what has been termed the “feminisation” of poverty, women in cities experience poverty in a fairly specific way. As Habitat for Humanity explains, “women are often more than just the bread- winners for these urban poor families. They find themselves playing an indispensable role in running their own household, holding their families together, raising children besides their work-roles outside their homes.4 This idea of “time poverty” -- that women are often expected to perform unpaid labour, such as childcare, shows the way in which entrenched gender roles and poverty and urbanisation can all be seen as intertwined.