Global Report on Human Settlements 2007 - PoA-ISS

Introduction
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legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial and other
measures to ensure that all people have access to adequate
housing. So, while states are not necessarily required to
build homes for the entire population, they are obliged to
take a whole range of steps, both positive and negative in
nature, grounded in human rights law, which are designed to
ensure the full realization of all human rights, including the
right to adequate housing.
Chapter 11 provides a whole range of specific recommendations
on elements to consider when developing
housing and urban policies, taking into account the principles
of HLP rights. These include, among other issues, steps
to prevent discrimination with respect to housing; to cease
the practice of forced evictions; to introduce faster and more
affordable measures for conferring security of tenure to
people living in informal settlements and slum areas; and to
ensure that the obligations of states under international law
are incorporated within national legislation. As noted above,
in order for national (as well as local) governments to fulfil
their obligations with respect to international law, and in
order to plan for improving tenure security for all, there is a
pressing need for better monitoring and better data on
security of tenure and forced evictions.
It is important to note that security is less about
which type of tenure an individual community, household or
individual enjoys, but rather about the security enjoyed.
Even freehold land can be expropriated by the state under
the pretext of being ‘for the common good’. As noted in
Chapters 5 and 6, there is a whole range of tenure options
that may (or may not) provide security of tenure. Thus, living
in an informal settlement or in a residential area governed by
customary or communal law does not inherently mean that a
person, household or community will be forcibly evicted
from their homes and lands. It has to be recognized that
there are no universal solutions to the provision of security
of tenure and that challenges in this regard tend to be solved
in different ways in different locations. Depending upon
circumstances, there are a number of acceptable forms of
secure tenure, and the merits of innovative policies are clear.
The importance of the urban or local level lies in the fact that
evictions are most frequently carried out by local authorities
or other local actors. It is thus essential that local authorities,
in their development strategies and planning, acknowledge
the right to enjoy security of tenure. Likewise, the most
important actors in any effort to prevent evictions are those
operating at the local level. As noted above, the report thus
highlights the importance of supporting the activities of
NGOs, CBOs and others engaged in enhancing security of
tenure and combating forced evictions.
The extensive impacts of natural and human-made
disasters on cities and their inhabitants have been elaborated
upon in Part IV of this <strong>Global</strong> <strong>Report</strong>. Various actions are
currently being pursued at the international, national and
local levels to reduce disaster risk in urban areas. Chapter 12
examines key policy areas where future prospects for building
resilience against natural and human-made disasters in
cities lie.
In view of the increasing numbers of people being
affected by disasters globally, risk reduction is now identified
as a significant concern in several international frameworks
and agreements. Most fundamental are the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). Although there is no disaster
risk reduction MDG, it is recognized that failure to integrate
disaster risk reduction within urban, national and regional
development policy will undo development gains and thus
impede the achievement of other MDGs. Disaster risk reduction
is also highlighted in both international frameworks for
urban development (the Habitat Agenda) and disaster risk
reduction (the Hyogo Framework). Such international frameworks
are important in focusing the attention of multilateral
and bilateral donors, as well as international civil society
actors, towards disaster risk reduction. They can also facilitate
advocacy and guide the development of disaster risk
reduction strategies at national and city levels. Furthermore,
governments require assistance from the international
community in the form of funding, data and information and
technical expertise to establish or improve their disaster risk
reduction systems. International assistance for disaster risk
reduction should not focus primarily on recovery and reconstruction
efforts, as has been the case in the past, but also on
longer-term development objectives.
Chapter 12 identifies a number of policies that, if
adopted at the national level, can support city-level risk
reduction planning and implementation. It is especially
important that disaster risk reduction is mainstreamed
within national development and poverty reduction policies
and planning. Knowledge of disaster trends and impacts is
fundamental in guiding the development of risk reduction
policies. Governments thus need to improve risk, hazard and
vulnerability assessment and monitoring capacity through
increased investments, with support from the international
community, where necessary. Technological innovation has
greatly improved such assessments, although not equally in
all countries. Participatory techniques offer a unique opportunity
of generating basic data on hazard, vulnerability and
loss where this is not available from centralized databases, as
is the case in many low-income countries. In addition to
informing policy formulation, assessment data should feed
into national initiatives that aim to build a culture of awareness
and safety through public education and information
programmes. The use of education systems to raise awareness
and skills for disaster risk reduction is especially
effective in minimizing loss from disasters.
Governments should also seek to build and
strengthen national and local early warning systems. Cultural
and linguistic diversity or socio-economic inequalities may
lead to some people being excluded from early warning
information and advice on how to respond to disaster.
Involving local communities in vulnerability and hazard
assessments can facilitate the dissemination of early warning
messages and, thus, enhance local-level preparedness.
Indeed, participatory and inclusive strategies that enable the
full participation of relevant local actors should guide risk
reduction activities at both national and city levels. Peoplecentred
early warning systems, which bring together
technical expertise for identifying approaching hazard with
local expertise, are invaluable in diffusing early warning
information and catalysing preventative action. The use of