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Self Report 2017

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

1B
Act early

Individual Commitment

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Member States and United Nations staff are increasingly concerned that land is more and more a trigger for conflict, or a re-lapse into conflict, and a bottleneck to recovery. This situation will be made worse in the coming decades by global challenges such as population growth, urbanization, increasing food insecurity and climate change. These challenges are acknowledged in the 2030 Agenda. The UN-wide system is not sufficiently fit for the purpose for supporting Member States and the international community to address these challenges. The UN needs to re-think its engagement on land and conflict, and clarify roles and develop capacity.

  • Achievements at a glance

    UN-Habitat reports the following achievements:
    • The “Scoping and Status Study on Land and Conflict: Towards UN System Wide Engagement at Scale” was published in May 2016.
    • A Framework Analysis of Land as a Root Cause of Conflict has been developed.
    • The adaptation of GLTN land tools to conflict contexts has started in Iraq, Sudan, Darfur, Lebanon and Syria.
    • A new partnership is under development around land governance for the Arab States, including to address land-related aspects of the conflicts in the region.
    • New joint initiatives, in particular with DPKO and DPA, are under way in In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and the Great Lakes.
    • Pilot capacity training on land and conflict have taken place for DPA country desk officers, Peace and Development Advisors, and senior officials in the Great Lakes Region.
    • Two meetings of the Land and Conflict Coalition took place so far (50+ organizations).

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    The Global Land Tool Network has a steering group to monitor progress and periodic evaluations are conducted. Yearly meetings are planned of the land and conflict coalition to discuss progress and adjust priorities.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    UN-Habitat's main challenge is to scale up capacity building efforts for both global, regional and national capacity and ensuring a renewed dialogue with Member States.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    UN-Habitat plans to
    - Finalize a UN Guidance Note on Land and Conflict
    - Develop further capacity development initiatives
    - Expand and strengthen the partnerships through the Land and Conflict Coalition to increase effective support at country level

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Act early', what would it be

    If land is a root cause of conflict and a bottleneck to recovery, creating an enabling framework to address land should be a key collective outcome of the UN system.

  • Specific initiatives

    Global Alliance for Urban Crises

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    1C - Remain engaged and invest in stability

1D
Develop solutions with and for people

Individual Commitment

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    UN-Habitat's operational experience has shown that the potential of using urban planning to support inter-community dialogue in view of conflict prevention has not yet been fully developed.

  • Achievements at a glance

    More and more Urban Design Labs and urban planning interventions are used in conflict-affected countries or situations with marginalized informal settlements (incl. refugee settlements): Iraq, Lebanon, Kosovo, Kenya. etc.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    This will be further developed under the umbrella of a Global Alliance for Urban Crises working group.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Develop solutions with and for people', what would it be

    Urban planning and design are increasingly proving their potential as powerful instruments to negotiate co-existence and durable solutions for people from different backgrounds.

  • Cross cutting issues

    Urban

  • Specific initiatives

    Global Alliance for Urban Crises

3A
Reduce and address displacement

Individual Commitment

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    There is a growing evidence base that if displacement is only dealt with from a humanitarian perspective, it can have long term negative impacts on cities (ex. through the expansion of slums).

  • Achievements at a glance

    Advocacy, through the Global Alliance for Urban Crises, with Member States led to the successful inclusion in the New Urban Agenda (Habitat III) of supportive language calling for support to host cities and the integration into urban development strategies.

  • Cross cutting issues

    Urban

  • Specific initiatives

    Global Alliance for Urban Crises

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

3D
Empower and protect women and girls

Individual Commitment

  • Achievements at a glance

    This is done systematically through UN-Habitat's Project Advisory Groups.

4A
Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

Individual Commitment

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    There is a lack of concerted focus on cities at high risk.

4B
Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

Individual Commitment

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    There is a lack of concerted focus on cities at high risk.

4C
Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

Individual Commitment

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    UN-Habitat has increasingly used at country level urban development strategies and approaches to address humanitarian crisis in urban settings, helping to reduce the need and build the ground for more sustainable urban development trajectories. There was a lack of mainstreaming of this work throughout the agency - a challenge to ensure timely deployment of staff in moments of crisis. There was also a need to strengthen strategic partnerships.

  • Achievements at a glance

    UN-Habitat's Governing Council recently approved (May 2017) a resolution creating a fund to facilitate rapid response, asking UN-Habitat to update its Strategic Policy on Human Settlements in Crises, which will prepare the ground to mainstream its urban crises work across the agency, and encouraging it to keep supporting and strengthening innovative partnerships such as the Global Alliance for Urban Crises.

  • Cross cutting issues

    Urban

  • Specific initiatives

    Global Alliance for Urban Crises

5A
Invest in local capacities

Individual Commitment

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    Local governments are increasingly being recognized as a key actor but very few mechanisms exist to ensure local governments access to funding and capacity which would allow them to play their role.