Managing the Transition from the Village to the City: Pacific Habitat Agenda (Inter-divisional project)

Background

Poverty is a recent and predominantly urban phenomenon in the Pacific. Urban poverty, especially among women and dependent children, has become a fact of life in all the cities of the pacific, and in most of the towns. Results of urban poverty in many Pacific urban centres include proliferation of slums and squatter settlements, unemployment and under-employment, ethnic tensions and violence, substance abuse, crime and social disintegration. Rapid urbanization has also resulted in pressure on urban infrastructure and services, which local administrations are ill prepared to handle. This has led to environmental deterioration particularly in managing wastewater and solid wastes.

Small land-masses, marginalized economies with few employment creation potentials, higher population densities on habitable islands and communal land-ownership add unique challenges to managing the transition from the village to the city in the Pacific. However, urbanization in the Pacific is relatively new and early recognition and supportive policies can ensure that the process is more effectively managed.

Given the commonalities among the Pacific Island countries and their difference when compared to countries of Asia, there is an urgent need to develop a common sub-regional agenda for action. The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) adopted the “Habitat Agenda,” a global action plan for sustainable development of urban areas, with a particular focus on improving the lives of the urban poor. The actions outlined in the Habitat Agenda need to be adapted and prioritized in the context of the Small Island Developing Countries of the Pacific.

Together with the governments of the Pacific, organizations and agencies within and outside the United Nations system recognize the urgency of assisting governments of the Small Island Developing Countries of the Pacific in developing strategies and actions to address the challenges posed by urbanization. United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) The Urban Governance Initiative (TUGI) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Forum Secretariat have all expressed willingness to collaborate with UNESCAP to convene a High-level Workshop in the Pacific to assist the countries of the region to develop a common agenda for action on urbanization.

The objective of the project is to assist Pacific Island Developing Countries in developing a common plan of action to manage the transition from predominantly rural societies to urban societies. The project will do this by convening a high-level workshop to discuss and draft a “Pacific Habitat Agenda.” The workshop will comprise senior national and local government officials and representatives of civil society organizations, academic institutions and the private sector from Pacific Island Developing Countries

The Pacific Habitat Agenda will be presented to the next meeting of the Special Body on Pacific Island Developing Countries, held immediately preceding the Sixtieth Commission Session in April 2004. Once adopted, it is expected that the Pacific Habitat Agenda will serve as a blue print for technical cooperation in urban poverty reduction and sustainable development for the sub-region.

Target groups:

Senior national and local government officials, civil society organizations, academic institutions and representatives of the private sector from participating Pacific Island Developing Countries. The ultimate beneficiaries will be urban residents in general and the urban poor in particular.

Links to related documents:

Workshop Programme, Sub-regional Workshop on Managing the Transition from the Village to the City: Pacific Habitat Agenda (Nadi, Fiji Islands, 1-4 Dec. 2003)

Nadi Report