On behalf of the Huairou Commission member networks which include the Federation de Mujeres Municipalistas de America Latina y el Caribe (FEMUM), GROOTS International, the International Council of Women, Information Centre of the Independent Women's Forum (ICIWF), Women and Cities International, Women and Habitat - Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and the Women and Peace Network, and including the additional women's groups, organizations and partners who have joined the deliberations and discussions with us here, the Huairou Commission makes the following acknowledgements and recommendations to the UN-Habitat Medium Term Strategic and Institutional Plan for 2008-2013 and to the 21st Session of the UN-HABITAT Governing Council.
The Huairou Commission, its member networks, and the many women we support here today, have been working with the UN-Habitat in meetings, deliberations, campaigns and programs to ensure the contributions, priorities and issues that women bring are recognized, accounted for and supported within the UN-Habitat throughout its work.
In particular, for the Third World Urban Forum in Vancouver, Canada held in 2006, the Huairou Commission delegation represented over 100,000 families living and working in poor communities, in developing and developed countries, and that our strength was that we are grounded in the local realities of our unique places. From this perspective we presented the following statement and actionable ideas:
We present a set of actionable ideas that cut across women's efforts on
caring community development, economic empowerment, promoting safety and
security, secure tenure and housing, and disaster risk reduction. In particular
we call upon officials from international aid agencies, government ministries,
local authorities, and professional associations to share decision-making power
and financial resources with low-income grassroots women's groups by:
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We continue these messages at this 21st Session of the UN-Habitat Governing Council. As women we want to stress the importance of looking at urban issues in an integrated and holistic way. We recognize that without safety and security in our homes and in our communities, we cannot address poverty reduction. Without access and ownership of land, we cannot ensure sustained and secure livelihoods. Without strong governance structures that support the participation of women, we cannot build healthy sustainable and caring communities for ourselves, families and communities. Therefore, based on our stated identities, contributions, and struggles, we have identified priority areas which we would like to address in this 21st Session of the Governing Council.
Women's Access to Land, Housing and Secure Tenure:
We
stress the importance of adopting and implementing pro-poor and gender specific
land management and property administration through enabling policies and
financing which enables women to affordably purchase land.
Action:
HIV/AIDS and other health crises:
We stress the
importance of recognizing the link between access to land and security of
tenure, basic services and security in mitigating the HIV/AIDS crises and other
health issues.
Safety and Security
Partnerships:
We stress the importance of advancing and
further developing strategic partnerships within UN-Habitat. We want to ensure
that UN-Habitat supports the legitimacy, roles, and work that networks of Women,
Local Authorities and Youth have brought to making real advancements on the
ground from the bottom up and want to ensure that UN-Habitat promotes new ways
of participation, collaboration and partnership.
Action:
For more information, please contact Sarah Silliman: Sarah.Silliman@huairou.org