Housing Policy and Development Section (HPDS)
Mandate: The Housing Policy and Development Section (HPDS) was
created in May 1999 as one of the organizational units of the
Shelter Branch. The main mandate of the Branch is to support the
world-wide implementation of the Habitat Agenda, with specific focus
on one of its two main goals: "adequate shelter for all". For this
purpose, the Branch works towards improving access to shelter for
the world’s poor and other vulnerable groups, particularly in
developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
Within this broad mandate the activities of HPDS focus on three
areas, namely: housing policies and programmes; housing rights; and
building materials and construction technologies.
The work is
undertaken in support of the Global Campaign for Secure Tenure,
which is one of the main instruments of UN-HABITAT contributing to
the implementation of the Habitat Agenda. The activities of the
Section focus on the needs and promotion of participatory approaches
that can involve and mobilize the aspirations and capacities of the
poor, other vulnerable groups and people with special needs.
HPDS focus areas Main substantive mandates UN-HABITAT main
organizational mandates
Housing policies and programmes Habitat Agenda, paragraphs 60, 62-74
Habitat Agenda, paragraphs 228.a-g
Housing rights Habitat Agenda, paragraph 61 Commission on Human
Settlements resolution 16/7
Building materials and construction technologies Habitat Agenda,
paragraphs 88-92 Habitat Agenda, paragraph 228.d
Objective: The primary objective of HPDS is to assist States and
other stakeholders to achieve the Habitat Agenda goal of adequate
shelter for all, through improved housing policies and programmes,
focusing on the commitment to the full and progressive realisation
of the right to adequate housing as elaborated in international
instruments.
Activities: The main thrust of the Section's current activities is
the elaboration and implementation, together with OHCHR, of the
United Nations Housing Rights Programme. This Programme was launched
in April 2002, on the basis of resolutions adopted by the United
Nations Commission on Human Settlements in 1997 and by the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights in 2001. Other activities are
related to supporting governments and other stakeholders in housing
development -- such as contributing to the development of
co-operatives in the housing sector -- and policy advice for
increasing effectiveness of enabling shelter strategies and
programmes.
Flagship Products: UN-HABITAT has produced a wide range of
publications, reports and documents within the three substantive
areas covered by the Section. Several of these outputs were produced
by the Shelter and Community Services Section (the predecessor of
the Housing Policy Section) before the organisational restructuring
in 1999. A number of publications on housing policy issues -- such
as "Shelter for all: the potential of housing policy in the
implementation of the Habitat Agenda" (1997), "Strategies to combat
homelessness" (1999), "Shelter provision and employment generation"
(1995), "Rental housing: An essential option for the urban poor in
developing countries" (2003), "Housing rights legislation: Review of
international and national legal instruments" (2002), and many
others -- are available in electronic format.
Source: United Nations Habitat Programms |
