Events

Expert Group Meeting on Appropriate, Intermediate, Cost-effective Building Materials, Technologies and Transfer Mechanisms for Housing Delivery, Madras, India, 4-7 February 1992

The Commission on Human Settlements, in its decision 13/24 of 7 May 1991, requested the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) to prepare a theme paper entitled “Appropriate, intermediate, cost-effect building materials, technologies and transfer mechanisms for housing delivery”, for its consideration during the fourteenth session to be held in mid-1993. The purpose of the theme paper is to submit for consideration of the Commission an objective appraisal of the performance of the building materials industry in developing countries, focusing on the major problems and constraints that currently hinder the adequate supply of basic building materials at prices that can be afforded by average house-builders. The paper should also highlight available policy options and submit a framework of action, at both national and international levels.

The Expert Group Meeting, organized by UNCHS (Habitat) brought together more than 10 experts and had the objective of identifying the suitable structure and format of the draft, produced the preliminary outline of the paper. It also defined ways and means on how to acquire and analyze necessary data and information and the type of inputs which would be required from member governments.

Workshop on the Second Issue of the Global Report on Human Settlements, Nairobi, Kenya, 2-6 December 1991

The main objective of the Global Report is “to provide a complete review of human settlements conditions, including an analysis of major forces and trends accounting for both their present developments and their continuing creation, maintenance and improvement”. The prime purpose is to analyse world-wide regional development trends and future prospects in the field of human settlements and, in this way, assist governments to implement the recommendations for national action made at Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements.

The workshop, organized by UNCHS (Habitat), brought together experts from Africa, Asia, North and South America and Europe and was intended to provide suggestions to UNCHS (Habitat) on the contents and format of the second issue of the Report.

International Seminar on Housing Indicators, Nairobi, Kenya 27-30 January 1992

More than 50 participants from 27 countries of Africa, Asia, North America, and Western and Eastern Europe, as well as representatives of the World Bank and UNCHS (Habitat) participated in the four-day seminar which was organized by UNCHS (Habitat). The Seminar was organized in response to the question, which arose after the formal adoption of the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, of setting in place suitable mechanisms and guidelines for monitoring progress in achieving the Strategy's goal of adequate shelter for all by the year 2000 - a task which was a fundamental part of the Strategy itself.

Housing indicators were on the agenda of 10 sub-regional intergovernmental meetings organized by UNCHS (Habitat) on national shelter strategy formulation and implementation. These meetings revealed the interest of Member States in acquiring tools for monitoring their progress in addressing the Strategy's national goals and offered useful suggestions on how this task could be approached.

The discussions during the Seminar focused mainly on such topics as: quantity and price indicators, housing quality indicators, housing demand indicators, housing supply indicators, the regulatory audit and lessons learned from the extensive survey. Moreover, the participants had the opportunity to discuss and deliberate on the preliminary results of the housing indicators programme in their respective countries.