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HIGH-LEVEL MIDTERM REVIEW OF THE COMMITTEE OF PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVES TO UN-HABITAT

SUMMARY OF PLENARY DISCUSSION AND OUTCOMES | 29 JUNE - 1 JULY 2021

Third Daily Journal

On Thursday, 01 July 2021, the first open-ended high-level midterm review of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) resumed at 10:00 a.m. East Africa time.

Agenda item 8 - Review of the provisional agenda for the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly

The CPR agreed upon the provisional agenda for the second session of the UN-Habitat Assembly to be held from 5 to 9 June 2023 as reflected under draft Recommendation 2021/4, paragraph 2 and set out in document HSP/OECPR.2021/l2/Rev.2. The provisional agenda reads as follows:

  1. Opening of the session
  2. Adoption of the agenda
  3. Report of the Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives
  4. Credentials of representatives
  5. Elections of members of the Executive Board
  6. Adoption of the report of the Executive Board
  7. Activities of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, including coordination matters and progress in implementation of resolutions adopted at the first session of the UN-Habitat Assembly
  8. Review of progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
  9. Reports on the World Urban Forum
  10. Dialogue on the special theme for the second session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly
  11. Strategic plan of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and alignment of UN-Habitat planning cycles with the Quadrennial comprehensive Review
  12. Adoption of the report of the United Nations Habitat Assembly
  13. Provisional agenda and other arrangements for the third session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly
  14. Election of officers
  15. Other matters
  16. Closure of the session

Agenda item 9 - Dates and provisional agenda for the second open-ended meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives

The CPR recommended that the dates of its second open-ended meeting in preparations for the second session of the UN-Habitat Assembly be 29 May to 2 June 2023 for a duration of five days.

The provisional agenda for the next open-ended meeting of the CPR was also adopted as set out in document HSP/OECPR.2021/L2/Rev.2. The provisional agenda reads as follows:

1. Opening of the meeting:

a. Organizational matters

b. Adoption of the agenda and the workplan for the second open-ended meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives in preparations for the session of the UN-Habitat Assembly

2. Adoption of the report of the Committee of Permanent Representatives on the work of its first open-ended meeting

3. Strategic plan of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme:

a. Implementation of the Strategic Plan for the period 2020–2023

b. Status of preparations of the next strategic plan by the Executive Board

c. Alignment of the planning cycles of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme with the quadrennial comprehensive policy review process

4. Review of the status of preparations for the second session of the UN-Habitat Assembly

5. Preparation of resolutions, declarations and decisions of the second session of the UN-Habitat Assembly including dates and provisional agenda for the third session of the United Nations Habitat Assembly

6. Election of officers of the Bureau

7. Consideration of a draft Chair’s summary

8. Other matters

9. Closure of the meeting

Agenda item 10 – Election of officers of the Bureau

The Chair recalled that in line with Rule 27 of the rules of procedure of the UN-Habitat Assembly, the new Bureau of the CPR for the period 2021-2023 should be elected at the end of this meeting.

Pursuant to equitable geographical representation, the next Chair of the CPR was expected to be a representative from the Western European and other States Group (WEOG). However, the Chair shared that USA on behalf of the Chair of WEOG informed that the Group did not have a nominee to serve as CPR Chair and suggested that the next regional group in the planned regional group rotation serves as Chair of the next Bureau of the CPR. The Secretariat informed the CPR that in accordance with the regional group rotation, the next regional group which would serve as Chair would be the group of Asia Pacific States.

The following members, nominated by their respective groups, were elected:

  • Chair: Pakistan (Asia Pacific)
  • Vice-Chair: vacant (WEOG)
  • Vice-Chair: Tanzania (African States)
  • Vice-Chair: Colombia (GRULAC)
  • Rapporteur: vacant (Eastern European States)

The immediate former Chair recalled the importance of having a functional Bureau to allow for substantive preparations of the next open-ended meeting of the CPR in preparations for the next session of the UN-Habitat Assembly and urged the regional groups who did not nominate any candidate to continue caucusing to fill in the offices as soon as possible.

Adoption of recommendations as set out in document HSP/OECPR.2021/lL/rev.2

The CPR adopted the below recommendations:

  • Recommendation 2021/1: Implementation of the resolutions adopted by the UN-Habitat Assembly at its first session
  • Draft Recommendation 2021/2: Implementation of Resolution 1/1 on the UN-Habitat Strategic Plan for the period 2020-2023
  • Draft Recommendation 2021/3: Secretary-General's Quadrennial Report on the Implementation of the New Urban Agenda, the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly to assess progress in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda, and the eleventh session of the World Urban Forum
  • Draft Recommendation 2021/4: Dates and Agenda of the second session of the UN-Habitat Assembly and the dates and agenda for the next Open-Ended CPR meeting in preparations for the next session of the UN-Habitat Assembly
  • Draft Decision 2021/5: Election of officers of the Bureau of the CPR

The CPR also adopted the draft report of the first open-ended high-level midterm review of the CPR as set out in document HSP/OECPR.2021/L1. The Chair reminded the delegates that the reports of CPR meetings are procedural reports as a record of the meeting and that procedural reports do not provide any summary of discussion or additional information beyond describing the process in a comprehensive and balanced manner, and indicated that he will take the responsibility of completing the draft report of the meeting with the support of the outgoing Bureau so as to finalize it and make it available to Member States.

Agenda item 11 – Other matters

Interventions by Member States

Egypt thanked the Chair and the Secretariat for the work conducted over the last three days and congratulated the new members of the CPR Bureau. Egypt also thanked the Permanent Representative of Pakistan for the excellent way in which the informal consultations that were held on draft outcomes on Wednesday, 30 June 2021. Egypt emphasized the role of the CPR which in its view allows to reinforce the work of UN-Habitat and resolve future issues.

Morocco commended the work of UN-Habitat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Morocco welcomed this meeting as an opportunity to share experience and highlighted key measures implemented in the country to mitigate the effects of the pandemic and achieve sustainable development. Morocco underlined the resilience of the housing and town planning sector in particular. In addition, Morocco thanked the Executive Director for her last visit in the country, during which the Country Programme 2021-2023 was signed. Morocco felt that the collaboration with UN-Habitat through the country office in Morocco was an opportunity to put in place a regional platform to reinforce best practice and share experience on sustainable development.

Statements by stakeholders

Mr. Hannes Juhlin Lagrelius made a statement on behalf of World Blind Union in which he appreciated the work of UN-Habitat in creating the Stakeholder Advisory Group Enterprise (SAGE) and in supporting the first Global Stakeholders’ Forum in May 2019. He also thanked member states who ensured multi-stakeholder engagement in monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and commended them for approving the detailed draft partnership strategy annexed to UN-Habitat’s Strategic Plan 2020-2023. He informed members of the CPR that the World Blind Union formulated a request to include representatives from a diversity of stakeholders and constituency groups in the preparations towards WUF11 as well as in the formulation of the upcoming Quadrennial report.

Ms. Magdalena García Hernández, General Director of Bufete de Estudios Interdisciplinarios, delivered a statement on behalf of the constituency of local and regional organizations in Urban Thinkers Campus Mexico – Peru. She underlined the need for a change in civilization brought to light by the pandemic that has had a greater impact on women. She requested the CPR and the Executive Director to consider the role of women in the upcoming work of UN-Habitat and in the WUF11 dialogues. She also requested to envisage the co-creation of cities with a focus on the equality among women and men.

Ms. Emilia Saiz, Secretary-General of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), spoke on behalf of the constituency of local and regional governments. She thanked UN-Habitat for opening the CPR to the local and regional governments constituency. She underlined that local and regional governments have been at the forefront in the response to the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, she stated that the implementation of the New Urban Agenda is an accelerator in achieving the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda. She recalled the importance of local actions and engagement with local governments to achieve global agendas and she highlighted the importance of Voluntary Local Reviews. Finally, she urged UN-Habitat to strengthen the engagement of local governments in processes led by UN Resident Coordinators at country level.

Ms. Sri Husnaini Sofjan from the Huairou Commission delivered a statement on behalf of the constituency of women. She appreciated the work of UN-Habitat for implementing its Strategic Plan and commended the Programme for the production of the Cities and Pandemics report. She urged UN-Habitat and Member States to focus resources and partner with grassroots groups in implementing local actions in the post COVID-19 recovery. She particularly took note of the report on the implementation of Resolution 1/4 on achieving gender equality through the work of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. Finally, she called on Member States to invest in UN-Habitat to create a gender equality and women’s empowerment specific programme for achieving substantive equality in cities and human settlements.

Mr. Siraj Sait, Co-Chair of SAGE and Director, Noon Centre of Equality and Diversity, University of East London, highlighted the efforts of UN-Habitat to reinforce engagement by stakeholders. He underlined key achievements and ongoing efforts in multi-stakeholder partnerships during the past few years, including inter alia regular monthly SAGE meetings, the implementation of the UN-Habitat Stakeholder Declaration 2019, planning key events, supporting national-level urban policy development, and participating in UN-Habitat flagship campaigns. He commended the Executive Director and UN-Habitat senior managers for keeping stakeholders and constituencies at the heart of its strategic planning and programme delivery.

Agenda item 12 – Closure of the session

In her closing remarks, the Executive Director thanked the Chair of the CPR for his excellent chairing of this first high-level midterm review of the CPR since the implementation of the governance reform. She highlighted that 315 participants had registered to the session, representing 75 countries including 5 ministers from Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan and one deputy minister from Mexico, and 44 partners. She also noted the in-person attendance of 13 delegates on the UNON compound.

She reaffirmed the relevance of the UN-Habitat 2020-2023 Strategic Plan, grounded in the 2030 Development Agenda and the SDGs, to unlock the transformative role played by urbanization, and gave her appreciation for the critical comments and guidance received from member states to help UN-Habitat improve the way its Strategic Plan is delivered.

She also assured member of the CPR of the willingness of UN-Habitat to further enhance engagement with Member States in the preparation of the CPR meetings, in addition to Bureau meetings, consultations with regional groups and bilateral meetings.

The Executive Director recalled the three lenses guiding UN-Habitat’s work across the Strategic Plan, namely focus on new vulnerabilities, enhancement of the form and function of future cities, and support to inclusive socio-economic recovery.

The Executive Director indicated that UN-Habitat looks forward to working with Member States in developing innovative and creative solutions to create conditions for long-term social and economic city recovery, with a particular attention to translating policy into practice.

The Executive Director further stressed the need to generate unearmarked or softly earmarked funding to support the implementation of the Strategic Plan and to carry out the decisions and resolutions of the Assembly.

Finally, the Executive Director thanked the out-going Chair and Bureau members and acknowledged the inputs from non-governmental partners.

The Chair of the CPR thanked all delegations and partners for their active participation during the three-day meeting and for their cooperation during the tenure of Eritrea as Chair of the CPR. He reiterated the importance of the work of the CPR as an intersessional body of the UN-Habitat Assembly.

The Chair thanked Bangladesh, Serbia, Cost Rica and USA in their capacity as members of the immediate former Bureau, and wished success to the newly elected Bureau for the period 2021-2023.

The first high-level midterm review of the CPR was adjourned at 12:00 (noon) EAT.

Credits:

UN-Habitat

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