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A/RES/37/221 



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General Assembly

Distr: General
20 December 1982
Original: English

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Thirty-seventh session
Agenda item 71 j

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

37/221. International Year of Shelter for the Homeless

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolution 35/76 of 5 December 1980, in which it expressed the view that an international year devoted to the problems of homeless people in urban and rural areas of the developing countries could be an appropriate occasion to focus the attention of the international community on those problems,

Recalling also its resolution 36/71 of 4 December 1981 in which it decided, in principle, to designate 1987 as the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless, on the understanding that the criteria for financing and organizing international years set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1980/67 of 25 July 1980 were complied with,

Taking note of the report of the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) on the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless,/169 together with the comments made thereon by the Commission on Human Settlements at its fifth session/170 and the Economic and Social Council at its second regular session of 1982,/171 and also the report of the Secretary-General on the organizational and financial aspects of holding the International Year,/172 called for in General Assembly resolution 36/71,

Taking note also of Economic and Social Council resolution 1982/46 B of 27 July 1982 on the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless,

Seriously concerned that, despite the efforts of governments at the national and local levels and of international organizations, the living conditions of the majority of the people in slums and squatter areas and rural settlements, especially in developing countries, continue to deteriorate in both relative and absolute terms,

Convinced that a special effort to address this fundamental issue will strengthen overall national economic and social development, in furtherance of the goals of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade,/173

Having considered the recommendations of the Commission on Human Settlements, contained in its resolution 5/14 of 7 May 1982,/174 Economic and Social Council resolution 1982/46 B and the report of the Secretary-General,/172

1.Proclaims the year 1987 International Year of Shelter for the Homeless;

2.Decides that the objective of activities before and during the Year will be to improve the shelter and neighbourhoods of some of the poor and disadvantaged by the end of 1987, particularly in the developing countries, according to national priorities, and to demonstrate by the year 2000 ways and means of improving the shelter and neighbourhoods of the poor and disadvantaged;

3.Also decides that special attention will be given, during the Year, and the preparations therefore, to ways and means of:

  1. Securing renewed political commitment by the international community to the improvement of the shelter and neighbourhoods of the poor and disadvantaged, and to the provision of shelter for the homeless, particularly in the developing countries, as a matter of priority;

  2. Consolidating and sharing all new and existing knowledge and relevant experience gained since Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, held in 1976,/175 in order to provide a full range of tested and practical alternatives for improving the shelter and neighbourhoods of the poor and disadvantaged and for providing shelter for the homeless;

  3. Developing and demonstrating new approaches and methods to assist directly and to augment the present efforts of the homeless, poor and disadvantaged to secure their own shelter and in order to provide a basis for new national policies and strategies for improving the shelter and neighbourhoods of the poor and disadvantaged by the year 2000;

  4. Exchanging experience and providing support among countries to meet the objectives of the Year;/176

4.Urges that the main thrust of the specific programme of measures and activities to be undertaken prior to and during the Year should take place at the national and local levels, in accordance with national plans and priorities;

5.Endorses, in principle, the programme for the Year contained in the report of the Secretary-General/172 on the understanding that the criteria for financing and organizing international years set forth in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1980/67 will be complied with and on the understanding that the programme of measures and activities to be undertaken prior to and during the Year will be adjusted in accordance with the availability of voluntary contributions;

6.Designates the Commission on Human Settlements, in the framework of its regular sessions, to act as the United Nations intergovernmental body responsible for organizing the Year, and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) as the secretariat for the Year and as the lead agency for co-ordinating the relevant programmes and activities of other organizations and agencies concerned;

7.Recommends that the Commission on Human Settlements should review annually the objectives, strategies and criteria for the Year, as well as the guidelines referred to in paragraph 1 of Commission resolution 5/14;

8.Invites all Governments, organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations concerned, including interested national institutions, to collaborate in support of the work of the Commission on Human Settlements and to make special efforts through existing and new programmes during the period 1983-1987 to help achieve the objectives and goals of the Year;

9.Appeals to all Governments, especially those of developed countries and others in a position to do so, to extend generous financial and other appropriate support to the programme for the Year;

10.Also appeals to international financial institutions and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to extend generous financial and other appropriate support to the programme for the Year;

11.Recommends that provision should be made in the agenda for each session of the Commission on Human Settlements, up to the year 1987, for such donors to indicate the nature and extent of the support which they propose to give to the programme for the Year;

12.Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a report on the implementation of the approved programme of measures and activities to be undertaken prior to and during the Year;

13.Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its thirty-eighth session an item entitled "International Year of Shelter for the Homeless".

113th plenary meeting
20 December 1982




Notes

169/ HS/C/5/5

170/ See E/1982/81, annex II

171/ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-seventh Session, Supplement No 3 (A/37/3), chap. IV, sect E.

172/ A/37/527 and Add.1.

173/ See resolution 35/56, annex, paras 159 and 160.

174/ See Official Records of the General Assembly, Thirty-seventh Session, Supplement No 83 (A/37/83), annex I, sect A.

175/ See Report of Habitat: United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, Vancouver, 31 May-11 June, 1976 (United Nations publication, sales No. E.76.IV.7 and corrigendum).

176/ See A/37/527, sect. V.