The Communitas Coalition is fully engaged in the preparations of the Third UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development- Habitat III - that will take place in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016. Our contributions towards Habitat III are structured around three key objectives: (i) Connecting the Post 2015 development agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals and the Habitat III process by technically unpacking proposed targets into indicators relevant to the subnational and local levels and toolkits for implementation; (ii) Facilitating a Stakeholder Dialogue on Urban Rural Linkages; and (iii) Supporting the World Urban Campaign on stakeholder engagement towards Habitat III.
The General Assembly of Partners (GAP) is a special initiative proposed by the World Urban Campaign (WUC) to serve as a broad-based deliberative platform for non-governmental partners in order to develop a consensus for a joint outcome document and other related matters for Habitat III. The first assembly meeting on the eve of the Second Preparatory Committee of Habitat III in Nairobi, Kenya, April 2015, convened interested partners to discuss its constitution and roadmap, and the evolution of the main WUC manifesto The City We Need. Communitas participated in the GAP, as well as the WUC Steering Committee that took place beforehand. Communitas will be engaging in the GAP as a member of the Partner Constituent Group of Professionals, with the aim of connecting the work of urban planners with the perspective of subnational and local authorities and other urban practitioners. Within this group, Communitas will be able to participate fully in the work of the GAP and the initiatives of the WUC, namely the Urban Thinkers Campuses and other sessions, and hence remain well positioned to maintain a leading role in the multi-stakeholder advocacy and technical engagement in Habitat III preparations.
Decided by General Assembly resolution 67/216, by which the Assembly agreed that the second session of the Preparatory Committee would take place in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2015, and by resolution 69/226, by which the Assembly endorsed the recommendation of the Preparatory Committee at its first session to hold the second session from 14 to 16 April 2016, the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) was held on 14-16 April 2015, at the United Nations Office at Nairobi.
The Governing Council (GC) is an intergovernmental decision–making body for UN-Habitat. The GC meets biennially and reports to the UN General Assembly through the Economic and Social Council, particularly on programmatic issues. The 25th session of the Governing Council of UN-Habitat took place from 17-23 April 2015, at the United Nations Offices in Nairobi, Kenya.
During the two weeks, the Communitas Secretariat moderated and participated in several side events. The team also engaged directly with Member States and regional negotiation groups around the lengthy negotiations that resulted in the outcome resolution that “ invites the UN General Assembly to discuss the most appropriate way, including the possibility of convening an extraordinary session of the Preparatory Committee, to advance negotiations on the outstanding issues in the preparations for Habitat III, including the draft provisional rules of procedure, arrangements for the accreditation and participation of major groups and other relevant stakeholders in the preparatory process and in Habitat III, as well as other issues that might arise in the interim period, and the proposals of the Secretary-General of the Conference on improved participation of local authorities and other stakeholders in the preparatory process and the Conference itself, building on the positive experience enabled by the rules of procedure and inclusive modalities of (Habitat II), in order for the measures put in place to be effective at the third session of the Preparatory Committee.”
Click here to read the report of our activities in Nairobi!
On 13th April in the UN Offices in Nairobi, Kenya, on the occasion of the second preparatory committee towards Habitat III, co-organized with UN-Habitat.
On the occasion of the first preparatory committee, the Communitas Coalition and the World Urban Campaign hosted an official side event, "From MDGs to SDGs: Towards a New Paradigm at Habitat III." The event, held 18th September 2014 at UN Headquarters, featured a thorough stocktaking of sustainable cities & human settlements across the entire Post-2015 development agenda.
On the occasion of the first preparatory committee, Communitas in its capacity in the Habitat III Civil Society Working Group helped to facilitate an Orientation Session for Major Groups and stakeholders. The Working Group featured a diverse range of constituents, including: Communitas - Community Access - Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization Ford Foundation - Global Family - Habitat for Humanity - Habitat International Coalition - Huairou Commission - International Council of Women - International Real Estate Federation - Municipal Art Society of New York - New Jersey Institute of Technology The New School University - Penn Institute for Urban Research, University of Pennsylvania - The Sherwood Institute - Urban Design Lab, Earth Institute at Columbia University - United Cities & Local Governments - United Methodist Women University of Chicago - The Wilson Center - World Urban Campaign
Held in the City Changer Room at the 7th World Urban Forum in Medellín, Colombia, in April 2014, the Communitas Coalition held its consultation on first draft urban targets with a Networking Event, "Unpacking Targets for the Urban SDG." The event aimed to create a bridge between the World Urban Forum and the SDGs Open Working Group (OWG) in New York, effectively connecting leading urban innovators to the OWG's final formulation of Sustainable Development Goals. In the short-term, the Networking Event helped urban advocates to better understand the SDGs process and the role of "sustainable Cities and Human Settlements" therein. In the medium-term, it helped city changers to shape and anticipate SDG targets in the following months. In the long-term, it served to bolster local and subnational efforts to implement an Urban SDG on the ground. This important event helped pave the way for the Communitas second draft targets towards a standalone SDG on Cities and Human Settlements.
Communitas is the Coalition for Sustainable Cities & Regions in the New UN Development Agenda. Through its unique blend of technical expertise from the perspective of subnational and local practitioners, Communitas continues to embed the real needs for urban and territorial sustainability into multilateral processes while empowering multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Communitas' work is made possible by the generous support of:
