On 9 June 2001, the UN General Assembly adopted
the Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millenium.
This declaration reaffirmed the fundamentals of
the Habitat Agenda and renewed the commitments made during the Habitat II
conference in Istanbul. It also noted with great concern that, despite
governments’ continued efforts to fulfil their commitments in regards to the
Habitat Agenda, the general situation of human settlements was still worsening
in many countries.
Widespread poverty still remained the core
obstacle to sustainable development in numerous places. In addition to working
towards the goals set by the Habitat Agenda, it was decided that UN-Habitat
would concentrate on more efficient poverty eradication strategies.
The declaration also reiterated the aim of the
“Cities without Slums” initiative to make a significant improvement in the
lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
