Newsroom
OSCE, UN and Kosovo institutions launch campaign to improve land governance and address informal settlements
PRISTINA 12 December 2006
PRISTINA, 12 December 2006 - A joint campaign on urban upgrading and informal settlements was launched today by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and Kosovo's Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning.
The initiative, which runs under the slogan, "For a better life in our municipality", will include posters that will be displayed in public buildings and more than 30,000 leaflets that will be distributed to promote the right to adequate housing and a more sustainable land governance and housing policy framework in Kosovo.
"Kosovo needs better cities. For this reason, the OSCE Mission has gathered neighbourhood representatives, non-governmental organizations and government officials to ensure a more sustainable urbanization and thus to promote the right to city," said Jens Modvig, the Mission's Deputy Head. "This refers to the notion that all inhabitants have an equal right to access to collective infrastructures, services and facilities, and to actively contribute to the development process."
The campaign is part of a series of initiatives to regularize informal settlements which are neighbourhoods built without construction and urban planning permissions and, in some cases, without proof of actual land ownership. Such uncontrolled development needs to be prevented as it has negative consequences on the cities' economy since municipalities need to pay for all the costs of providing infrastructure, as well as on the inhabitants living conditions.
To remedy these shortcomings, a list of recommendations, based on the conclusions of a workshop organized earlier this month, has been drawn up.
These recommendations outline that Kosovo's government should formulate a detailed action plan on the regularization of informal settlements and the prevention of future ones, as well as revise the relevant laws on land use, construction and spatial planning. Among other things, municipalities are advised to improve the conditions in the most disadvantaged areas including Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian neighbourhoods, and to develop social housing programmes.
"Integrating informal settlements is a matter of human solidarity. Municipal planners have to take into account the social dimension when dealing with informal settlements," said Ardian Gjini, PISG Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning.
The recommendations also address the inhabitants of those settlements themselves. They are encouraged to pay all necessary taxes and fees to enjoy public services such as roads, water, electricity and sewage, and to respect other persons' land and properties, as well as public property. Moreover, they are expected to take an active role in the improvement of their neighbourhoods.
"It is important to recognize the positive contribution of everybody, including inhabitants of informal areas, to the cities," said Krystyna Galezia, Acting Head of UN-HABITAT in Kosovo.
The Ministry in co-operation with OSCE Mission, through its human rights component and its presence in the municipalities, will monitor and support the implementation of the recommendations.
The initiative, which runs under the slogan, "For a better life in our municipality", will include posters that will be displayed in public buildings and more than 30,000 leaflets that will be distributed to promote the right to adequate housing and a more sustainable land governance and housing policy framework in Kosovo.
"Kosovo needs better cities. For this reason, the OSCE Mission has gathered neighbourhood representatives, non-governmental organizations and government officials to ensure a more sustainable urbanization and thus to promote the right to city," said Jens Modvig, the Mission's Deputy Head. "This refers to the notion that all inhabitants have an equal right to access to collective infrastructures, services and facilities, and to actively contribute to the development process."
The campaign is part of a series of initiatives to regularize informal settlements which are neighbourhoods built without construction and urban planning permissions and, in some cases, without proof of actual land ownership. Such uncontrolled development needs to be prevented as it has negative consequences on the cities' economy since municipalities need to pay for all the costs of providing infrastructure, as well as on the inhabitants living conditions.
To remedy these shortcomings, a list of recommendations, based on the conclusions of a workshop organized earlier this month, has been drawn up.
These recommendations outline that Kosovo's government should formulate a detailed action plan on the regularization of informal settlements and the prevention of future ones, as well as revise the relevant laws on land use, construction and spatial planning. Among other things, municipalities are advised to improve the conditions in the most disadvantaged areas including Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian neighbourhoods, and to develop social housing programmes.
"Integrating informal settlements is a matter of human solidarity. Municipal planners have to take into account the social dimension when dealing with informal settlements," said Ardian Gjini, PISG Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning.
The recommendations also address the inhabitants of those settlements themselves. They are encouraged to pay all necessary taxes and fees to enjoy public services such as roads, water, electricity and sewage, and to respect other persons' land and properties, as well as public property. Moreover, they are expected to take an active role in the improvement of their neighbourhoods.
"It is important to recognize the positive contribution of everybody, including inhabitants of informal areas, to the cities," said Krystyna Galezia, Acting Head of UN-HABITAT in Kosovo.
The Ministry in co-operation with OSCE Mission, through its human rights component and its presence in the municipalities, will monitor and support the implementation of the recommendations.