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On February 28, 1996, the U.S. Department of State posted on its worldwide web site a compendium of suggestions for United Nations reform. Included in this initial posting was a reference to the abolishment of the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements (UNCHS). This reference was an error, and should be disregarded. Rather than "abolished" the word should have read "re-evaluated." The corrected version of the document uses the proper wording.
The U.S. government, as recently stated at the Habitat II Preparatory Committee meeting in New York City, believes that Habitat II as well as ongoing UN reform discussions in New York are of critical importance in determining future institutional arrangements and partnerships for addressing the concerns of human settlements. One task of Habitat II is to identify, through a Global Plan of Action, actions and commitments that should be undertaken, and to suggest the appropriate actors for undertaking those responsibilities.
Successful efforts to address the problems of human settlements will require partnerships of national and subnational governments, international organizations, the private sector, non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, and individual citizens. The role for any particular international organization should be determined by the nature of the task to be undertaken, the capacity of the organization, and its appropriate relationship within the overall partnership. The United States therefore does not call for the abolishment of UNCHS, but believes that its future should be considered in the context of actions necessary to implement the Global Plan of Action of the Habitat II conference (to be held in June of 1996).
We regret any confusion which may have resulted from the posting of language which appears at variance with the position of the United States as stated at the Habitat II Preparatory Committee meeting.
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