International year of shelter for the homeless: activities and achievements

Abstract

The United Nations General Assembly, by proclaiming 1987 as the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (IYSH), launched a new major initiative to stimulate effective action at the national and international levels to improve the shelter conditions of the homeless, the poor and the disadvantaged throughout the world. Responsibility for organizing and coordinating the activities for the Year was entrusted to the Commission on Human Settlements at the intergovernmental level, and the the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, UNCHS (Habitat), at the secretariat level. The launching of the Year coincided with severe economic constraints in the developing countries which dampened hopes for achieving the goals and objectives of IYSH. Yet during the period from 1983 to the end of 1987 many governments made new commitments to ameliorate the inadequate shelter conditions of the poor and took serious steps towards adopting new or revised strategies and policies to that end. The organizations in the United Nations system, multilateral financial institutions, bilateral aid agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) responded positively to the challenges posed by the IYSH programme and contributed in many ways to the achievement of its objectives.