As minister responsible for human settlements issues in the Norwegian Government, I want to underline the responsibility of governments to take active action to improve the living conditions of the underprivileged in society. In Istanbul we reaffirmed our commitments to the full and progressive realisa- tion of the right to housing and recognised an obliga- tion by Governments to enable people to obtain shelter and to protect and improve dwellings and neighbourhoods. Now – five years later – we still have a long way to go. Even in a rich country like Norway, we face important challenges that we are struggling to resolve. We have since the Habitat-conference been actively trying to modernise.
