A/HRC/28/62 disaster risk reduction and response policies; and regulating the use of public space. Even if programmes are designed and fully or partially funded by central governments, it is often local authorities that decide where housing will be built or upgraded, and determine who will be allocated housing units or receive social benefits or housing subsidy based on prescribed criteria. 14. In unitary States, central governments generally hold primary responsibility for planning, programming, regulation and funding of housing. Mortgage programmes, subsidies, cash transfer programmes and other measures to address lack of housing among vulnerable groups are managed nationally. Those programmes, however, rely on local implementation, allowing varying degrees of autonomy to regions and municipalities/districts or cities. 15. In federal systems, on the other hand, local or other subnational governments often have primary and autonomous responsibility for virtually all aspects of programmes and policies related to the implementation of the right to housing. The role of the national level governments in those situations may be largely one of leadership and coordination.11 Germany, for example, has transferred all responsibility for housing to the Länder. The national level Government convenes an annual meeting of Länder which brings together key players and facilitates national coordination. 16. The allocation of responsibilities to subnational and local governments is rarely static. Various levels of government, development agencies, financial institutions, private actors, community-based organizations and other relevant stakeholders continually redefine the relationships among themselves in order to respond to new challenges or to improve the effectiveness of programmes and policies. While the reallocation of responsibilities may move in either direction — from the centre to the local level or from the local to the central Government — the general trend since the early 1990s has been one of decentralization. 17. Decentralization — the transfer of authority and responsibility for public functions from the central Government to intermediate and local governments — has been advocated as a means to enhance participatory democracy and transparency. It is generally promoted on the basis of the principle of “subsidiarity”, which asserts that public responsibilities should be exercised by those elected authorities who are closest to the people.12 Decentralization has often been linked to privatization and market deregulation, but such phenomena need not be associated with decentralization and in fact, may run counter to the principle of democratization that is advanced as its primary benefit. 18. Three types of decentralization have generally been distinguished: a) political decentralization, which transfers power or authority away from the central Government; b) fiscal decentralization, which shifts financial resources to more local governments; and c) administrative decentralization, which moves the administration of programmes and policies to more local authorities. It is generally agreed that all three forms of decentralization need to occur together for successful outcomes, generally moving from transfer of political authority, through transfer of resources to transfer of administration. 13 19. Decentralization has been strongly promoted in the area of housing. The Habitat Agenda, adopted at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat 11 See the questionnaire response from Germany (see note 2 above). 12 UN-Habitat, International guidelines on decentralisation and access to basic services for all (2009). Available from http://unhabitat.org/publications-listing/international-guidelines-on-decentralizationand-access-to-basic-services-for-all/. International Council on Human Rights Policy, Local Rule: Decentralisation and Human Rights (Versoix, Switzerland, 2002). 13 6