Centrality of the right to adequate housing for the development and implementation of the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III in October 2016 2015, para. 57
Paragraph
Paragraph text
In much of the world, urbanization has become synonymous with the emergence and expansion of informal settlements. Around one quarter of the world's urban population, or approximately 828 million people, live in informal settlements. What this means in real terms, in human terms, is the denial of almost every human right and a constant assault on human dignity. Life in an informal settlement at its worst can entail lack of clean, running water, sanitation services and electricity, open defecation, overcrowding, houses overrun by rodents, lack of garbage disposal, living in structurally unstable homes easily destroyed by extreme weather, living in the most undesirable and sometimes dangerous areas and living under constant threat of forced eviction. And if the actual housing conditions are not bad enough, informal settlements often lack nearby services such as health-care facilities and schools, and often offer no employment opportunities or places for children to play. Young people are left to languish and informal settlements can easily become breeding grounds for conflict and violence.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
Social & Cultural Rights
Person(s) affected
Children
Youth
Year
2015
Paragraph type
Other
Reference
SR Housing, Report to the UNGA (2015), A/70/270, para. 57.