Plan International - Girls' Rights Platform - Girls' rights are human rights: Positioning girls at the heart of the international agenda

A/HRC/28/62 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 22 December 2014 Original: English Human Rights Council Twenty-eighth session Agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, Leilani Farha Summary The present report is submitted by the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to nondiscrimination in this context, Leilani Farha, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolutions 15/8 and 25/17. The report focuses on the roles of local and other subnational levels of government and considers how they can be fully engaged in the realization of the right to adequate housing. In the context of a trend toward decentralization of responsibilities, the report finds that while decentralization may have significant advantages, it must always be guided by human rights. Local and subnational governments should be cognizant of and accountable to the human rights obligations that go along with their growing responsibilities and States must ensure that they have the capacity and resources needed to fulfil those obligations. While international human rights obligations extend to all levels of government, international human rights mechanisms tend to focus more on the role of national level governments. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes the importance of international human rights mechanisms engaging constructively with the responsibilities of local governments and finds that communications procedures and country missions provide positive opportunities in that regard. The report finds that housing rights claims at the domestic level often address the role of local and other subnational governments and have generated contextualized understandings of the right to adequate housing. Drawing inspiration from emerging human rights initiatives bringing together cities and subnational governments, civil society, community-based organizations and human rights institutions, the report underscores the benefit of interactive relationships with local struggles for the realization of the right to adequate housing. GE.14-24816 (E) 