A/72/128 I. Human rights-based approach to disability and the right to adequate housing1 1. For persons with disabilities, choosing where and with whom to live, being part of a community and having access to adequate and accessible housing are central to a life of dignity, autonomy, participation, inclusion, equality and respect for diversity. The indivisibility and interdependence of the right to adequate housing with other human rights are at the heart of the lived experience of pe rsons with disabilities. Access to safe and secure housing, to water and sanitation in the home and to community life with access to services and forms of support is often the difference between life and death, security and abuse, and belonging and isolati on. Yet the right to adequate housing is frequently absent from initiatives promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities. It is imperative that the right to adequate housing be accorded the same centrality in the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities as housing occupies in their lives. 2. In the Special Rapporteur ’s view, the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities must be understood as a dialogue between the jurisprudence a nd commentary that has evolved over many years and is guaranteed under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the framework for the human rights of persons with disabilities set forth in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The right to housing enshrined in article 11 of the International Covenant has been understood to encompass much more than physical shelter. It is recognized as the right to live in security, peace and dignity. It is fundamentally connected to the rights to life and to no n-discrimination and the freedom to choose where to live, as well as to the rights to freedom of expression and association and to participate in public decision-making. It includes security of tenure, the availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure, affordability, habitability, accessibility, appropriate location and cultural adequacy. 2 Those central components of the right to housing have special meaning for persons with disabilities and give rise to particular obligations of States and other actors. 3. At the same time, the right to adequate housing must incorporate the transformative understanding of the human rights of persons with disabilities that is encapsulated in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The “disability human rights paradigm” represents a “dramatic change in rights discourse”. 3 It gives new meaning to the concepts of the interdependence and the indivisibility of rights, in particular in relation to the right to live in dignity in a home within a community. It rejects charitable and medical approaches to disability, recognizing that discrimination, inequality and disadvantage are socially constructed responses to diversity and difference. It offers a human rights -based alternative, placing persons with disabilities at the centre of their own lives, as subjects of rights. It recognizes that discrimination often takes the form of programmes and policies designed to meet the needs of dominant groups while __________________ 1 2 3 4/23 The Special Rapporteur is grateful for all the contributions received for the present report, in particular from the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Human Rights and Disability Adviser of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the participants in an expert consultation, held in Geneva on 23 June 2017. She also thanks Governments, civil society, disability organizations and individuals for their submissions, which are available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/ Therighttohousingofpersonswithdisabilities.aspx. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general com ment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing, para. 8. Michael Ashley Stein, “Disability human rights”, California Law Review, vol. 95, No. 1 (February 2007), p. 74. 17-11724