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Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- Non-discrimination and equality also imply that States have the obligation to recognize and care for the differences and specific needs of groups that suffer particular housing challenges or that have been historically discriminated against in terms of access to housing and essential services by the State or private actors. Therefore, the obligation to ensure non-discrimination requires positive measures of protection to be applied to particular groups, even in times of emergency or financial constraint (see E/C.12/GC/20, paras. 9, 12 and 13).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- The lack of appropriate legislation criminalizing such practices as trafficking, forced labour and degrading treatment, as well as the obstacles sometimes placed on non-citizens to denounce such abuses, are a grave omission of the State's responsibility to protect those under their jurisdiction. These practices also lead to violations of the right of the affected persons to adequate housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- States have an immediate obligation to ensure non-discrimination in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to adequate housing, regardless of their level of development, in order to reduce existing inequalities (see E/1991/23, annex III, para. 1). The obligation of non-discrimination requires the equitable allocation of resources and services to ensure the realization of the right to adequate housing to all, and is not subject to progressive realization. It entails prioritizing the needs of marginalized and disadvantaged groups; eliminating laws, policies and practices that disproportionately affect the right to adequate housing of certain groups; incorporating equality and non-discrimination principles in all legislation and policies; and adopting special measures to counter embedded discrimination and inequalities against particular groups. States have no justification for not protecting vulnerable groups from housing-related discrimination, as the obligation to prohibit discrimination is binding on all States even in times of severe resource constraints (see E/1991/23, para. 12, and E/C.12/GC/20, para. 13).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- In line with articles 2 and 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to adequate housing should be exercised without discrimination of any kind based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Migration and the right to adequate housing 2010, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Lack of security of tenure, xenophobic sentiments and segregating urban policies facilitate the forced eviction of these groups from the areas in which they reside. Citing their irregular status and lack of tenure, official authorities proceed to evict them without reasonable prior notification or consultation and fail to provide them with alternative accommodation or compensation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The right to adequate housing is most clearly recognized by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (article 11). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights underlined the importance of interpreting the right in broad terms, identifying seven aspects of the right that States must progressively realize: security of tenure; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy. All the aspects and safeguards pertaining to eviction and resettlement derived from the right are relevant to disaster response, as are the human rights principles of participation and non-discrimination and equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- A number of successful rehabilitation and reconstruction initiatives in Honduras, where undisputed land was available at a reasonable distance from livelihood opportunities and facilities, illustrated how settlement development could be an appropriate means to support disaster-affected populations and introduce better practices in areas such as site planning, house design, use and production of building materials, water supply and sanitation and environmental protection. Cases such as El Progreso and Choluteca also included direct involvement by local authorities working in collaborating with other support institutions as well as members of the beneficiary community, all with the help of unprecedented levels of support from donors and relief organizations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Given the urgent, crisis nature of post-conflict and post-disaster situations, the approach of collecting and analysing detailed information, and of direct participation by the people affected, may seem difficult to achieve. This approach is likely to contradict powerful humanitarian and political pressures that emphasize speedy resettlement, rebuilding and re-housing. In post-conflict and post-disaster situations, "quick wins" easily become equated with rapid physical delivery, often with scant consideration, or even awareness, of possible counterproductive longer-term consequences. Getting "policy choices" right in the field of land and housing requires, in normal circumstances, the undertaking of complex analytical processes. In the midst of crises, the need for speedy decisions and practical livelihood support-oriented action may run counter to the need for caution and for intensive consultation with those directly affected.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- From a human rights perspective, investment in upgrading settlements characterized by grossly inadequate living conditions as part of disaster response is not only legitimate but also indispensable, bearing in mind the obligation of non discrimination and attention to the most vulnerable. Moreover, for principled and pragmatic reasons, in a number of contexts it would be important to address the situation from a longer-term perspective: in the context of Haiti, this means a focus on improving conditions in settlements not damaged by the disaster (provided they are not in disaster-prone areas) but with the same urbanistic and vulnerability characteristics as those affected by it.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- Given the lessons of the past two decades, and the institutional reforms already initiated, humanitarian agencies, and one would assume bilateral donors, are now much more aware of the risk of doing unintended long-term harm through well-meaning early action which ends up increasing the vulnerability of the poor. In the area of the right to adequate housing and particularly on the issues of security of tenure, location, cultural adequacy and availability of services, facilities and infrastructure, at least, the time has come for "Do no harm" guidelines to move to a next step where specific tools for timely analysis and proactive interventions ("Do the right thing") are provided at the field level.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- However, existing guidance with respect to disaster situations has given little attention to the right to adequate housing. When reference to the right is made it is limited, with the right narrowed down to the need to provide shelter, housing or to aspects related to protection. The few attempts to discuss the right in a more comprehensive manner have remained at the level of an individual organization's guidance and not in the form of authoritative policies of broad application. Equally, United Nations human rights mechanisms have, with notable exceptions, not addressed the specificities of disaster situations and their impacts on the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing or other human rights, remaining at the level of generalities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- This mindset is evident among many organizations operating in Haiti. As evident in one assessment: The condition of land markets is chaotic and essentially lawless. Land ownership records are non-existent or ambiguous. Lack of clear title to a plot of land or written approval from a verified owner makes it difficult to supply a potential beneficiary with a new house or to support re-occupancy of prior homes. Clearly, this has been one of the reasons for the delay in reconstruction and return in Haiti. Similarly, in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami, the promulgation of contradictory policies and restrictions on land use at various levels of government and the contention surrounding these were said to have created obstacles to international recovery work and severely undermined efforts to pursue disaster risk management.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Security of tenure is a fundamentally important dimension of the right to adequate housing. It is included in the list of factors comprising adequacy of housing and offers important guidelines to institutions responding to post-conflict and post-disaster situations. According to general comment No. 4 "Tenure takes a variety of forms, including rental (public and private) accommodation, cooperative housing, lease, owner-occupation, emergency housing and informal settlements, including occupation of land or property. Notwithstanding the type of tenure, all persons should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. States parties should consequently take immediate measures aimed at conferring legal security of tenure upon those persons and households currently lacking such protection, in genuine consultation with affected persons and groups ".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- In addition to facing serious humanitarian problems and challenges, victims of disasters and conflicts are often exposed to grave human rights violations, invariably including the right to adequate housing. Humanitarian crises are human rights crises. Notwithstanding, given the concentration of international and national attention, resources and effort they often receive, such crises can also present important human rights opportunities. The World Bank has noted that "…while conflicts unleash horror and suffering, they also destabilize old ways of doing things and create new openings for poor people to get ahead. However, there is a narrow window of opportunity in the aftermath of conflict before old barriers begin to surface."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- The well-known slogan, "Build Back Better", seems to, and certainly should, aspire to address the broader living conditions of affected communities. The special envoy of the Secretary-General to the Indian Ocean tsunami noted that the financial resources, international focus and openness to political and policy reform that often characterized a post-crisis period should allow for "build back better" and break out of inequitable development patterns in a sustained way. Similar calls were made to consider the Pakistan floods as "an opportunity to build back better lives and to step up to the task of bringing dignity to the millions who live on the margins of society". However, implementing this inspiring idea is often reduced to its most technical meaning, for instance building houses using flood- and seismic-resistant standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- While mechanisms to assess, respect and strengthen tenure security post-disaster will differ depending on the context, they must in any event be guided by human rights principles, such as participation of affected communities and gender equality.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Beyond the more obvious protection aspects discussed above, it is important to address reconstruction from a broader view of adequate housing - including seeing housing as a social asset - and with the aim to progressively realize the right. Ensuring recovery and durable solutions, seen in this light, means rebuilding communities and neighbourhoods and ensuring an adequate standard of living, of which housing unit construction is only one part, sometimes not the most important or urgent. Disasters do not take place in a vacuum: it is important to assess and address the wider housing context in which disasters take place.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The situation in Haiti also serves as an example of the challenges facing the basic rationale for reconstruction and property restitution: in contexts characterized by massive poverty and grossly inadequate living and housing conditions, the question remains as to whether the final goal of reconstruction should be to provide high-quality houses for those who lost their dwellings in the disaster. The Special Rapporteur believes that interventions must instead aim to progressively realize the right to adequate housing for all. In Haiti, reconstruction and recovery have less to do with the construction of new houses for individuals directly affected by the disaster than with the improvement of the overall living and housing conditions in the unplanned and unserviced settlements affected by the disaster. The approach should thus focus on settlements and communities, not individual constructions, and the aim to create places where people can have an adequate standard of living.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- This more expansive view of restitution is grounded in the State obligations associated with the right to adequate housing to respect and ensure tenure security for all, irrespective of the form of tenure. The approach recognizes all those who are not individual owners of formally registered property as rights-holders. While post-disaster and post-conflict needs will vary with the context, the typology of human rights duties remains the same. Property restitution should be viewed and implemented in this light.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Against this backdrop it is important to differentiate between two tasks. In the long term, there might be a need to formally record and strengthen ownership or tenure through legal reforms and other mechanisms such as land titling, thereby definitively resolving the ambiguous and uncertain situation in which many find themselves. In the short term, however, these means may not be the most appropriate to address reconstruction and recovery needs and to do so without reinforcing inequalities. Experience also suggests the enormous challenge of attempting to deal with the full spectrum of ownership/tenure and land reform issues right after disaster or conflict. The Government of Pakistan noted that an appreciation of the social, political, technical and legal complexities of land tenure issues and the fact that those were not confined to the disaster-affected areas was essential. In the short term, it remains nonetheless essential and opportune to assess pre-disaster tenure rights, through swift methods, in order to move effectively towards reconstruction and recovery in a way that ensures a minimum of tenure security to everyone and addresses some of the worse forms of inequality and insecurity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The above examples show how discrimination, as much as vulnerability, is a key factor bearing upon disaster impact and response. Discrimination based on tenure status highlights a broader problem, namely the reluctance or inability of Governments, international and national organizations alike to adequately recognize and protect all forms of tenure equally.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- The stakes in determining the ultimate success in ensuring equitable and efficient reconstruction and recovery are highest in the period immediately following the initial crisis "event", which normally coincides with the start of humanitarian assistance. Key determinants for ultimate success or failure in long-term reconstruction and development are normally drawn during that early period, either through informed and proactive policy choices, or simply by default. This applies to many areas of recovery; perhaps nowhere more than in the area of human settlement, the right to adequate housing and land tenure. It is a matter of concern that there is a general lack of awareness of the consequences of overlooking key issues related to human rights and land tenure systems during the first critical months of a response. Steps are needed to ensure that early opportunities are recognized and utilized, in a way that protects and promotes instead of undermines the right to adequate housing for everyone affected by conflicts and disasters. In a context of stretched resources and huge pressure to deliver concrete results, costly policy mistakes can be made which, particularly in the area of the right to adequate housing and land tenure, can have serious long-term consequences. However not taking crucial necessary steps can also have disastrous consequences.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Another significant post-conflict case is Cambodia, a country still recovering from the destructiveness of the Khmer Rouge era. Among other things, the Khmer Rouge systematically destroyed the prior land tenure system, forcibly evicted millions of people from their homes (including emptying the city of Phnom Penh), and destroyed land ownership records. Despite the passage of new land laws, weaknesses in the rule of law and lack of institutional capacity have allowed a culture of corruption and have facilitated land-grabbing, often by elites at the expense of the poor. A recent claim to the World Bank Inspection Panel, brought on behalf of people threatened with eviction from their homes near Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh, illustrates some of these problems. The claimants challenged the design and implementation of the Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP), which was designed to support the Land Law of 2001. The project, funded primarily by the World Bank, "aimed at developing a land policy and regulatory framework, building capacity of the relevant Government agencies, developing a land registration system and a titling program, strengthening mechanisms for land disputes and developing State land management."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 44
- Paragraph text
- In the examples discussed above, post-disaster reconstruction has had negative impacts on the poorest. In the worst cases, disasters provided a clean slate and excuse for powerful actors to destroy housing or grab land, which would not have been possible in the pre-disaster context, where legal procedures would have had to be followed and affected households consulted and given access to remedies. At best, States did not adequately monitor the operation and regulation of the post-disaster housing and reconstruction markets, nor did they take measures to ensure that people retained access to affordable housing and were not in effect forced to leave their places of origin. While nothing prevents States from asking for the support of private companies in reconstruction efforts - and indeed private sector contributions can be essential to recovery - Governments must be mindful of their role to monitor private sector delivery and ensure that reconstruction does not benefit only a privileged few to the detriment of others.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- In cases where public security and safety concerns are legitimate and compelling, decisions over land use or housing regulations must nonetheless be subject to human rights standards - in particular the strict procedural requirements relating to the conduct of evictions, the right to redress and remedy and an opportunity for judicial review, and the economic, social and cultural rights of affected communities. Evictions should not result in individuals being rendered homeless. Where those affected are unable to provide for themselves, the State must take measures to ensure that alternative housing, resettlement or access to productive land is available.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes the centrality of tenure security in the right to adequate housing. Tenure security does not equate to a right to private ownership, nor is it limited to the conferral of formal legal titles. There is a multiplicity of legitimate tenure arrangements besides private ownership, such as public or private rental accommodation, cooperative housing, lease, occupation/rent of land or property in informal settlements, and other user or occupancy rights through customary or traditional arrangements all with varying degrees of formality. It follows that only a minority of victims of natural disasters may in effect have individual, formally registered, ownership rights to their housing or land.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The right to housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living is internationally recognized. "[T]he right to housing should not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which equates it with, for example, the shelter provided by merely having a roof over one's head or views shelter exclusively as a commodity. Rather it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity". In line with this interpretation, "adequacy" is measured against a list of key factors including: legal security of tenure; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy. Housing is therefore not simply a shelter commodity. It is much more than a physical structure for protection from the elements, and its value extends beyond what it will cost to buy, sell or rebuild. Housing has inherent social value.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- The practical implications of this expansive view of restitution as part of the right to remedy should be further examined with a view to articulating guidance on various scenarios. For the purpose of the present report, however, and bearing in mind the qualified assessment of the Pinheiro Principles with respect to disaster situations (see section II above), property restitution will more often than not be a condition for return and other durable solutions, not a legal remedy. Understanding the equal legitimacy of all forms of tenure is thus not only relevant to restitution but even more so to efforts to ensure durable solutions and recovery. In such cases, States, with international organizations, must assess the tenure rights of all people affected by disasters and take measures to protect and ensure secure tenure post-disaster, whether at a former place of residence or elsewhere, should people be unable or unwilling to return. Furthermore, the principle of non-discrimination and equality requires States and international organizations to prioritize assistance to those with most insecure tenure and strengthen tenure security for those with weak, ambiguous or vulnerable tenure, a responsibility often overlooked in relief and recovery efforts.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- According to the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG): "Post-disaster operations need to deal early and forcefully with land ownership issues. Where possible land titles should be regularized or a functional proxy for land title should be provided [...] Where such measures are not possible, alternative means need to be found to ensure that land is not seized outright or that fraudulent claims are not honoured. The local government must help prevent profiteering on land that is urgently needed for the reconstruction process." This assessment of urgency and need for forceful action is absolutely correct. However the emphasis on title regularization, with other forms of tenure covered by "functional proxy", is problematic. Care should be taken that this does not result in programmes of rushed or enforced commodification of land and housing; or a process of favouring formal title resulting in the weakening or pushing aside of legitimate alternative forms of tenure security, as has happened in the case of Cambodia, discussed later. Many other equally legitimate forms of tenure require recognition, protection and support in their own right.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- The existing gaps are complex and difficult to overcome as they are deeply rooted in culture, discriminatory social attitudes and practices, as well as weak or gender-blind systems which delay progress in the realization of the right, and fail to effectively make visible the existing barriers. Those challenges require more than ordinary efforts to enforce laws and put policies into practice; additional actions directed to provoke those changes in cultural patterns are required, and this can be obtained particularly through the combination of awareness-raising and public education, as well as through legal enforcement and legal aid, and provision of appropriate resources through the adoption of specific budgetary measures.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph