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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. 38
- Paragraph text
- Urbanization has created new patterns of discrimination and inequality based on spatial and socioeconomic marginalization. Exclusionary patterns of governance and citizenship have given disproportionate power and influence to property owners and investors while depriving those without land or property of a meaningful say in decisions that will have significant impact on their lives and on their ability to obtain housing. Refugees, migrants, persons with disabilities, children and youth, indigenous peoples, women and minorities are most likely to find themselves homeless or relegated to the most marginal and unsafe places in cities, treated as non-citizens or outsiders.
- 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
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
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. 51
- Paragraph text
- Urban environments have served as a barrier to the inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities face widespread lack of accessibility to built environments, including housing, public buildings and spaces, and to basic urban services such as sanitation and water, health, education and transportation. Cultural attitudes including negative stereotyping and stigma also contribute to the exclusion and marginalization of persons with disabilities in urban environments. In its articles 8 and 9, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities emphasizes the importance of mainstreaming disability issues in all strategies of sustainable development and obliges States to ensure that housing is adequate, accessible and barrier free for person with disabilities.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
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. 76f
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur recommends that the urban rights agenda should:] Focus on eliminating social exclusion, inequality and discrimination as human rights violations and prevent the criminalization and stigmatization of people on the basis of their housing status. Particular housing experiences and needs of all migrants, displaced persons, persons with disabilities and women, children and youth in situations of vulnerability should be addressed;
- 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
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- In addition to the more obvious requirements, within the framework of human rights, to ensure that housing developers exercise due diligence, comply with safety standards and adopt policies of non-discrimination, for example, States may also be required to ensure that investment in housing complies with a rights-based housing strategy and with the target of ensuring adequate housing for all by 2030. Private actors may be required to take particular steps to ensure access to credit for disadvantaged households and to address the needs of residents of informal settlements, women, migrants and people with disabilities. The obligation of States to facilitate the realization of the right to housing by establishing a coherent strategy at both the national and international levels with clearly allocated roles and responsibilities is central to the commitments made by States in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the New Urban Agenda.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Civil society organizations have brought new and diverse housing issues before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and also before the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. By doing so, they have encouraged various treaty monitoring bodies to consider State obligations with respect to the right to housing in diverse circumstances and to clarify the links between the right to housing and other human rights. These dynamic interactions between national experiences and international human rights mechanisms benefit and strengthen both.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about the discrimination and inequality in housing experienced by various individuals and groups, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable to rights violations. Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, particular groups of women (such as women with children and older women), migrants, ethnic and racial minorities, and many other marginalized groups continue to be disproportionately affected by homelessness and inadequate 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)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- Work that has been done on equality and non-discrimination in relation to other groups, such as persons with disabilities and migrants, has also advanced understanding of the intersection of equality and non-discrimination with economic, social and cultural rights, including 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)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- Substantive equality obligations in terms of housing are often linked to the obligation to progressively realize the right to adequate housing. Overcoming systemic patterns of discrimination and inequality with regard to people with disabilities, displaced persons, women with children and other groups relies on the implementation and development of programmes and strategies over time. Reasonable accommodation, as is the case with progressive realization, is subject to limitations linked to available resources. The Special Rapporteur intends to consider how these principles of non-discrimination and equality apply to the housing experiences of particular vulnerable 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The evolving nature and diversification of the State and the multiplicity of actors who may be involved in fulfilling its obligations under international human rights law make implementation all the more complicated. In many countries, housing programmes and other policies necessary to the implementation of the right to adequate housing, such as income support, community support for persons with disabilities, judicial oversight of security of tenure, zoning or water and sewage services may fall under the authority of subnational or municipal governments.
- 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
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur intends to place some focus on the housing rights of persons with disabilities and migrant workers (and their families). To that end, she will solicit information on the housing experiences and conditions of persons with disabilities and of migrant workers with a view to identifying barriers to adequate housing and developing recommendations for action at the national level on the part of States and other relevant stakeholders.
- 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
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In relation to persons with disabilities, the Special Rapporteur wishes to find avenues for collaborative work with the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the soon-to-be-appointed Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, to advance the understanding of the scope and nature of the right to adequate housing and the right to independent living in the light of the specific situations faced by persons with physical and mental disabilities.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- 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 persons 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 isolation. 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.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- In the Special Rapporteur’s view, the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities must be understood as a dialogue between the jurisprudence and 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 non-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. 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.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- 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”. 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 ignoring the needs of persons with disabilities. It affirms that dignity, autonomy, independence and participation rely on not only freedom from institutionalization and State control but also positive measures by Governments to support the right to live in the community as one chooses.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- In the light of the extreme conditions of inadequate housing, institutionalization and homelessness experienced by persons with disabilities around the world and the commitment made by States in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure access to adequate and affordable housing by 2030, the Special Rapporteur considers the incorporation of the disability human rights paradigm into the right to adequate housing to be a matter of the highest priority for States and the international community.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- The lack of consistent implementation of accepted methods of surveying persons with disabilities has led to significant variance in data, making comparisons across countries or regions difficult. General surveys and censuses conducted by household often overlook individuals who are homeless or living in unrecognized informal settlements, institutions or group care facilities. When information has been collected on persons with disabilities, narrow definitions have usually been applied and housing concerns ignored.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- Surveys of the existing housing conditions of persons with disabilities reveal significant inequality in the enjoyment of the right to housing. In such a survey conducted by the Republic of Korea in 2015, it was found that persons with disabilities were far more likely than others to have difficulty paying rent and other housing expenses, less likely to have “suitable” housing and more likely to have housing that did not meet the minimum standards of habitability.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Institutionalization is a clear example of how violations of the right to housing occur when disability is misconstrued as a medical condition. Removing persons with disabilities from the general population and subjecting them to isolation and extreme social control is rationalized on the basis that they are being provided with “treatment” or “care”. Institutionalization often combines the worst living conditions with severe deprivation of liberty and cruel and inhuman treatment, including physical and sexual abuse. Conditions are invariably overcrowded, with limited or no access to sanitation and hygiene facilities, as has been documented in countries including Guatemala, Indonesia and Mexico. Residents in institutions and institution-like settings are often precluded from having outside social or family relations and deprived of choices about activities, social relationships, sexuality and identity. Persons with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities are at highest risk of being institutionalized forcefully and, outside formal institutions, are often subjected to extreme levels of institution-like control in privately operated rooming houses or “halfway” houses.
- 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
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Forced institutionalization often occurs as an indirect result of other violations of the right to adequate housing. When States fail to provide necessary forms of support for living in the community, or when persons with disabilities or their families simply have no means to afford housing, persons with disabilities may be forced to live in institutions because of a lack of housing options. Legislative protection of legal capacity and supportive decision-making can be rendered ineffective in the context of housing decisions when there is no support or affordable housing available for living in the community.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 21
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur has proposed a new rights-based framework under which homelessness is understood as a deprivation of housing (both physical and social) but also as a socially constructed group identity that is linked to stigmatization and discrimination, much of which is rooted in perceptions about persons with disabilities. As a result, in most places, that population suffers severe isolation and neglect. Homelessness and related violations of the right to life often result from deinstitutionalization without adequate community support or affordable housing in the community.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 23
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Persons with disabilities living in poverty in cities commonly live in informal settlements or homeless encampments. The Special Rapporteur has been shocked by the deplorable conditions endured by persons with disabilities in those contexts. Many, including young children and older persons, are left to languish in isolation, sometimes in dark rooms without electricity, hidden from view at the back of the home, without access to community centres, social opportunities or health clinics.
- 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
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Older persons
- Persons with disabilities
- Youth
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 24
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Water, sanitation and hygiene facilities are often inaccessible and located some distance from the home. Those with mobility impairments may be dependent on assistance or forced to drag themselves along the ground to reach the facilities. In many situations, persons with disabilities are simply unable to gain access to toilets, must defecate in their homes and are often unable to remove waste. Streets or alleys in informal settlements are often sand, gravel or mud, sometimes built into steep cliffs and hill-sides, and are not accessible to persons in wheelchairs or with reduced mobility.
- 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
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 25
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The experiences of persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities living in informal settlements and homeless encampments vary. In some cases, communities develop impressive informal networks to provide the necessary support and ensure inclusion in the community, providing community living that avoids institutionalization and segregation. In other situations, however, as observed first-hand by the Special Rapporteur on mission, informal settlements duplicate societal patterns of discrimination and isolation, exacerbated by deprivation of the most basic necessities.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 29
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Inaccessible housing and programmes designed without consideration of the needs of persons with disabilities deprive society of the benefits of the full participation of persons with disabilities in all areas of life and are costly to States. Moreover, reasonable accommodation of individual needs is considerably more costly and difficult than it would be if housing were designed to be accessible or easily modified.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 33
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The unique fusion of civil, political and economic and social and cultural rights in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has immense potential to breathe new life into the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities. Five central tenets of the disability human rights paradigm are particularly important in understanding the right to adequate housing in that context.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 38
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Equality and non-discrimination are crucial for the realization of the right to housing of persons with disabilities under article 28. States must take positive measures to the maximum of available resources to address systemic homelessness and deprivation of housing, which disproportionately affects persons with disabilities, and to strive towards the full realization of the right to adequate housing for all persons with disabilities. In the Convention, it is made abundantly clear that the right to non-discrimination of persons with disabilities is not simply a negative right, requiring Governments and private actors to refrain from actions that exclude persons with disabilities, but also a positive right, requiring them to take measures to ensure the enjoyment of the right to housing. As Andrea Broderick notes, “the intersection of equality and socioeconomic rights in the [Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities] may provide a key to unlocking the structural inequalities which disabled people, and by extension other marginalised groups, have encountered for too long now”.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 40
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Under article 9, States are required to ensure that all housing available to the public, including social and private rental housing, takes into account all aspects of accessibility for persons with disabilities. In the article, a broad range of accessibility issues “encompassing the physical environment, transportation, information and communication, and services” are addressed and obligations are established to: ensure physical accessibility, such as through ramps and accessible doors, as well as the accessibility of windows, bathrooms and kitchens; remove the communication barriers confronted by persons with disabilities applying for and living in housing; and ensure access to work, services and public spaces — in short, to ensure that all aspects of the housing environment are accessible. As the Special Rapporteur has consistently noted in her dialogue with government officials, under that article, States are also required to address economic and social accessibility barriers by ensuring sufficient benefits or housing subsidies to cover the cost of adequate housing and other services.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 46
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The standard of reasonableness to assess States’ compliance with the obligation to take measures to realize the right to adequate housing for persons with disabilities runs parallel to the similar standard of reasonableness that is applied in the context of the accommodation of the individual needs of persons with disabilities. The former relies on a standard of maximum of available resources to assess programmatic measures to address the systemic needs of persons with disabilities, while the latter relies on a standard of undue or disproportionate burden in relation to the specific measures required in individual cases. In many cases, however, there is no clear divide between individual needs and needs shared with others in the positive measures taken by Governments to ensure access to accessible housing. As Janet E. Lord and Rebecca Brown note, “the obligation to reasonably accommodate the unique needs of persons with disabilities merges with the obligation under the [International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights] and under the economic, social and cultural rights provisions in the [Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities], to apply the maximum of available resources to realizing the substantive rights in question”.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 48
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur also emphasizes that reasonable accommodation in housing is often linked to systemic patterns of discrimination and imbalances in power “which result in a society being designed well for some and not for others”. The Supreme Court of Canada warned that reasonable accommodation claims should not be allowed to shield systemic discrimination from scrutiny or leave in place imbalances in power that have led to the neglect of the needs or perspectives of marginalized groups in the design of policies. It is important to ask, in each individual case, not only what is required by the individual person with a disability to ensure equality, but also why the housing system created the need for individual accommodation in the first place. Requests for modifications of buildings or housing policies are usually only made because those requirements were not adequately considered when buildings or policies were designed in the first place. Persons with disabilities must be empowered to challenge housing, planning and zoning, social protection and justice systems that fail to meet their needs and thus deny them access 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)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 49
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- In its general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights identified key factors to be considered in determining if housing is adequate. The following is a consideration of those factors as they apply to persons with disabilities.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph