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Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 31
- Paragraph text
- Similar lessons can be learnt from post-disaster situations. Disasters occur in a social context framed by complex issues of power, politics and longstanding vulnerability and poverty, including widespread tenure insecurity. Understanding this complexity is fundamental to developing and implementing successful responses. This is illustrated in the case of Hurricane Mitch in Honduras in October 1998. According to official estimates Hurricane Mitch left 21 cities severely damaged, 82,735 houses damaged, 66,188 houses destroyed and 44,150 people homeless. In addition 123 health centres and 531 roads were damaged and eight health centres and 189 bridges were destroyed. As a result, an estimated 1.5 million people were negatively affected.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- 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.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- The impacts of both conflicts and disasters for the individuals, families and communities affected can be devastating. These include the loss of life and livelihoods; destruction of homes, property and infrastructure; disruption or termination of essential services; and the prolonged and sometimes even permanent forced displacement from land, home and community. Although wealth and power do not offer any immunity from these impacts, it is in most cases the poor and socially disadvantaged who are worst affected; and it is also they who are least able to withstand economic shocks and so generally take the longest to recover.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Movement
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- The poor often stand to lose most in disaster contexts because they often have to settle on fragile and exposed land that is highly susceptible to the effects of disasters. When a disaster strikes, their pre-existing vulnerabilities are exacerbated, with women, children and marginalized groups bearing the brunt of the impact. After the disaster, the poor often also find their attempts to return to their homes officially denied on the grounds that return would be unsafe, and/or not permissible as they did not have official proof of a right to live there in the first place. This can have dramatic consequences for the livelihoods of individuals, families and entire communities. In the case of conflicts, the displacement and dispossession of specific groups are often deliberate strategies of one group or side in the conflict against another. This can result in the total destruction and/or secondary occupation of their lands and homes, and obstruction of their attempts to return and reclaim what was theirs.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Significant increases in the supply of private rented housing are therefore necessary to help empower lower income tenants in the rental market and relieve affordability problems. In addition, demand-side policies are required to increase the affordability of the rental sector for the poor. Although most Governments have focused their efforts on increasing individual homeownership, there are some good examples of supply- and demand-based policies aimed at encouraging the small-scale private rental sector and increasing rent affordability for low-income households. Such interventions include taxation, direct or indirect subsidies, and regulation. State policies towards the informal rental sector also affect the accessibility of the poorest to rental arrangements.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 4a
- Paragraph text
- [Property has a vital social function including adequate housing of the urban poor. States should balance property rights with the social function of property in designing and implementing housing and other relevant policies. In particular, States, including relevant authorities, should promote access to secure and well-located housing for the urban poor through, inter alia, the following measures:] Conduct citywide audits of vacant and underutilized land, housing and buildings;
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 4b
- Paragraph text
- [Property has a vital social function including adequate housing of the urban poor. States should balance property rights with the social function of property in designing and implementing housing and other relevant policies. In particular, States, including relevant authorities, should promote access to secure and well-located housing for the urban poor through, inter alia, the following measures:] Conduct assessments of spatial needs to house the urban poor, including homeless persons, taking into account current and anticipated trends;
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The urban poor face significant barriers in accessing justice, owing to, inter alia, political influence and corruption in courts and administrative bodies; prohibitive costs of legal representation; absence of legal information; and lack of legal recognition of persons without official identity documentation, including a registered address. States should take all measures to remove these barriers and ensure that the urban poor can access effective remedies through a range of judicial and administrative mechanisms. As an alternative to the courts, land dispute and grievance mechanisms that are inexpensive, accessible, socially legitimate and rule-bound should be established. States should establish, fund and enable legal aid and assistance for the urban poor, in order to address power asymmetries that pervade conflicts over land and obstruct access to justice.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Land acquisition. Land occupied by urban poor households with an ambiguous tenure status is disproportionately acquired by States for "public purpose" projects, such as infrastructure development, requiring the eviction of residents. This situation may amount to discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing on the basis of tenure and economic status. In selecting sites for public purpose projects, States should ensure that the urban poor are not disproportionately affected, and that all alternatives have been considered.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- The most recent estimates available indicate there may be 100 million children living in the streets. This is the result of dire situations: abuse at home, extreme poverty, family break-up, and displacement or homelessness. They live perilous lives under a constant threat of violence from the public as well as from police authorities. They are malnourished, have no access to sanitation facilities and often sleep rough. Their vulnerability to sexual exploitation brings with it many threats to life, including sexually transmitted diseases. The indignity and suffering that homeless people and street connected children experience in their daily lives cannot be overestimated. In several studies, children in street situations express a grave bleakness about their lives, indicating that they feel they have no future at all.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Violence
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 37
- Paragraph text
- Financialized housing markets create and thrive on gentrification and the appropriation of public value for private wealth. Improved services, schools or parks in an impoverished neighbourhood attract investment, which then drives residents out. The transformation of an old railway line in West Chelsea in Manhattan into a public walkway and park has attracted wealthy investors to a mixed income neighbourhood, radically transforming it with luxury housing units costing in the multimillions, and displacing longer term residents. In Vancouver, the opening of new public transport facilities in Burnaby, one of the few remaining areas of affordable rental housing, has quickly led to the development of expensive condominium towers, displacing residents who have not only lived there for decades, but also invested in developing their community.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Policy responses to the financialization of housing have tended to prioritize support for financial institutions over responding to the needs of those whose right to adequate housing is at stake. Spending on bailouts of banks and financial institutions after the 2008 financial crisis far outstripped spending to provide assistance to the victims of the crisis. In fact, many national Governments made substantial cuts to their housing programmes. As noted above, the World Bank continues to promote "financial liberalization" rather than active State intervention in housing provision in emerging economies, despite the evidence that financialization generally increases inequality and fails to address the needs of the millions of households living in situations of homelessness or grossly inadequate informal housing.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- Housing finance policies based on credit are inherently discriminatory against lower-income households, and at their best increase housing affordability for upper- and middle-income groups. Housing finance policies often "redline" the poor, who are required to pay much higher prices for financial services, exposing them to financial risks inherent to global financial markets and indebtedness.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 2h
- Paragraph text
- [In order to improve security of tenure, especially for vulnerable and marginalized persons and groups living in urban poor settlements, States, including relevant authorities, should take the following measures:] Allocate sufficient funds to ministries, municipalities and local governments for the implementation of these measures; and
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Credit was increasingly awarded to households that, in normal circumstances, would not be eligible for loans, generating what is known as "sub-prime" loans. Although these lending policies were intended to enable access to housing finance for low-income households previously excluded from the mortgage markets, they are still in effect extremely discriminatory with respect to the poor. Mortgage lenders classify loan applicants according to the risks that they pose to both lenders and investors. Credit scoring facilitates risk-based pricing by allowing lenders to charge higher interest rates for borrowers with low scores (bad risks) and lower interest rates for borrowers with high scores (good risks). Lenders became more willing to issue credit at a relatively high price to higher-risk borrowers. In the United States, a typical sub-prime borrower would pay $5,222 more during the first four years of a $166,000 mortgage than would a similar borrower with a normal mortgage (see A/HRC/10/7).
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 36
- Paragraph text
- Demand subsidies linked to mortgage finance or savings usually do not target the poor and in effect benefit the better-off (middle- and even upper-middle-income households). Income tax deductions of interest payments or a broad-based interest rate subsidy for mortgage loans tend to be regressive, as they increase with the amount of the loan and benefit those who can afford larger loans more than those with smaller loans. In the Philippines, interest rate subsidies account for 90 per cent of the value of housing subsidies; however, 77 per cent of the country's population cannot afford a formal-sector loan even at subsidized interest rates. Part of these subsidies may also leak out to benefit others in the housing systems and raise the value of existing dwellings and land.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- However, in the 1980s a new finance paradigm emerged, one that appeared to be able to address poverty through the expansion of small, informal-sector income-generating credit: microfinance. Private financial investors became convinced of the profitability of microfinance and came to regard the poor as "bankable". The result has been a dramatic rise since then in the flow of private investment capital (supported by donors, multilateral banks and international organizations) into the microfinance sector and, more recently, into housing finance services adapted to support incremental building processes. The growing commercial presence of major Western banking groups in developing countries and their interest in microfinance (including for housing) has been based on the idea that the "bottom of the pyramid" represents a large untapped market.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- Housing microfinance is offered by a wide variety of institutions including microfinance agencies, such as Grameen Bank and affiliates of the Accion organization; banks and commercial institutions, such as HDFC Bank in India and the CEMEX company in Mexico (the Patrimonio Hoy programme); and intergovernmental organizations and NGOs specializing in shelter provision, such as the Rural Housing Loan Fund in South Africa and Habitat for Humanity. A distinction can be made between financial institutions offering micro enterprise loans and institutions whose main purpose is improving the shelter situation of the poor, which may or may not be financial institutions.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
The impact of housing finance policies on the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty 2012, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Having examined the impact of these policies in various regions of the world, it is the view of the Special Rapporteur that they have largely failed to promote access to adequate housing for the poor. Evidence indicates that housing policies based exclusively on facilitating access to credit for homeownership are incompatible with the full realization of the right to adequate housing of those living in poverty, failing to supply habitable, affordable and well-located housing solutions accessible to the poor.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- Similar concerns were also echoed across other regions. For example, in Spain, where foreclosures have soared during the last three years, women participating in the e-consultation reported that poor women and their families have been especially impacted, and that they continue to "experience the devastating effects of the economic crisis at close quarters." As in other countries, those hit the hardest by cuts to social programmes have been those women already marginalized. The consequences of foreclosure for women are similar to what has been documented in terms of the impact of forced evictions, namely increased social isolation, increased exposure to domestic violence, and deepened poverty.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Women and their right to adequate housing 2012, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Urgent progress must be made if women are to see improvements in their actual housing situations. However, what we have seen is far from what is required. In fact, within the context of the global financial crisis there has been a worrying move away from human rights standards, such as those requiring allocation of the maximum of available resources towards the realization of the right to adequate housing, or prioritizing marginalized women in all matters related to housing law, policy and programming. Rather, the trend has been towards increased privatization and further deregulation of the housing market, a move which leaves millions of women at the periphery, unable to access adequate housing. This situation not only perpetuates women's poverty, it also reinforces women's second-class status and gender inequality itself.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- However, during the past two decades new mortgage products were designed specifically for borrowers with low incomes or poor credit history who were not eligible for regular mortgage finance, generating sub-prime loans. Although those lending policies were intended to enable access to credit for low-income households, they are extremely discriminatory: the poorer the credit taker, the higher the interest he/she has to pay. High-interest loans led to ever-increasing household indebtedness, economic insecurity, mortgage arrears and repossession rates. Poor households were forced to reduce expenditure on other essential needs, like food or medicines, in order to meet their housing debt.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The discrepancy between income levels and soaring housing and rental prices coupled with increasing unemployment have led to more payment default, foreclosures and homelessness. These processes are exacerbated by the adoption of legal and institutional adjustments aimed at facilitating foreclosures, which have been promoted in recent years as "imperatives for developing a housing finance system". The crisis has disproportionately affected the poorest and most vulnerable, who were the last to join the mortgage markets and the first to suffer the consequences of the crises owing to their low resilience to economic shocks and low repayment abilities.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- Despite the decline in support for rental housing, the absolute number of tenants worldwide is rising. Across the world, approximately 1.2 billion people (around one third of the urban population and one sixth of all people in the world) live in rented accommodation, the great majority in towns and cities. In many European countries the private rental sector, including informal, is playing a growing role for the poor, owing to inadequate access to social housing and greater constraints in accessing ownership. In developing countries, the largest proportion of tenants is in urban Africa; in Asia, tenants comprise approximately one third of the urban population.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 48
- Paragraph text
- Measures to regulate financial markets and institutions. The deregulation of financial markets, along with policies prioritizing homeownership, has had adverse impacts on many urban-poor households. Sub-prime loans, payment defaults and foreclosures have led to tenure insecurity and evictions in several countries. Often, financial institutions, including microcredit institutions, charge higher interest rates to the poor to mitigate the heightened risk of default. In some cases, lenders have aggressively targeted low-income households for loans with exploitative terms, without explaining the terms and conditions, and ignoring their ability to repay. States should prohibit predatory lending practices and adopt regulations to ensure that mortgage payments are commensurate with income levels and do not compromise the satisfaction of other basic needs. Regulations should also mandate the full disclosure and communication of loan terms to applicants in accessible formats and languages.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In November 2012, the Province of Buenos Aires adopted a law on fair access to habitat (Ley de acceso justo al habitat) which guarantees the right to housing and to a dignified and sustainable habitat, along the lines of the provincial and national constitutions and several international human rights treaties. The law establishes a link between the public policy on housing and the way in which different public and private stakeholders are involved, including real estate companies. It requires steps to be taken to address the lack of adequate housing for people living in poverty or with special needs, and creates mechanisms to regulate speculation around land prices. It articulates both the right to adequate housing and the "right to the city" as core principles alongside the social function of land and property, democratic decision-making in the city and the importance of equitable distribution of benefits and costs of city growth, including in relation to infrastructure.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The right to life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Japan has yet to recover and continues to see ever-growing numbers of homeless people. Unemployment rates tripled in a 10-year period in Argentina, resulting in a large number of households being unable to pay their mortgages, rent or utility bills. In Spain, Ireland and Greece, thousands of low-income and poor individuals suffered foreclosures or debt-related evictions and were thus forced out of their homes into encampments or into overcrowded accommodation with relatives and friends, or were left homeless. In these circumstances, increased suicide rates are not uncommon. In the United States, suicides spurred by severe housing stress - evictions and foreclosures - doubled between 2005 and 2010. Europe also saw a 6.5 per cent increase in suicides between 2007 and 2011. In States where social programmes were made available to those affected, similar spikes in suicide rates were not seen.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The favouring of profit over people's human rights through the unequal allocation of land, property, housing and related services in cities is a major driver of homelessness. Unregulated or underregulated financial and other market forces, and unfettered land and property speculation resulting in escalating land values, all contribute to the inequality of wealth distribution and homelessness. These systemic inequalities are compounded by direct discrimination against people who are poor, often pushing them to precarious housing conditions, including into informal settlements or on occupied land, and ultimately into homelessness. Many municipalities use planning and zoning laws or regulations to prevent construction of shelters or affordable housing in their communities. Homeless people are often denied opportunities to live in central locations; instead, they are compelled to live in remote, isolated and poorly serviced areas where there are no jobs.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 29
- Paragraph text
- Rapid global urbanization has resulted in an astonishing accumulation of wealth for a few, accompanied by increasing poverty for many. Reliance on private market housing supply to respond to urbanization needs has meant that new housing supply has targeted mostly the rich, creating inflated real estate values, speculation and significant deficits of affordable housing. People who move to cities often have no choice but to live in informal settlements where millions suffer, in varying degrees, from poor sanitation, lack of access to clean water, overcrowding and makeshift structures. Instead of ensuring access for people in need of housing, land regulations, planning and zoning have rendered informal settlements "illegal", favoured commercial development over housing and failed to respect the social function of land as a public good. The legacy of colonialism in some countries has embedded inequality in land and property.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- The ongoing legacy of discriminatory customary and statutory laws on divorce, inheritance and matrimonial property - as well as social practices that attribute housing to male heads of households and the resultant poverty - deprive women of security of tenure and render them particularly vulnerable to homelessness. When women are widowed, separated or divorced, need to leave violent households or flee situations of armed conflict or natural disasters, or are evicted from their homes, they face significant risks of becoming homeless. Divorced and widowed women in Bangladesh and Lebanon, for example, are reported to be living in dilapidated shacks in dangerous informal settlements and women fleeing violence in Kyrgyzstan and Papua New Guinea are left with few housing options.
- 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
- Topic(s)
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph