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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
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- It is also important to supplement data on services used by homeless people with estimates of those who are homeless but do not access services. When homelessness is assessed by counting the number of people sleeping in shelters or using services, improvements in those services may appear to increase the number of homeless, when in fact lower numbers simply reflect some improvements in meeting emergency needs. On the other hand, some cities have denied services as a punitive means of attempting to reduce the numbers of homeless in their jurisdiction. In those cases, lower numbers of people in homeless shelters is evidence of a serious violation of human rights. It is always important, therefore, to look behind numbers. Policies and accountability measures based exclusively on raw numbers are inadequate or incomplete from a human rights standpoint. Raw numbers may perpetuate exclusion and invisibility and fail to identify changes in the nature or experience of homelessness.
- 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
- 2016
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.
- 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
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
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
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The global extent of the phenomenon of homelessness is neither well known nor well documented. Global figures are scarce, and country-specific data are often incomplete and usually not comparable with those of other countries owing to differences in definitions and methodologies. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that at the domestic level, this statistical invisibility of a population can mean its neglect in the design of public policy and an absence of adequate responses. At the global level, it may conceal an acute global human rights crisis being faced by millions.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
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
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- States, including donors, in cooperation with humanitarian actors, should ensure that all disaster and conflict-affected persons, irrespective of their tenure status and without discrimination of any kind, have access to emergency shelter. A rapid assessment of the land tenure situation should be conducted, recognizing the multiple tenure arrangements that exist or existed prior to the conflict or disaster. Non-documented evidence of tenure, like testimonies from neighbours, should be collected during this process. The findings should be used to design measures to facilitate the delivery of housing recovery and reconstruction assistance to those in need, including through negotiation and mediation to resolve disputes over tenure rights. Measures should also be taken to ensure access to adequate housing to those without evidence of tenure, such as homeless persons.
- 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
- 2014
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- In Cairo, the courts have recently enforced the right to adequate housing so as to limit the power of the City Governor to seize land for "public benefit". A coalition of civil society organizations had some success in relying on the right to housing in article 67 of the 2012 Egyptian Constitution in both political action and litigation. In a recent case, the organizations challenged a decree issued by the Governor of Cairo announcing a seizure of land for development, and succeeded in securing a court order repealing the order of evacuation.
- 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
- 2015
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. 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 life and the right to adequate housing: the indivisibility and interdependence between these rights 2016, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The failure of States to address conditions in informal settlements creates multiple threats to life, dignity and security. Accidents are routine. Fires break out as a result of unauthorized electrical connections, of cooking on open flames indoors or of the use of highly flammable construction materials such as cardboard and plastics. Settlements are commonly built on treacherous land. Simple accidents become fatal when emergency services either cannot reach the site or are unwilling to enter the site.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
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
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. 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
Extreme inequality and human rights 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- Democracy and civil and political rights are closely linked to the equal division of economic and other factors that are crucial for well-being. Amartya Sen famously argued that democracy and the upholding of related civil and political rights, such as freedom of the press and the right to vote, are connected to the non-occurrence of famines. He suggested that "India's success in eradicating famine is not matched by a similar success in … relieving inequalities in gender relations". According to Mr. Sen, deprivations such as gender inequality "call for deeper analysis, and for a greater and more effective use of mass communication and political participation - in sum, for a fuller practice of democracy". The existence of a democracy and the right to participate in the political process do not guarantee equal opportunity and more equal outcomes. As other authors have argued, the correlative human rights obligations necessary to "constitute democracy and ensure that it functions properly" include more than just the right to vote: the State "may need to take positive steps to protect individuals against other individuals' interference with the right."
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Remedies. The provision of remedies for wrongdoing is an essential dimension of the law relating to immunity, of human rights law, of the rule of law and of the principle of accountability. The High Commissioner for Human Rights regularly and rightly admonishes States that refuse to provide a remedy to those whose human rights have been violated, yet in the Haiti case the United Nations has refused even to contemplate a range of remedies which could reasonably and feasibly be provided. Similarly, in the transitional justice context, the United Nations consistently calls upon States to acknowledge wrongdoing, to ensure meaningful processes for the vindication of claims and to provide victims with redress. Yet in the Haiti case the victims are told that a handful of broadly focused development projects should provide sufficient redress. Even in the context of armed conflicts, various United Nations bodies have urged States to provide forms of compensation, whether ex gratia or otherwise, to the killed or injured even though the legal obligation to provide such compensation is not uncontested.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Human rights based approach to recovery from the global economic and financial crises, with a focus on those living in poverty 2011, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- In the context of recovery from successive crises, this principle obliges States to ensure that any programmes or policies that are integral to delivering essential services (for example, primary education, basic health care and social assistance programmes) are protected, to the greatest extent possible, from reduced expenditure. The duty of the State to prioritize the rights of the poorest and most vulnerable people does not imply that the State may adopt a very narrow approach. States continue to have responsibilities to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards the widest possible enjoyment of rights by all, which means maintaining services beyond a basic level.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 68
- Paragraph text
- Peacekeeping. This is an increasingly crucial part of the role of the United Nations in many parts of the world. The potential for success depends on various factors, but pre-eminent among them are legitimacy, credibility and responsiveness. In Haiti, the reputation of MINUSTAH has been gravely tarnished by the cholera episode. And the message that the Organization is unprepared to accept responsibility for negligent conduct which gives rise to dire consequences, despite the fact that it has been definitively found guilty both in the scientific world and in the court of public opinion, will not have escaped other States that are contemplating agreeing to host or participate in peacekeeping operations. While there is a big difference between sexual abuse and negligent conduct, there is an important message for the United Nations in the Haiti context to be learned from the independent review on sexual abuse in the Central African Republic. The review panel warned that "when the international community fails to care for the victims or to hold the perpetrators to account", it amounts to a betrayal of trust.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The UN responsibility for the cholera outbreak in Haiti 2016, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Scholars have criticized the Organization's "shabby formalistic maneuvers to avoid the very principles of the Rule of Law that they urge on the rest of the world", its "preposterous" failure to provide a remedy, its pursuit of "peacekeeping without accountability", its compounding of a public health disaster with a public relations disaster, its dangerous "legalism" which "effectively insulate[s] the organization from accountability", and its "repeated failures … to provide adequate due process to those affected by its decision-making [which] has had a detrimental effect on the Organization and its activities".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Human rights based approach to recovery from the global economic and financial crises, with a focus on those living in poverty 2011, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- In recent years, food subsidies have become a common means of ameliorating the devastating effects of food scarcity and rising commodity prices on those living in poverty. The reduction of taxation on or subsidization of staple foods is aimed at providing immediate relief to those experiencing the most pressing forms of food insecurity. By providing access to a basic form of food security, food subsidies can limit the prevalence of hunger, increase consumption and improve nutrition in recipient households. Food subsidies also contribute to ensuring price stabilization and thus create greater food access for all. To this extent, they are one way in which States can ensure that they meet their obligations regarding the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Human rights based approach to recovery from the global economic and financial crises, with a focus on those living in poverty 2011, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- Increasing inequalities and food insecurity, the declining availability of natural resources and unpredictable changes to climate patterns are likely to increase the potential for social unrest throughout the world. Any recovery plan must anticipate these challenges and assume that there will be many more crises to recover from. What is needed, therefore, is human rights-based change that directly addresses the long-term structural barriers to equality and sets the foundations for a sustainable, socially inclusive society.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Food & Nutrition
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph