Search Tips
sorted by
30 shown of 256 entities
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
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Dedicated funding mechanisms or channels should be established to provide resources to initiatives aimed at respecting, protecting and fulfilling the right to adequate housing from the very outset of humanitarian operations. In addition, structured capacity-building networks should be created at field level, accompanied by focused operational support. A documented body of evidence on past violations (and their causes) should be produced, made available and developed into guidelines for action.
- 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. 58
- Paragraph text
- [Violations of the right to adequate housing can both contribute to and result from armed conflicts and natural disasters. The poorer and marginalized members of society are disproportionately affected. Addressing existing vulnerabilities can play an important role in both preventing and mitigating the impacts of disasters and conflicts. States should therefore:] Urgently step up their efforts to respect, protect and fulfil the right to adequate housing, in all its dimensions, in both urban and rural contexts;
- 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
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
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 64.2
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations:] No harm should be caused by or to others in respecting and protecting the right to adequate housing, including tenure security: Health and safety regulations as well as disaster risk reduction measures, which may call for land use or housing restrictions, must be subject to human rights standards: their impacts on the human rights of individuals and communities must be assessed, and due process rights, and the rights to information and participation, must be upheld in all circumstances.
- 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
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- 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. 64.1
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations:] In all phases of disaster response the right to adequate housing should be respected and protected. It should be understood as the right to live in safety and security, in conditions deemed adequate on grounds of security of tenure; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy.
- 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
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 51
- Paragraph text
- The well-known slogan, "Build Back Better", seems to, and certainly should, aspire to address the broader living conditions of affected communities. The special envoy of the Secretary-General to the Indian Ocean tsunami noted that the financial resources, international focus and openness to political and policy reform that often characterized a post-crisis period should allow for "build back better" and break out of inequitable development patterns in a sustained way. Similar calls were made to consider the Pakistan floods as "an opportunity to build back better lives and to step up to the task of bringing dignity to the millions who live on the margins of society". However, implementing this inspiring idea is often reduced to its most technical meaning, for instance building houses using flood- and seismic-resistant standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 62
- Paragraph text
- In the view of the Special Rapporteur, making comprehensive efforts to realize the right to adequate housing in reconstruction efforts is not only an obligation but also an opportunity. While disaster response will not - and should not - replace development efforts, it provides an occasion to redress the inequalities that either exacerbated the natural disaster's impacts or were made visible by it, and to contribute to efforts to progressively realize the right to adequate housing for all, notably by improving tenure security.
- 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
- 2011
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- [In preparing for reconstruction and development, all relevant parties and actors should acknowledge that housing has an inherent social value of vital importance for social stability, alleviation of poverty and development. Any response to the impacts of conflicts or disasters on the right to adequate housing should go beyond a focus on the damage, loss or destruction of shelter and infrastructure and should seek to address, inter alia:] The loss of tenure security, particularly by those who had been living under customary or informal tenure systems prior to the disaster or conflict.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- 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
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- In the wake of a specific disaster or conflict, the right to adequate housing should be integrated as a key component of planning, preparation and implementation of any ensuing humanitarian, reconstruction and development responses.
- 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. 64.2
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations:] No harm should be caused by or to others in respecting and protecting the right to adequate housing, including tenure security: Efforts must be made to ensure that humanitarian and shelter assistance, as well as the restitution laws, mechanisms and institutions that may emerge in post-disaster situations, do not intentionally or by default discriminate on the basis of tenure status.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- 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
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- [In preparing for reconstruction and development, all relevant parties and actors should acknowledge that housing has an inherent social value of vital importance for social stability, alleviation of poverty and development. Any response to the impacts of conflicts or disasters on the right to adequate housing should go beyond a focus on the damage, loss or destruction of shelter and infrastructure and should seek to address, inter alia:] The disruption of social and economic relationships and networks;
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- 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. 64.1
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations:] All affected persons, irrespective of their tenure status pre-disaster, should have equal rights to shelter in the emergency and transitional phases.
- 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. 64.3
- Paragraph text
- [The Special Rapporteur makes the following recommendations:] All affected persons and groups should have access to information and be able to participate meaningfully in the planning and implementation of the various stages of the disaster response.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph