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Access to land and the right to food 2010, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The protection of land-users' rights should not be limited to improving farmers' security of tenure. Fisherfolk need access to fishing grounds and may be severely affected by the fencing-off of land that provides access to the sea or to rivers. Pastoralists need grazing grounds for the animals that they raise. For these groups, as well as those practicing itinerant forms of agriculture, the formalization of property rights and the establishment of land registries may be the problem, not the solution: it may cause them to be fenced off from the resources on which they depend, making them victims of the vast enclosure movement that may result from titling. In Kenya, pastoralists whose rights were ignored in the formalization process have reportedly been the victims of violent land-grabbing by ranchers and others seeking scarce resources. Since they have no legal claim to the land, they cannot seek redress. In the United Republic of Tanzania, five years after a major titling effort had begun, pastoralists reported their eviction from multiple common grazing areas and were under threat of losing other grazing lands because those lands had been classified as "unused".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to food
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Viewed through a human rights lens, from the perspective of those whose right to housing is at stake, those common challenges facing local governments or housing providers can be seen as barriers to the realization of rights. Those who are disproportionately affected by the challenges identified tend to be the most marginalized groups - those whose right to housing is most at risk. It is those groups who suffer most when local governments lack capacity or resources, when there is an absence of local human rights accountability, when local government becomes protectionist and exclusionary, and it is those groups who often confront the most complex web of governmental decision-making and authority, with the least information available to them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- The situation of residents of informal settlements in many cities around the world illustrates how allocation of responsibilities among different levels of government plays out in peoples' lives. For example, a recent study considers the situation of residents of the Mukuru settlement in Nairobi. They live in windowless shacks on privately held land without sewage or water infrastructure. They have been unable to determine title through local governments and therefore lack security of tenure, rendering them ineligible to apply for basic water, sewers or electricity. With the Kenyan Constitution now recognizing "the right to accessible and adequate housing and to reasonable standards of sanitation", the challenge for local residents is to claim their rights within a complex web of regulatory schemes and decisions applied by an array of governmental actors.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Water & Sanitation
- Year
- 2015
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.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 85
- Paragraph text
- Some innovative planning regulations exist to secure tenure for the most marginalized. A significant example is the Brazilian "Special Zones of Social Interest" (ZEIS). ZEIS is a planning instrument, based on the constitutional recognition of the social function of property, regulating the use and occupation, for social housing purposes, of public or private properties. It is used to recognize existing informal settlements as well as to define unoccupied areas of the city as areas for social housing.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- In Nigeria, discrimination against Osu descendants persists. Osu people were historically considered a property of the local deities among communities in Igboland, in south-east Nigeria. The Osu were dedicated and "sacrificed" to these gods and forced to live on the outskirts of the villages. In 1958, the Osu Abolition Law was passed, but members of the Osu are still subjected to social exclusion, segregation and mistreatment, and discrimination in employment and marriage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- There are rare cases where persons with albinism are deified or viewed as having godlike qualities. For example, the Guna people in Latin America give a special place to persons with albinism as protectors. Tales of persons with albinism being considered as water deities or as natural chiefs have also been reported. While deification and positive supernaturalization of persons with albinism may appear to be desirable, this is not an ideal state because the person with albinism is still the subject of myths unfounded on fact or science. Consequently, their dignity remains grounded in subjective narratives and not in their objective status as human beings.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Just as human rights require recognition by law, so too has the Social Protection Floor Initiative emphasized the importance of entrenching the social protection right in national laws and regulations. That dimension has been well captured by the United Nations Development Group: Obligations and entitlements to social protection benefits should be specified in a precise manner, so as to clearly delineate the rights and duties of residents and contributors. To ensure the predictability and sustainability of social protection provisions, laws and regulations should be designed and enforced to support all social protection schemes and services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Challenges faced by groups most at risk when exercising or seeking to exercise the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and/or of association 2014, para. 67
- Paragraph text
- Some groups are denied registration or the renewal of their existing registration, in contravention of laws that outline the procedures to be followed in registering associations. This is allegedly the case in Viet Nam, where a majority of Hmong Christian house churches have been denied registration and are therefore unable to operate. The authorities do not consider them to be a "true" religion and instead characterize them as carrying out anti-Government activities. The Special Rapporteur aligns himself with the sentiments of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief "that freedom of religion or belief is not limited to members of registered religious communities and that registration may only be appropriate for the acquisition of a legal personality and related benefits" (A/64/159, para. 13). He emphasizes that it is the duty of the State to ensure that everyone can peacefully express their views without fear.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- The Principles must also be read against the particular context in which they were developed. While drawing on a number of sources, they were shaped by the experience of formal restitution mechanisms operating at the time, in particular in Bosnia and Herzegovina - a context of largely formal registration of private property and of what Yugoslav law called "socially-owned" apartments. The restitution mechanism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, like others, has been criticized for doing little for those who did not own property or did not have recognized formal titles to them, and for being unable to deal with complex, informal systems of tenure with a plurality of customary, state or religious laws.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- The informal rental sector is a crucial component of the housing sector in developing countries and is also increasing today in many European cities, filling a gap created by the current housing policies that do not adequately address the housing needs of low-income households. Unfortunately, slum upgrading programmes have largely ignored the impact on tenants and have sometimes even failed to notice that most target settlements even contain tenants. In some cases, the upgrading programmes even prohibit owners from letting upgraded properties. Such situations are incompatible with the obligation of States to promote the right to adequate housing, inter alia, by facilitating the "self-help" efforts of disadvantaged groups. However, there are a few reliable programmes that include direct subsidies and cheap loans to owners who need to repair their properties and to owners who wish to extend their property to accommodate additional tenants.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Centrality of the right to adequate housing for the development and implementation of the New Urban Agenda to be adopted at Habitat III in October 2016 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- When visiting residents of informal settlements, one is invariably struck by the human capacity to create vibrant communities with dignity and beauty despite the gross lack of almost everything. This capacity can be better harnessed; residents of informal settlements usually can identify the structural causes of their conditions, and they know well their needs and the barriers to meeting their needs. Frequently, they have a vision for their future and the future of their communities and can develop effective and targeted solutions. Engaging residents to participate in realizing their right to adequate housing is consistent with a human rights framework. For this to happen, local and national governments must be willing to recognize these communities as legitimate participants in urban democracy and as drivers of their own well-being.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Responsibilities of local and other subnational governments in relation to the right to adequate housing 2015, para. 63
- Paragraph text
- Madison County in Wisconsin, United States of America, adopted a city resolution in 2011 recognizing housing as a human right. The resolution requires Madison to promote fair housing and refers to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to which the United States is party. The city is therefore required to eliminate policies with a racially discriminatory impact. The resolution calls for an assessment of affordable and accessible housing needs and an adequately funded, responsive housing strategy. Those types of initiatives are particularly important in a country that has not ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and raise the possibility of subnational governments affirming direct accountability to international human rights norms even where the State has not ratified them.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Hate speech and incitement to hatred against minorities in the media 2015, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Studies reveal that poor reporting by the media on features such as ethnicity and religion involves, inter alia, labelling, selected use of data, generalizing incidents, negative stereotyping, giving one side of a story, use of derogatory words, mixing facts and views, absence of fact checking, and mismatching of the content of the text and headlines, images and sound. Lack of knowledge about ethnic and religious issues by media reporters, absence of in-house training, poor financial situation of media outlets, heavy workload and scarce time to prepare reports were highlighted as obstacles to good, unprejudiced reporting.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The importance of social protection measures in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- Social protection can also promote maternal health (Goal 5). For example, social cash transfers, which provide additional income, can be used by beneficiaries to cover health-care and transportation costs. Evaluations of the "Juntos" scheme in Peru, a conditional cash transfer programme, showed an increase of approximately 65 per cent in the number of prenatal and post-natal visits to health clinics and a reduction in the number of home births in areas where there were high levels of maternal mortality. In addition, social funds supporting the development of local health-care infrastructure have been proved effective in reducing infant mortality rates.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Health
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Minorities and effective political participation: a survey of law and national practices 2010, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- The Court has long asserted that minority protection justifies the application of a different electoral system within the State in order to ensure better minority representation in the legislature. Nevertheless, it has established that, "any electoral system must be assessed in the light of the political evolution of the country concerned", and, as a result, "features that would be unacceptable in the context of one system may accordingly be justified in the context of another".
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Fundamentalism and its impact on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2016, para. 75
- Paragraph text
- In relation to Indonesia, the Special Rapporteur has received reports that the authorities' enforcement of the nationalist "unitary State" ideology extends to the repression of demonstrations by ethnic West Papuans. He stresses that the State has the responsibility to protect and facilitate protests that advocate political and cultural views that differ from, and even oppose, those espoused by the Government.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 81
- Paragraph text
- There are diverse models for ensuring participation of stakeholders in strategies to address homelessness. Brazil, for example, has created a participatory model for social policy that relies on policy councils of stakeholders. In Munich, Germany, special units for the prevention of homelessness have provided support in preventing evictions or repossessions. In Europe, FEANTSA has organized and advanced rights claims on behalf of homeless people in a wide range of legal and political forums.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- In many countries in the global South, where the majority of households are unlikely to have access to formal credit, the impact of financialization is experienced differently, but with a common theme - the subversion of housing and land as social goods in favour of their value as commodities for the accumulation of wealth, resulting in widespread evictions and displacement. Informal settlements are frequently replaced by luxury residential and high-end commercial real estate.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Minorities and effective political participation: a survey of law and national practices 2010, para. 76
- Paragraph text
- There are electoral systems where voters can vote for more than one candidate from different parties, ranking them in order of choice, and the lower-order preferences are taken into account if no candidate reaches a threshold number of votes on the first-preference votes. This system may facilitate minority representation and is also thought to promote inter-group cooperation as parties seek second-preference votes from other parties' supporters. It may also encourage mainstream parties to take up minority issues.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
The human rights situation of Roma worldwide, with a particular focus on the phenomenon of anti-Gypsyism 2015, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- The term "Roma" refers to heterogeneous groups, the members of which live in various countries under different social, economic, cultural and other conditions. The term Roma thus does not denote a specific group but rather refers to the multifaceted Roma universe, which is comprised of groups and subgroups that overlap but are united by common historical roots, linguistic communalities and a shared experience of discrimination in relation to majority groups. "Roma" is therefore a multidimensional term that corresponds to the multiple and fluid nature of Roma identity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
The human rights situation of Roma worldwide, with a particular focus on the phenomenon of anti-Gypsyism 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- The Government of Colombia consulted with Roma communities in the context of drafting national development plans for the period 2014 to 2018 and committed to implementing strategies to increase Roma visibility, improve their quality of life and provide for improved access to their social, economic and cultural and political rights. In Argentina, a local Roma NGO has been successful in initiating dialogues between civil society and the State, which has proved to be key in promoting the visibility of Roma culture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on minority issues
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The post-Hurricane Mitch period also saw development in the legal framework related to land and housing issues, though the judicial system remained weak and so the potential benefits of the new legislation remained inaccessible to the poor. Missing from the current strategy in Honduras is a comprehensive programme to increase the supply of urbanized land and improve tenure security for the poor and the marginalized.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Financialization of housing and the right to adequate housing 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- In "hedge cities", prime destinations for global capital seeking safe havens for investments, housing prices have increased to levels that most residents cannot afford, creating huge increases in wealth for property owners in prime locations while excluding moderate- and low-income households from access to homeownership or rentals due to unaffordability. Those households are pushed to peri-urban areas with scant employment and services.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The meaning and scope of special measures in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Racial Discrimination 2009, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention stipulates that "States parties shall, when the circumstances so warrant, take, in the social, economic, cultural and other fields, special and concrete measures to ensure the adequate development and protection of certain racial groups or individuals belonging to them, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. These measures shall in no case entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate rights for different racial groups after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved".
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2009
Paragraph
Article 3 of the Convention 1995, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- The Committee observes that while conditions of complete or partial racial segregation may in some countries have been created by governmental policies, a condition of partial segregation may also arise as an unintended by-product of the actions of private persons. In many cities residential patterns are influenced by group differences in income, which are sometimes combined with differences of race, colour, descent and national or ethnic origin, so that inhabitants can be stigmatized and individuals suffer a form of discrimination in which racial grounds are mixed with other grounds.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 1995
Paragraph
Combatting racist hate speech 2013, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- In order to promote inter-ethnic understanding, balanced and objective representations of history are essential, and, where atrocities have been committed against groups of the population, days of remembrance and other public events should be held, where appropriate in context, to recall such human tragedies, as well as celebrations of successful resolution of conflicts. Truth and reconciliation commissions can also play a vital role in countering the persistence of racial hatred and facilitating the development of a climate of inter-ethnic tolerance.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Privatization and the right to education 2014, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- The provision of basic education free of cost is not only a core obligation of States, but also a moral imperative. Social protests against exorbitant fee increases in education, especially in privatized higher education, are well known. In 2011, Chile became a glaring example of sacrificing social interest in education in favour of privatization; protests against privatization demanding an end to for-profit educational institutions that involved high costs for students were violently suppressed by police forces, resulting in the killing of a student.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the right to education
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, African Americans and poor people (with the two categories to a large extent blurred) bore the brunt of the devastation because, for the most part, they lived most often in the lower-lying, more flood-prone sections of the city. In addition large numbers of the metropolitan area's population (being generally poor) lacked the means to escape the flood. The particular impacts and costs of the hurricane were therefore intimately linked to pre existing social, economic and land use patterns, directly related to housing and urban planning policies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- The earthquake in Haiti exacerbated and made visible a hitherto relatively invisible problem, namely, the dire conditions characterizing informal settlements in which the majority of the Port-au-Prince population lived. The settlements, as many others elsewhere, had been created spontaneously and had never been recognized formally by the authorities. They had no or little access to basic infrastructure and services. With the earthquake, many of the residents moved to camps, either because their homes or neighbourhoods had been destroyed or damaged, or in order to be able to receive food or medical assistance, to take part in cash-for-work programmes, to save on rent (in the case of renters) or in the hope of receiving a house.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph