A/72/128 75. In its recent white paper on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Department of Social Services of South Africa called for a comprehensive strategy to realize the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities consistent with the transformative nature of the constitutional right to housing, including supported community living plans, subsidized housing support, universal design as a requirement in infrastructure grants and a sustainable community-based system for support for independent living. 72 In the white paper, emphasis was laid on the critical importance of strengthening the enforcement of existing legislation, improving access to courts, complaints mechanisms and institutions and strengthening the capacity of institutions such as the South African Human Rights Commission and of organizations for persons with disabilities to support persons with disabilities in gaining access to justice. 73 76. A number of Governments appear to be working to ensure that both public and privately developed housing meets accessibility requirements. In Singapore, the Housing and Development Board has committed itself to ensuring that barrier -free housing is implemented across its public housing sector, in which 80 per cent of the population resides, including through measures such as increasing elevator availability, Braille signage and voice synthesizers. 74 In Brazil, in the Act on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (2015), it is required tha t 3 per cent of publicly funded housing be available to persons with disabilities. 77. A number of jurisdictions have adopted a “housing first” model to address homelessness. 75 The model provides chronically homeless persons, in particular those with psychosocial impairments and/or drug or alcohol addictions, with long term housing and the necessary forms of support. 78. A number of countries identified their national human rights institutions as having the jurisdiction to oversee the implementation of the right to housing for persons with disabilities, including Finland, Namibia and the Republic of Korea. 76 79. Subnational and local governments have also initiated important efforts to address the right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities. Articl e XIV (1) of the World Charter for the Right to the City provides for universal realization of the right to housing and emphasizes the need for accessible and suitable locations. In article X of the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City, it is recommended that cities adopt regulations to ensure the accessibility of housing for persons with disabilities. Some cities have sought to initiate inclusive zoning policies to prevent restrictions on supportive housing. Others have adopted measures to address affordability, such as housing benefits and/or allowances, grants or loans for required adaptations, lower interest rates on housing loans and reduced housing taxes for families with a family member with a disability. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 80. Few marginalized groups suffer such egregious violations of the right to housing as do persons with disabilities. Across the world, they are commonly homeless, institutionalized and subjected to cruel and inhuman treatment for __________________ 72 73 74 75 76 17-11724 South Africa, Department of Social Development, “White paper on the rights of persons with disabilities”, No. 230, 9 March 2016, pp. 89-91. Ibid., pp. 78-80. See Singapore, Housing and Development Board, “Towards a barrier-free environment in public housing”. Available from www.bca.gov.sg/BarrierFree/others/HDB.pdf. See submissions from Finland, the European Federation of National Organisations on Working with the Homeless and the European Disability Forum for the present report. See the submissions of those countries for the present report. 21/23