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Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 41
- Paragraph text
- With the correct approach and support from the national government and outside agencies, the people directly affected by disasters and conflicts ought to remain directly involved despite the enormity of the challenges they face. This is particularly important in the areas of resettlement and reconstruction. The individuals, families and communities affected possess vital local knowledge and experience, and when working together can be an invaluable partner in designing and implementing creative solutions. Community-based reconstruction, linked to planning and reconstruction processes developed at the municipal and national levels, should be promoted wherever possible. The IASC guidelines accordingly advise agencies "In the planning and rehabilitation of housing and human settlements, [to] devise community-based strategies to maximize the participation of all sectors of affected communities (e.g. community housing teams). Local communities should be involved in decision-making regarding the location, design and infrastructure of housing and settlements to ensure that they are safe, habitable, accessible and culturally appropriate."
- 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
- Families
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 33
- Paragraph text
- In the wake of Hurricane Mitch, a combination of factors militated against satisfying the most basic housing needs of the affected Honduran population, much less the full realization of their right to adequate housing. Most analyses of post-Mitch responses conclude that both the country's government and the national emergency management system (as represented by its main agency, COPECO) were not adequately prepared to respond to the need of the victims. On the positive side, Hurricane Mitch led to the arrival of significant human and financial resources. Post-disaster housing response initiatives represented unprecedented opportunities to "build back better". In particular, many women gained access to land and participation through some of these donor-funded responses who insisted that the deeds to all reconstructed houses bear the names of the female spouses (instead of the males), which was justified by the assumption that "women won't sell". Other projects compromised by proposing that post-disaster housing be registered under joint title and then established as family patrimony.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- While people from all economic groups suffered from the effects of the hurricane, the damage disproportionately affected the most marginalized sectors of the population - poor women, peasants, indigenous groups. Significantly, many of these had been living under insecure tenure conditions in irregular settlements and inadequate housing, located in vulnerable areas exposed to strong winds, flooding and landslides. Although evacuation orders were issued, many refused to leave their homes for fear of losing their belongings, with disastrous and often fatal consequences. Vulnerability and in particular tenure insecurity was both the cause and effect of the disaster for such families. In the absence of officially recognized tenure rights, people ended up living on the fringes in dangerous areas, which due to their location were often worst affected by the hurricane. Any post-disaster response measures intended to form the basis for longer-term recovery would therefore have needed to address pre-existing insecurity, in order to provide a basis for the full realization of the right to adequate 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)
- Environment
- Humanitarian
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Ethnic minorities
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- This recognition of a multiplicity of legitimate tenure forms, together with the obligation to offer protection to those holding them, is of great importance in developing responses to housing destruction or the displacement of residents. Security of tenure is essential for the realization of the right to adequate housing and has a great impact on location as another fundamental element of adequacy. Paradoxically, the absence of such security is often a pre-existing contributory cause of conflict and vulnerability to disaster. In trying to address housing rights in post-disaster and post-conflict situations, it is therefore important to investigate the tenure security challenges presented by those situations. Post-crisis responses to housing destruction and/or displacement that fail to take this into account are likely to be counterproductive, and could even themselves become drivers of future conflicts, dispossession and exacerbation of vulnerabilities. On the other hand, timely and decisive responses built on informed assessment and analysis of those underlying challenges can contribute significantly to strategies for restoration, reconstruction and development.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 32
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- The right to housing is a central part of humanitarian action, from emergency shelter to longer-term accommodation and settlement. Until recently, however, shelter has been provided without consideration of the potential barriers for persons with disabilities.
- 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
- Persons with disabilities
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Homelessness as a global human rights crisis that demands an urgent global response 2016, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- While improved statistical data will be important to guide public policy and to hold governments accountable, adjustments will need to be made for the inevitable limitations, omissions and possible distortions in available data. Challenges associated with measuring homelessness should not be allowed to encourage policies that respond only to the visible and more easily measured forms of homelessness. Homelessness among single men living on the streets or using emergency shelters is more easily measured. It is more difficult to measure homelessness among women, children and young people living temporarily with family or friends, or among those most marginalized and precariously housed within informal settlements, who may be altogether left out of census or data collection. It is equally difficult to identify and measure homelessness among indigenous households or communities displaced from ancestral lands. Members of ethnic minorities may not wish to be identified by authorities. In Kenya, for instance, many of the people who become homeless because of ethnic violence did not want to be identified for fear of reprisal. Policy responses and assessments of progress in eliminating homelessness must make allowances for less visible dimensions of homelessness that may not have been measured.
- 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
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2016
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Reflection on work undertaken in first 14 years of the mandate; outline of opportunities and priorities 2014, para. 73
- Paragraph text
- As an adjunct to this work, the Special Rapporteur will also consider housing strategies in the context of post-disaster and post-conflict reconstruction. These issues have been at the heart of the work of the housing mandate holder in the past, and the Rapporteur is committed to continuing her engagement with key humanitarian actors whenever possible.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Mapping and framing security of tenure 2013, para. 95
- Paragraph text
- Progress has been made in recent years, with some humanitarian actors explicitly addressing issues of tenure for the most disadvantaged. For instance, several agencies have worked to record rights to housing and land at an early stage of displacement; to upgrade and regularize IDP settlements; and to support the most vulnerable through legal aid on housing, land and property issues, both in statutory and customary law 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- In spite of these advances, a number of grey areas and fault lines remain, as does the need for further focusing on better systemic arrangements for the integration of human rights perspectives in disaster response. Post-conflict and post-disaster responses remain plagued by disconnections between various phases of activity. Many bilateral donors called upon to provide the funding to address crises have remained rigidly caught within two main areas of engagement, i.e. 'humanitarian assistance' and 'development'. Budgets for these are not interchangeable and so the result has been an artificial separation of what should ideally be more interconnected activities. Current funding instruments (Flash Appeals) hardly allow for undertaking, from the start of humanitarian operations, the type of analyses and consultations which would help reduce the margins of uncertainty and error in resettlement, reconstruction, land tenure and the protection and realisation of the right to adequate housing. The history of applications by development agencies for FA funding for initiatives designed to build longer-term sustainability in humanitarian operations is a mixed one, and the scope for accessing resources to undertake critical policy development, legal reform and planning work has been very limited.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 46
- Paragraph text
- The case of post-conflict Rwanda illustrates the use of a top-down developmental approach to land allocation, resettlement and housing in an effort to deal with the legacy of dispossession and displacement in the years leading up to and immediately following the 1994 Genocide. The majority of Rwandans had experience of forced displacement, either within the country or to a second or even third country, a reality which has shaped all subsequent efforts to manage land issues and to realize housing rights. From 1997 the Government attempted to implement the imidugudu (villagization) model nationwide, requiring the entire rural population of Rwanda to be concentrated in rural villages instead of the traditionally scattered settlement patterns. Any further construction outside of dedicated village sites would be forbidden, while people were forced by the authorities to abandon and destroy their homes near their fields. Justified and pursued as an emergency shelter policy to deal with successive waves of approximately 2.5 million "old case" and "new case" refugees returning home after 1994, the imidugudu model had longer-term demographic, economic and governance goals. In the north-west of the country, it also served as a counterinsurgency measure in the context of incursions from ex-FAR and Interahamwe in Congo and violent reaction from Government troops.
- 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
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 40
- Paragraph text
- Ways need to be found around such obstacles, for at the heart of the matter lie the issues of ownership and accountability. In his 2006 report on lessons learned from the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery found that "It is a false trade-off to sacrifice local ownership for speed if that means short-circuiting the rights of affected populations to be informed in a timely manner about their choices, the assistance available to them, and any delays that are being experienced. The other side of this coin, of course, is accountability to the families and communities our recovery efforts are serving. Typically, demands for accountability come loudest from donors - private and institutional - and implementing agencies are more likely to focus on this kind of upward accountability. Too often, the less organized voices of the survivors are not heard, and this equally vital downward accountability is given second-priority at best. This is unfortunate, as a disaster's survivors are best placed to design the recovery strategy that best meets their needs. And they should be the ultimate judges of a recovery effort's success or failure".
- 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
- Families
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- The right to adequate housing can be severely compromised by disasters and conflicts, through damage and destruction, loss of records and the displacement of individuals, families and communities. While the numbers of people affected are often staggering, the impact of conflicts and disasters on this right should not be measured simply in terms of numbers of physical assets destroyed and people displaced. It should also and perhaps primarily be understood in terms of the extent of disruption of social relationships, networks and assets; destruction of home-centred livelihoods built up over many years; and the undermining of complex, multi-layered land tenure rights. Destruction of housing as a physical asset can be addressed through repair, rehabilitation and reconstruction. This is an urgent and difficult enough task in the aftermath of disasters and conflicts. Destruction of housing as a social asset, on the other hand, requires more multi-faceted and longer-term responses based on a deeper understanding of the tenure systems and histories of the affected settlements and, in particular, of their poorer and marginalized residents. It also requires vigilance in the course of the restoration and reconstruction to ensure that previously held tenure rights are not undermined or diminished in any way but are, instead, protected and where possible strengthened.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- There are similarities and differences between post-disaster and post-conflict contexts. While conflicts and disasters often result in large-scale human displacement, deliberate destruction of land records and systems is far more likely in post-conflict than in post-disaster contexts, as is the extent of secondary occupation of homes of those displaced. Housing rights issues in post-conflict situations arise mainly as a consequence of International Humanitarian Law or International Human Rights Law violations committed during the conflict. In post-conflict situations there is therefore the question of how to redress the situation, how to guarantee justice to the victims and support the reconciliation process. Peace agreements and the establishment of transitional justice law frameworks and mechanisms can constitute an opportunity to address the right to adequate housing during post-conflict situations but everything depends on if and how these questions are addressed by these mechanisms and frameworks. The fact that conflicts can last for a long time also implies important differences between post-conflict and post-disaster situations. While taking account of such differences, this report will mainly focus on common issues and questions that arise in both 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)
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 57
- Paragraph text
- The above examples also illustrate the existing disconnect between the emergency phase and longer-term recovery, as well as the difficulties of the international community, in many contexts, to manage the transition from one to the other.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 55
- Paragraph text
- Land use planning post-disaster can be a powerful instrument to provide both a reference for reconstruction and a legal basis for action in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Post-disaster zoning can recognize de facto settlements, opening ground for investment in infrastructure and upgrading of hitherto unserviced and unplanned settlements in order to facilitate return and reconstruction.
- 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
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 50
- Paragraph text
- Post-disaster situations are likely to be characterized not only by massive damage to housing but also by mass displacement, disruption of social networks and relationships, damage or lack of access to basic services and loss of livelihoods, employment, assets, or land, which are all key factors that have an impact on enjoyment of the right to adequate housing. However, reconstruction and efforts to ensure durable solutions have too often focused on the most tangible aspects of housing (the physical structures). International organizations and Governments are prone to assume that housing reconstruction is the main priority for affected persons, rather than livelihoods or neighbourhood infrastructure. When housing is assessed it is assessed as a technical or economic sector rather than as a human right, and the focus is on building and construction standards and materials, and on the quality of emergency and transitional shelters. In some cases the focus on property restitution has also been to the detriment of rebuilding and improving the broader social, political or economic conditions required to support sustainable return - jobs, basic services and infrastructure, and security. A commentator stated that, the "house" had become the measure of success of the return process rather than the actual welfare of the people displaced from their homes.
- 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
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Instead, most initiatives to address disasters from a human rights perspective have taken place with respect to specific groups, notably internally displaced persons and refugees. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement are essential in this regard. They have been recognized as a significant international framework for the protection of internally displaced persons in both post-conflict and post-disaster situations. While attention was at first geared to the protection of internally displaced persons in conflict and post-conflict situations, in recent years policy and operational guidelines have also been developed with respect to natural disasters, expanding the scope of application to all persons affected by disasters, including but not limited to internally displaced persons. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee Operational Guidelines on the Protection of Persons in Situations of Natural Disasters (Inter-Agency Standing Committee Guidelines) is an important document in this regard. The Guidelines and the above-mentioned Guiding Principles recognize the right of persons displaced by conflict or disaster to durable solutions, namely, a return to their homes or places of habitual residence (and, as key condition for durable return, to have housing or land restored to them), relocation elsewhere or local integration.
- 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
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- While there are a number of standards and guidelines relevant to ensuring the right to adequate housing in post-disaster situations, they are often understood and applied in a fragmented manner. There are other more specific limitations too, as will be discussed.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
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
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Guiding Principles on security of tenure for the urban poor 2014, para. 65
- Paragraph text
- In humanitarian settings, women and children are particularly vulnerable to tenure insecurity, homelessness and other human rights violations. States should prioritize safe emergency shelter to women and children until durable housing solutions are established. States should ensure that women are able to access humanitarian assistance and exercise their right to return, restitution and resettlement regardless of their family status or whether their name is recorded on tenure documentation.
- 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
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Analysis of two alternative housing policies: rental and collective housing 2013, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Paradoxically, side by side with the housing affordability and availability crises there is also a phenomenon of millions of empty or under occupied housing units, a clear reflection of the ineffectiveness of the current model. For illustration, there are nearly 1 million empty homes in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of which 350,000 have been empty for more than six months; in the United States 14.2 million homes have been vacant for more than one year.
- 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
- Year
- 2013
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- To do this requires resources from within countries, bilateral and multilateral international donors, relief agencies and NGOs etc. With regard to post-disaster housing challenges: "Reducing the impact of natural disasters on poorer countries is directly related to their ability to access sufficient funding to reconstruct properly in the post-disaster period. Post-disaster funding stimulates economic activity and restores critical components of ongoing economic growth. The key is whether or not the country can access financing early in the post-disaster phase of recovery." Once accessed, allocation and use of those funds is also vitally important. If initial needs assessments are conducted on a competitive, sector-driven basis, this can result in competition between agencies for "their" projects and programmes, instead of much needed integration of forward-looking strategies. If such inputs are well used, crises resulting from disasters can in spite of all their negative impacts also be times of opportunity: "In post-disaster situations, intense periods of social rearrangement can occur, and legitimacy, authority and rules are much more fluid and open than perhaps at other times. While such situations present challenges such as low predictability and sometimes the overlooking of safeguards on the other hand they can also provide a window of opportunity for implementing positive changes. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that good intentions are grounded in 'Do no harm' principles for humanitarian 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)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 49
- Paragraph text
- The Rwandan Government remained in principle committed to the policy and re-launched the concept in 2007 following the promulgation of the 2004 Human Settlement Policy. In 2008, the Government announced plans to establish 30 pilot villages, one in every district, to encourage people to move into imidugudu through a system of positive incentives, such as the provision of agricultural tools and livestock. Major services, such as water sources and electricity supplies, have yet to be supplied in most cases, while many newly created villages have no services whatsoever. In addition, although the authorities stated their wish to be more open and to shift to an incentive-based rather than mandatory approach, the programme is still felt by many to be implemented in a "top-down" manner. Nevertheless the overall process is proceeding apace and the Government estimates that by May 2010 some 51 per cent of the rural population was located in imidugudu, a remarkably rapid increase from 22 per cent in 2008, and well on the way to the target for its Vision2020 objective of 70 per cent by 2014. The long-term social consequences of these achievements are still unclear. In adopting and implementing the policy there has been a blurring of humanitarian, development and "security" or population control agendas, in the absence of genuine consultation, negotiation and reconciliation. This, coupled with a lack of sufficient pro-poor urban settlement practices, may lead to future problems.
- 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
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- A useful example of the dangers of failing to deal with land tenure security challenges in a timely manner can be found in the case of post-conflict East Timor. It is estimated that during the violence that followed the 1999 referendum, 67,500 out of an estimated 170,000 houses (40 per cent of all housing stock) were rendered uninhabitable ; while approximately 70 per cent of all physical infrastructure was destroyed or rendered inoperable. Administrative documents, including land title records, were also destroyed or taken to Indonesia. Approximately 300,000 people fled or were forced into Indonesian West Timor; while an estimated 450,000 were internally displaced, out of a total population of 900,000. Houses left empty by the refugees were occupied by others, often because their own homes had been destroyed. Over the following months and years, returning refugees frequently found their homes occupied and had to pay the secondary occupants compensation for "guarding" or improving their homes so that they would leave. In many cases the secondary occupants refused to vacate, forcing the returnees to seek shelter elsewhere. This left an extraordinarily complex land and housing rights legacy for the transitional administration and future government to unravel and resolve. To add to the complexity, the post-referendum events took place against a historical backdrop of waves of dispossession and displacement and externally imposed land systems through Portuguese colonization, Japanese invasion and Indonesian takeover.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
Post conflict and post disaster reconstruction and the right to adequate housing 2011, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- However, numerous obstacles often stand in the way of rapid return, recovery and reconstruction. These can include dangers (e.g. damage to buildings, health risks, unstable ground); difficulty of access; inability of the authorities to provide services to the area; and lack of resources. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon the relevant authorities to take measures to overcome such obstacles with a minimum of delay. According to IASC guidelines: "After the emergency phase, persons displaced by the natural disaster should be granted the opportunity to choose freely whether they want to return to their homes and places of origin, to remain in the area to which they have been displaced, or to resettle to another part of the country. Their right of choice may not be subjected to any restrictions except those which are provided by law, and are necessary to protect national security, the safety and security of affected populations, public order (ordre public), safety, public health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others. In particular, the return of persons displaced by the disaster to their homes and places of origin should only be prohibited if these homes or places of origin are in zones where there are real dangers to the life or physical integrity and health of the affected persons. Restrictions should only last as long as such dangers exist and only be implemented if other, less intrusive, measures of protection are not available or possible."
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing in disaster relief efforts 2011, para. 42
- Paragraph text
- Concerns have also been expressed over what has been called "the business of reconstruction", whereby the planning, financing and implementation of reconstruction are outsourced to private companies. In some cases, outsourcing reconstruction without putting adequate safeguards in place has been associated with negative impacts on the adequacy and affordability of reconstruction as well as on people's ability to participate in and benefit from reconstruction efforts. In Chile, following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami of February 2010, the private sector reportedly played a central role in the reconstruction of urban centres and coastal areas. Following one of the main principles of the national reconstruction plan, families have the choice to decide whether to rebuild their homes on the same sites of the collapsed buildings or to acquire a previously existing or a newly built house. However, as housing reconstruction was supported mainly by subsidies attached to individual property, private constructors preferred to rebuild housing in new areas on the outskirts of towns, rather than the central areas from which many people had been displaced, where land and housing prices were much higher. Real estate companies were also said to pressure families to sell land and housing at very low prices in a moment where they were very vulnerable, in order to make way for private redevelopment. This shows that if left only to the market, new housing for the poorest will likely be in the peripheries.
- 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
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph
The right to adequate housing of persons with disabilities 2017, para. 31
- Original document
- Paragraph text
- Conflict and displacement also give rise to increased numbers of persons with disabilities. In Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Gaza Strip, for example, conflict has contributed to high numbers of persons with disabilities. At the same time, in each of those places, adequate, accessible housing is extremely scarce, with housing stock having been destroyed and a lack of access or specific policies blocking access to the materials and resources necessary to rebuild homes. In refugee camps, poorly lit and remotely located latrines can lead to difficult access and experiences of sexual violence for women with disabilities, while crowded, narrow walkways can result in persons with visual impairments falling into open sewers.
- 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
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2017
- Date added
- Aug 19, 2019
Paragraph