In many countries unlawful evictions of squatters, low-income renters, indigenous peoples and other vulnerable groups with inadequate or no legal security of tenure are carried out with relative ease. In 2004 UN-HABITAT responded to this problem by establishing the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions (AGFE) that reports to the Executive Director of UN-HABITAT. The Advisory Group’s mandate is to monitor forced evictions and to identify and promote alternatives such as in situ upgrading and negotiated resettlement.

The Members of the Advisory Group are individuals from civil society organisations, local authorities, central government and professionals in developing and developed countries. The Group is supported by a network of representatives from organisations in the fields of human settlement development, law, tenure policy and human rights.

In its first two biannual reports published in 2005 and 2007, AGFE documented more than two dozen cases of imminent or on-going forced evictions in many countries and presented successful alternative approaches. The reports were launched at news conferences held at the 20th and 21st sessions of the UN-HABITAT Governing Council, respectively.

An Executive Summary Report [EN] [ES] presents the main activities, achievements and challenges of the work carried out by AGFE since its inception in 2004. It makes clear recommendations to UN-HABITAT and proposes a Plan of Action for enhanced impact and effectiveness of the Group’s work towards alternative solutions to forced evictions.

Click here to view mission reports of the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions