The Special Rapporteur was appointed in September 2000 by the Commission resolution 2000/9, whose mandate would focus on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living. The Commission requested him during his three-year mandate to, inter alia: report on the status of the realization of the rights relevant to adequate housing; promote cooperation among and assistance to Governments in their efforts to secure these rights; apply a gender perspective; and develop a regular dialogue with Governments, relevant United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, international organizations in the field of housing rights, inter alia the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), non governmental organizations and international financial institutions.
The legal basis of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur is drawn from article 25, paragraph 1, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 11, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and article 27, paragraph 3, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and on the right to non discrimination as reflected in article 14, paragraph 2 (h), of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and article 5 (e) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The Special Rapporteur submitted his first report (E/CN.4/2001/51) to the Commission at its fifty-seventh session, in which he called for a broad interpretation of the right to adequate housing. The report included a review of international legal instruments on the right to adequate housing, highlighted some of the significant impediments to realizing the right to adequate housing and suggested priority issues that needed to be addressed by the international community, including: gender discrimination; land; access to potable water; issues of economic globalization and its compatibility with human rights, and particularly its impact on housing; the international cooperation dimension; forced evictions and poverty; and global social policies and their interface with human rights.
In March 2002, the Special Rapporteur submitted his second report to the Commission (E/CN.4/2002/59), outlining his various activities carried out during the past year. In addition, the report had two thematic focuses: one on discrimination and segregation in the context of follow-up to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, and the other on the impact of globalization on the realization of housing rights. He also undertook missions to Romania (Jan 2002) and Mexico (Mar 2002) as well as a visit to the occupied Palestinian territories (Jan 2002).
In its resolutions 2001/28 and 2002/21 adopted by the Commission, the Commission further requested him, in the fulfilment of his mandate: (a) to give particular emphasis to practical solutions with regard to the implementation of the rights relevant to his mandate, on the basis of pertinent information, notably on best practices, including on domestic legal enforcement of these rights, from Governments, relevant United Nations agencies and non governmental organizations; (b) to facilitate the provision of technical assistance; and (c) to review the interrelatedness of adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living with other human rights. These resolutions also called upon all States "to give full effect to housing rights, including through domestic development policies at the appropriate level of government and with international assistance and cooperation, giving particular attention to the individuals, most often women and children, and communities living in extreme poverty, and to security of tenure".
