UNITED NATIONS	HS
	Commission on Human Settlements	Distr. GENERAL HS/C/17/INF/6 30 March 1999 ENGLISH ONLY

1. At its fourteenth session, the Commission on Human Settlements adopted resolution 14/6 of 5 May 1993, on the human right to adequate housing. Resolution 14/6 set in motion various processes increasing the role of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) (Habitat) in activities relating to the protection and promotion of the human right to adequate housing. The involvement by UNCHS (Habitat) in housing rights activities is predicated on the norms of the United Nations Charter, in particular Articles 55 and 56, and responds to the permanent and pervasive nature of human rights concerns within the overall objectives and functions of the United Nations. Increased attention to the human right to adequate housing by UNCHS (Habitat) comes at a time when all United Nations agencies are incorporating human rights activities into their work programmes, in conjunction with the mainstreaming of human rights concerns as an integral part of economic and social development.

2. The human right to adequate housing has been widely recognized throughout the body of international human rights law and regional human rights law. The human right to adequate housing, or at least constituent elements of it that right are found within the national legal structures of all States, albeit to varying degrees. The widespread legal recognition of this right, however, has been more difficult to achieve in respect of the actual people who are the beneficiaries of this right. The next step in international efforts to support housing rights should, therefore, entail a consolidation of the often disparate efforts which are currently in place, combined with the development of mechanisms to promote, not merely more law-making, but active, targeted and easily definable practical steps which, in many cases, can be taken by individuals, non-governmental organizations, Governments and intergovernmental organizations to secure the full realization of those rights.

3. The present report has been prepared pursuant to resolution 16/7 of 7 May 1997 of the Commission on Human Settlements on the realization of the human right to adequate housing, and has benefited from inputs received during the Expert Group Meeting on Housing Rights, convened jointly by UNCHS (Habitat) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights from 9 to 11 March 1999.

4. In addition to proposed actions at the local and national level that will contribute to the realization of the human right to adequate housing, the primary recommendation of the present report is the establishment of a United Nations housing rights programme. The programme would consist of various activities to support national and local level actions for the realization of housing rights and would be coordinated jointly by UNCHS (Habitat) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The suggested modalities of the programme are set out in chapter VI of the report. In order to promote the establishment of such an approach, UNCHS (Habitat) should lead efforts towards the launching and coordination of the United Nations housing rights programme, in order to ensure a United Nations system-wide approach to these rights, fully consistent with housing rights provisions established under international human rights law and as articulated by the Habitat Agenda.

5. The suggested United Nations housing rights programme has been designed to further the realization of existing State obligations to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the human right to adequate housing. A total of 28 specific actions related to the realization of housing rights have been identified; each of these could be acted upon within national and local frameworks. As key elements of the United Nations human rights programme, ten joint actions are proposed, which will be carried out by UNCHS (Habitat) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, followed by additional actions to be undertaken by each agency separately.

6. The attached report is circulated, in English only, as submitted by UNCHS (Habitat) and has not been formally edited.

1. The present report has been prepared pursuant to resolution 16/7 ‘The realization of the human right to adequate housing’, adopted by the Commission on Human Settlements, at its sixteenth session. The resolution took note with appreciation of the Executive Director’s report ‘Housing Rights: Strategy for the Progressive Realization of the Right to Adequate Housing’, contained in document HS/C/16/2/Add.2, and requested all States to take appropriate action in order to promote, protect and ensure the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, as outlined in paragraph 61 of the Habitat Agenda.

2. Resolution 16/7 also recommended that: "In addition to existing approved elements of their work programmes, a joint programme be elaborated between the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and the United Nations Centre for Human Rights, in order to assist States with the implementation of their commitments to ensure the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, as provided for in international instruments and in accordance with paragraphs 26 and 39 of the Habitat Agenda, taking into account the proposed housing rights strategy of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and relevant parts of the Habitat Agenda, to be coordinated with their respective Commissions." (Operative para. 2).

3. The resolution then requested: "The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) together with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights to cooperate and coordinate with other relevant United Nations agencies consistent with established mandates and available funding, and international housing organizations in order to promote the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing." (Operative para. 3).

4. UNCHS (Habitat) involvement in the area of housing rights comes at what is, in many respects, an opportune time. Not only has the stature, both legally and institutionally, of economic, social and cultural rights risen considerably in recent years (in particular within the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)), but equally, throughout the United Nations system the ‘mainstreaming of human rights concerns’ is well underway and affecting all agencies in one way or another. As outlined in the 1995 Housing Rights Strategy (annex 1, paras.17-26), involvement by the UN agencies in the area of human rights has expanded considerably in recent years, creating a situation whereby virtually all agencies have incorporated human rights themes into their work programmes. These moves are based firmly on the very foundation of the United Nations, the Charter, which explicitly recognizes that the Organization was formed ‘to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity of worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women’; ‘establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained’ and ‘to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom’.

5. These sentiments have been strengthened by the UN Secretary-General’s recent measures for reform which aim to incorporate human rights issues across the activities of the United Nations as a shared responsibility of all UN entities.1/  Indeed, such efforts have been underway in and by UNCHS (Habitat) for five years since the adoption by the Commission on Human Settlements of resolution 14/6 (Table 1). UNDP has also been particularly vigorous in recent years in its incorporation of human rights issues throughout its multi-faceted mandate as evidenced by the approach taken in its 1998 policy document Integrating human rights with sustainable human development, where UNDP asserts, for example, that it "should focus on promoting human rights, primarily through support for the development of national capacity in programming and through sustainable human development activities. The approach should be holistic and multidimensional, recognizing the mutual dependency and complementarity of sustainable human development and social, economic, cultural, civil and political rights. UNDP has also sought to mainstream its policies on human rights to ensure that these concerns pervade all aspects of its activities".

6. Extensive cooperation between UNCHS (Habitat) and the OHCHR will be fundamental to the success of the UN systemwide activities contributing to the full and progressive realization of the human right to adequate housing. Enhanced activity in support of the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights has formed a key aspect of the recent trust of activities of the OHCHR. In this context poverty in itself is emphasized as a violation of human rights. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has recently expressed her views on cooperation of OHCHR with UNDP and stated that:

8. The report comprises of six chapters. Chapter II analyzes practical aspects where effective actions can be taken in the realization process of the human right to adequate housing. These areas are defined as: Promoting the Right to Equal and Affordable Access to Housing Resources; Provision of the Right to Security of Tenure and Prevention of and Adequate Responses to Forced Evictions; Combatting Homelessness and Protecting the Rights of Homeless Persons; and Promoting the Right of Access to Legal and Other Remedies. Chapter III elaborates a framework where 28 national and local level actions in the context of respecting, protecting, promoting and fulfilling of housing rights are detailed. Chapter IV analyzes the role of the international community in contributing to the realization of housing rights. Chapter V elaborates on the possible actions of the proposed United Nations Housing Rights Programme which articulates 10 joint actions between the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the actions that can be taken separately by these respective organizations. Annex 1 elaborates on the normative basis for action with detailed information on the existing international instruments.

9. The process of the full and progressive realization of the human right to adequate housing can be enhanced by actions in practical areas related to housing development. While numerous activities can be undertaken in this context, particular attention should be paid on promoting practical measures which can be readily and realistically implemented by States and other actors. In elaborating such practical aspects in the process of realizing the human right to adequate housing, a range of cross-cutting issues should be addressed. In addition, key obstacles preventing the widespread enjoyment of the human right to adequate housing should be delineated and particular measures which can be undertaken to overcome such hinderances should be identified. In recognition of the complex nature of housing rights, four areas for priority action in pursuit of the full and progressive realization of housing rights will be addressed, each of which form key core contents of how the human right to adequate housing has been defined under international human rights law and which are equally fundamental to increasing the scale by which this right is satisfied. As such, this chapter will explore the cross-cutting issues, the key obstacles preventing the realization of this right, followed by a more thorough analysis of four areas for priority attention and action. Chapter III will then disaggregate a wide range of specific and practical actions which can be undertaken by all stakeholders, particularly by States, in support of the realization process of housing rights.

Cross-cutting issues

10. Any successful initiative designed to promote the realization of the right to adequate housing will invariably be formulated on the basis of several cross-cutting issues which will feature throughout all related activities and projects. These issues will include the mainstreaming of women’s rights throughout all aspects of the realization process of housing rights; a recognition of the indispensable role of civil society and NGOs; the importance of the broadly-defined principle of non-discrimination; understanding the multi-faceted role of the international financial institutions with respect to the realization of the right to adequate housing; the importance of developing an appropriate policy formulation related to all aspects of the housing rights implementation process and of involving people as actors in the housing process and not as mere passive recipients of actions undertaken by others; and finally the necessity of working with and involving as many stakeholders as possible within all activities of this realization process.11. Particular attention will be paid to ensuring that gender perspectives pervade all elements in the realization process of housing rights. In this regard, encouragement should be given to the promotion of compliance with obligations and commitments concerning the legally recognized rights of women to land, property, inheritance and adequate housing including security of tenure, the review of relevant laws, policies, customs and traditions, and, as appropriate, the need to amend and repeal laws and policies which deny women security of tenure and equal access and rights to land, property and housing. Further encouragement should be given to States to provide sufficient resources to assist women whose housing rights have been violated, for instance, by providing sufficient funds to establish women’s shelters or refuges. There remains a compelling need for training and research on how most effectively to mainstream women’s issues, on how most effectively to collect and distribute disaggregated information on women’s housing rights and on how to avoid in the context of restitution or elsewhere property becomes exclusive property of the man, to the obvious detriment of women.

12. The rights of particularly vulnerable groups should be promoted and adequate consideration should be given to securing full and sustainable access for disadvantaged groups requiring special measures of assistance, including the elderly, children, the physically and mentally disabled, persons with HIV/AIDS, refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers, persons with persistent health problems affected by their housing, the terminally ill and persons residing in disaster prone areas. This approach will be a reflection of the assertions of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights when it emphasized that housing "policies and legislation should not be designed to benefit already advantaged social groups at the expense of others".2/

13. The role of civil society in the housing rights process and the corresponding emphasis on the democratic residential control of housing is an additionally important element of the right to adequate housing. As such, it should be emphasized that all persons, in particular women, have the right to participate fully and democratically in any and all decisions affecting national or local policies concerning their housing, including where relevant design, development, neighbourhood renovation or improvement, management policies and services, and that all persons have the right to influence decisions affecting the housing in which they live and to adapt their residences in a manner reflecting personal wishes, in an environment where all persons have the right to form, join and/or participate in the lawful activities of any association for the promotion and protection of her or his interests, whether political, economic, social or cultural. The establishment of the right to adequate housing also implies the recognition of the right to popular participation throughout the housing sphere, including the right of citizens to influence and decide upon any housing laws or policies affecting them and the right of full participation of community-based and non-governmental organizations throughout the entire housing process, focusing in particular on the full involvement of women and women’s organizations in these processes. These issues, too, will need to be consistently included in the process of the realization of housing rights.

Overcoming Obstacles

14.    Despite the widespread recognition of the human right to adequate housing and the clear normative basis for action (see Annex 1), this right continues to face often severe obstacles preventing its full realization. Some of the more prominent obstacles to the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing include: legal and administrative hurdles, the inability of persons to acquire secure and affordable land, the lack of access to services and infrastructure, racial discrimination, forced evictions, excessive income thresholds to enter public housing, housing rights may be recognized but not as an identifiable individual entitlement, inconsistent monitoring of levels of implementation, gender-based discrimination, special obstacles experienced by disabled persons, refugees and asylum seekers, displaced persons, returnees and other vulnerable groups, a lack of awareness and information of relevant rights and programmes, obstructive attitudes by public officials to housing rights claims, the lack of security of tenure, the non-application of law, the deliberate exclusion of certain groups from the housing market, the lack of enforcement possibilities of these rights before independent courts of law, the lack of a clear definition of responsibilities and duties by the State and other actors, the lack of identification of target groups, insufficient public expenditure devoted to securing housing rights, insufficient protection against homelessness, insufficient statistical information and data on homelessness, inadequate State intervention in the housing market, insufficient levels of construction of social housing, insufficient attention to housing renovation and issues of housing inadequacy, insufficient political commitment and the failure of States and the international community to implement a community-based approach to housing rights, the lack of explicit attention to this right by both the human settlements and human rights communities, the increasing withdrawal of the State and public sector from the provision and operation of social services and the housing arena, including a re-allocation of resources and functions in line with changing policies resulting from the current emphasis on economic liberalization, the insufficient attention paid to the social function of housing and to the rights of women and others. A key feature of initiatives of the realization process should therefore be to promote activities explicitly designed to overcome these and other obstacles restricting the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing.

Priority Areas for Action

15. The realization process of housing rights should be addressed by broad-based, practically-oriented, inclusive and gender-sensitive initiatives which will be confronted with a challenging series of objectives, requiring a prioritization of actions. It is felt that since the full and progressive realization of the human right to adequate housing can be enhanced by actions in a number of practical areas relating to specific components of housing rights, it is possible to focus on four main themes directly linked to the realization of this right. These are: 1. Promoting the Right to Equal and Affordable Access to Housing Resources; 2. Provision of Right to Security of Tenure and Prevention of and Adequate Responses to Forced Evictions; 3. Combatting Homelessness and Protecting the Rights of Homeless Persons; and 4. Promoting the Right of Access to Legal and Other Remedies. These themes, in turn, will form the basis for the specific actions outlined in chapter III.

Promoting the Right to Equal and Affordable Access to Housing Resources

16. A fundamental tenet of the human right to adequate housing recognizes that this right must be subject to full enjoyment on the basis of equality of treatment and non-discrimination for all beneficiaries. All groups must, therefore, be protected by procedural and substantive equality rights with respect to the enjoyment of the right to adequate housing. In this regard, due attention should be paid to protecting and promoting the equality rights of the following groups with particular respect to the human right to adequate housing: Homeless citizens (no permanent residence); Pavement dwellers (permanent residence on pavements); Slum dwellers (residence in informal settlements, tenements, squatter areas, etc); Public sector tenants (residents of social/public housing units); Private sector tenants (residents of private sector housing units); Owner-occupiers (own and reside in own home); Victims of eviction, displacement, demolition, natural disasters, etc (temporarily or permanently displaced and dehoused); Workers (employees of employers responsible for the provision of housing); Families (families of every size or status); Women (all women of any status); Children (all children of any status); Sexual minorities (gay men and lesbians); Disabled persons (all physically and mentally disabled persons, including persons with chronic health problems); Migrant workers (non-nationals employed in third countries); Elderly persons (all persons over 60 years of age); Refugees and asylum seekers (all refugees and asylum seekers legally within third countries or who entered these countries according to article 31 of the Convention on the Status of Refugees); Internally displaced persons (persons who have fled their homes as a result of conflict, persecution or a well-founded fear of being persecuted or having her/his rights violated); Returnees (persons voluntarily returning to their homes or places of habitual residence after being refugees or displaced persons); Low-income groups (all groups living under, at or near to the accepted poverty line in any society); Rural dwellers (residents of non-urbanized areas); Nomads, travellers, Roma (persons without a permanent abode); Ethnic, national, racial, social or other (minority) group (all members of any distinct groups); Indigenous peoples (all members of societies which self-identify as indigenous peoples); Civilians and other victims of war and armed conflict (all non-combatants affected by war, including internally displaced persons); and Occupied populations (all persons belonging to people's occupied by another State).

17. Discrimination in the housing sphere can be a severe impediment to the enjoyment of the human right to adequate housing by all persons. As evidenced by the manner by which the apartheid authorities in pre-democratic South Africa used discrimination in the area of housing to entrench privilege and prevent equality and the way acts of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda and elsewhere rely upon discriminatory initiatives designed to deprive certain groups from their housing, blatantly unjust, biased and cruel measures often use the housing sphere as a terrible springboard towards achieving even worse objectives. It should be noted that article 2(2) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights included the right to exercise the right to housing and other social and economic rights free of discrimination based on "race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status" imposes an immediate obligation on the State to protect citizens from discrimination in access to food, clothing, housing and in all other social and economic rights. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: "Article 2 is of particular importance to a full understanding of the Covenant and must be seen as having a dynamic relationship with all of the other provisions of the Covenant. It describes the nature of the general legal obligations undertaken by States parties to the Covenant. Those obligations include both what may be termed (following the work of the International Law Commission) obligations of conduct and obligations of result. While great emphasis has sometimes been placed on the difference between the formulations used in this provision and that contained in the equivalent article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it is not always recognized that there are also significant similarities. In particular, while the Covenant provides for progressive realization and acknowledges the constraints due to the limits of available resources, it also imposes various obligations which are of immediate effect. Of these, two are of particular importance in understanding the precise nature of States parties' obligations. One of these ... is the "undertaking to guarantee" that relevant rights "will be exercised without discrimination...."3/

18. It is within the power of all States, notwithstanding their economic situation, to take steps to ensure that the right to adequate housing can be exercised in an environment free from any form of discrimination based on level of income, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, creed, age, family status, sexual orientation, presence of children, receipt of welfare or public assistance, medical status, citizenship, political opinion, employment status or social condition. Local governments can assist in this process by ensuring maximum freedom of choice in the selection of housing and by legislating against arbitrary discrimination against any person in the sale, rental or lease of housing and ensuring an adequate supply of affordable land accessible to the all sectors of society. Moreover, the taking of steps to ensure that all persons have access to judicial or other effective means of enforcing laws prohibiting all forms of discrimination and the establishment of national and local judicial and other bodies to receive housing-related discrimination complaints will provide a large measure of protection. The creation or enhancement of programmes of housing finance specifically designed to benefit lower-income groups has often proven instrumental in expanding access for all groups to adequate housing.

19. In elaborating the individual and group legal entitlements implied with the recognition of housing rights within article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its General Comment No. 4 (1991) asserts that various principles (all of which also find recognition within the Habitat Agenda) provide a context for defining housing "adequacy" and in determining the level to which the right to adequate housing is in place in any given society. As such, all persons should have rights to both equality of treatment and non-discrimination, as well as to a certain level of adequacy with respect to their housing. Among these are the right to Availability of Services, Materials and Infrastructure: "All beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing should have sustainable access to natural and common resources, potable drinking water, energy for cooking, heating and lighting, sanitation and washing facilities, food storage, refuse disposal, site drainage and emergency services"; the right to housing which is Habitable: "Adequate housing must be habitable, in terms of providing the inhabitants with adequate space and protecting them from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind or other threats to health, structural hazards and disease vectors. The physical safety of occupants must also be guaranteed" and to housing which is Accessible: "Adequate housing must be accessible to those entitled to it. Disadvantaged groups must be accorded full and sustainable access to adequate housing resources. Thus, such disadvantaged groups as the elderly, children, the physically disabled, the terminally ill, HIV-positive individuals, persons with persistent medical problems, the mentally ill, victims of natural disasters, people living in disaster-prone areas and other groups should be ensured some degree of priority consideration in the housing sphere. Both housing law and policy should take fully into account the special housing needs of these groups". Equality-driven approaches to housing rights may include a range of measures including the carrying out of squatter/slum upgrading programmes and land regularization schemes designed to strengthen the housing rights of the communities involved, the adoption of legislation availing all dwellers of an enforceable right to safe, healthy and habitable housing, the creation of legal obligations on behalf of private and public landlords to maintain all rental premises in a reasonable state of repair and fit for habitation from the perspective of human health, security and environmental protection, and to maintain housing and facilities, and to ensure housing adequacy in all dwellings.

20. The right to adequate housing also implies a right to housing which is affordable. While affordability is difficult to define in global terms, General Comment No. 4 stipulates in a universally pertinent manner that:

Provision of Right to Security of Tenure and Prevention of and Adequate Responses to Forced Evictions

22. It is now widely recognized and accepted that the universal conferral of security of tenure by States - in owner occupied and rental housing as well as for informal occupation of land and property - remains one of the key measures States can take to begin effective processes leading towards the full realization of the human right to adequate housing. This is particularly true given the comparative ease by which forced evictions can be carried out against squatters, renters, indigenous peoples and others with inadequate or no legal security of tenure. Moreover, countless examples reveal that as security of tenure increases, so too do individual, household and community investments in the improvement of personal homes and neighbourhoods, which in turn assist in improving standards of living and the prospects of housing rights. All of this must be seen in light of the need to recognize that secure tenure can take many forms and that all of them should be viewed within a housing rights framework.

23. General Comment No. 4 on the right to adequate housing addresses security of tenure in the context of entitlements to be enjoyed by all beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing. These sentiments have been repeatedly reaffirmed in other human rights texts, national laws and within the Habitat Agenda. The Comment itself asserts that:

25. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has displayed a clear willingness to suggest that States parties must make every effort, in accordance with their ‘maximum of available resources’ to fulfil the positive obligations arising from the normative framework of the Covenant concerning the provision of security of tenure, if they are to comply with it. For instance:

27. While homelessness represents the most severe violation of housing rights linked to State acts of omission, the practice of illegal and/or forced evictions represents the most dramatic act in violation of the human right to adequate housing. Forced evictions are carried out in several countries all around the world, and at present, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions estimates that as of the latter part of 1998, more than fourteen million dwellers were threatened with pending forced eviction under existing eviction plans in all regions.6/

28. The scale of past and pending illegal and/or forced evictions is surprising given the frequent condemnation of this practice by the international community. Indeed, were States to comply in full with the terms of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights General Comment’s No. 7 on Forced Evictions (1997), General Comment No. 4 on the Right to Adequate Housing (1991), UN Commission on Human Rights resolution 1993/77 and other sources of international law and pronouncements regulating these practices, evictions would dramatically decrease. Few Governments monitor and report on the practice of illegal and forced evictions, with particularly limited attention paid to those evictions carried out without due process of law or which are otherwise unlawful. Even in the event of lawful evictions, far too many are carried out not in full conformity with international standards which recognizes the right not to become homeless nor the right to due resettlement, relocation or compensation. While it was not until 1990 that a UN human rights body first declared a State party to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to have not respected the housing rights obligations found within the Covenant, when it did so, the Committee declared that the Dominican Republic had violated this treaty due to the practice of forced evictions, by stating that:

30. Homelessness represents the most obvious and severe manifestation of the unfulfillment of the human right to adequate housing. While estimates on scale of homelessness are invariably difficult to ascertain with precision, it is generally mentioned in the relevant United Nations documents that there are about 100 million homeless persons in the world. Few, if any, countries have entirely eliminated homelessness and in many nations this phenomenon is clearly increasing rather than declining, and further action is clearly required to eradicate homelessness.

31. Although it is generally not the case that the State is obliged to construct housing for every homeless person who requests it on demand, this cannot be discounted out of hand. There are laws and jurisprudence in a significant number of States indicating that under certain circumstances, the State is legally required to provide particular persons or groups of persons with adequate housing in an expedient manner. The Expert Group Meeting on the Human Right to Adequate Housing, jointly convened by UNCHS and the OHCHR, held in January 1996 declared, for instance, that "among the core areas of the State role in realizing the human right to adequate housing are the provision of security of tenure, prevention (reduction) of discrimination in the housing sphere, prevention of illegal and mass evictions, elimination of homelessness and promotion of participatory processes for individuals and families in need of housing. In specific cases, the State may have to provide direct assistance, including provision of housing units, to people affected by disasters (natural and man-made) and to the most vulnerable groups in society". To argue, therefore, that housing rights obligations never signify the substantive provision of a home by the State to those homeless persons in particular need does not entirely correspond to practical realities. In the United Kingdom, a Homeless Persons Act requires local councils to provide adequate housing accommodation to homeless families and homeless persons in priority need. Legislation in Finland makes it mandatory for local government authorities to provide housing resources for the severely handicapped under certain circumstances (Art. 8(2) Act No. 380/1987). Further laws, including an amendment to the Child Welfare Act (No. 683/1983), require that local government must rectify inadequate housing conditions or, as the case may be, provide for housing when inadequate or nonexistent housing causes the need for special child welfare or constitutes a substantial hindrance to the rehabilitation of the child or the family.

32. Additional examples of this nature could also be provided, but the main issue with respect to homelessness remains the frequent unwillingness, and in some cases (but by all means not all), the inability of Governments to - in accordance with international human rights law - devote the ‘maximum of available resources’ towards the full realization of the right to adequate housing. As such, a judicially enforceable substantive right to adequate housing clearly remains the exception to the rule. Nevertheless, encouragement should be given to the recognition of rights within States availing homeless individuals, couples or families to an enforceable right to the provision by public authorities of adequate, self-contained affordable land or housing space, of a public, private or cooperative nature, and which is consistent with human rights standards. Additional encouragement should be given to the creation within all States of administrative capacities to monitor, assist and ensure that the housing rights of chronically ill-housed groups, those with special housing requirements or those with difficulties acquiring adequate housing shall be accorded a measure of priority, in both the housing laws and policies of all governments. Special attention should be paid to the essential homelessness of women given the frequent absence of equal rights for women to housing and land.

33. States will need to maintain consistent and growing diligence in combating homelessness by actually devoting the ‘maximum of available resources’ to solving homelessness by, among others things, increasing and properly targeting public expenditure on housing programmes designed to prevent, address and eliminate homelessness from the social fabrics of all nations. States should ensure that subsidies and public expenditure on housing truly benefit lower-income groups and that these are designed to provide the most efficient and effective coverage for social and other groups in most need and that popular housing finance programmes, the provision of low-interest housing credits and subsidies for low-income groups, and the support of popular housing savings schemes are all developed with a view to effectively combating homelessness.

34. Governments may also find that the development of specific, time-coded benchmarks for ending homelessness, accompanied by clear measures to prevent homelessness such as rehabilitating existing housing, encouraging private sector involvement to increase low-income housing stock, ensuring that all who need it are afforded rental assistance, focusing on the essential homelessness of children and women, ensuring that homeless persons have access to loans, credit and capital through the provision of subsidies by housing finance institutions, expanding access to affordable and sound building materials, the instigation of effective measures of urban land reform, updating building codes and other measures may assist in considerably reducing, and eventually, ending homelessness

Promoting the Right of Access to Legal and Other Remedies

35. States should ensure that domestic legal and other remedies are progressively ensured and that international law is progressively applied within domestic legal systems. Judicial remedies in the case of alleged violations or non-fulfilment of housing rights are crucial for accountability, and a properly formulated norm will promote a democratic government.9/ Many elements of the right to housing are, according to the Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights, ‘inherently justiciable’. Some of the elements which are subject to judicial consideration and potential remedy, and which should find clear and accessible recognition within all States, include the following: a) protection against arbitrary, unreasonable, punitive or unlawful forced evictions and/or demolitions, the right to appeal against planned evictions sanctioned by the judiciary and the right to claim compensation and/or restitution after an eviction has occurred; b) security of tenure; c) non-discrimination and equality of access or allocation to housing; d) housing affordability and accessibility; e) tenant’s rights, including the right to judicial protection against illegal action by landlords relating to rent levels, maintenance or the imposition of unhealthy living conditions; f) the right to equality and equal protection and benefit of the law; g) equality of access to land, basic civic services, building materials and amenities; h) equitable access to credit, subsides and financing on reasonable terms for disadvantaged groups; i) the right to special measures to ensure adequate housing for households with special needs or lacking necessary resources; j) the right to the provision of appropriate emergency housing to the poorest section of society; k) the right to participation in all aspects of the housing sphere; and l) the right to a clean environment and safe and secure habitable housing. The Special Rapporteur continues by stating his conviction that "the right to adequate housing can be legally enforced against the States which are not fulfilling their obligations", and that "States must ensure the provision of domestic remedies for each of these fundamental aspects and core contents of the human right to adequate housing".

36. Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the treaty containing the singularly most important legal source of housing rights under international human rights law), all States possess a minimum core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of essential levels of each of the rights found in. As such, any State in which any significant number of individuals is deprived basic shelter and housing is, prima facie failing to perform its obligations under the Covenant.10/ Consequently, it is evident that governments need to develop effective and efficient means of preventing acts and omissions constituting violations of the right to adequate housing. In particular, States and other actors should comply with the Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1997)11/. Attention should be paid to all housing rights violations, not only forced evictions. For example, a general decline in living and housing conditions, directly attributable to policy and legislative decisions by States parties, and in the absence of accompanying compensatory measures, would violate internationally recognized housing rights standards.12/ Similarly, acts of racial or other forms of discrimination in the housing sphere, demolition or destruction of housing as a form of punishment, failing to reform or repeal legislation inconsistent with the contents of housing rights and a range of additional actions have been declared in principle, to constitute further violations of the right to adequate housing.13/

37. Efforts should be made to ensure that various legal remedies are available, to ensure that access is provided to courts, tribunals, administrative bodies or any other mechanism which guarantees an impartial and objective review of the case or complaint in question, and an effective remedy and that international human rights law standards are used at a minimum as ‘interpretive aides’ towards defining and enforcing relevant domestic legal provisions. Equally, normative consistency should be promoted ensuring a harmonization of national and international legal standards and concomitant obligations and that any legislation found or considered to be incompatible with international housing rights standards should be appropriately revised, amended or repealed.

38. Steps should also be taken to ensure that all housing rights beneficiaries should be ensured the right to access to legal aid. In this respect the fundamentally important role of housing rights lawyers at the grassroots level to support the homeless and inadequately housed must receive increased attention. A range of additional remedial measures should be considered as important ways of strengthening the right to adequate housing, including judicial training in housing rights law, the establishment or enhancement of alternative dispute settlement processes and mediation as an option when judicial remedies are not available, the creation of national human rights and/or ombudsman institutions with clear legal mandates to pursue housing rights issue, the expansion of criminal liability to include housing rights violations, the creation in all States of mechanisms for sustainably monitoring compliance with housing rights, the development of measures to promote access to any and all information, whether private or public, concerning their existing and/or potential housing, including information relating to legal housing rights guarantees, the content of relevant housing laws, housing supply, the location of unused housing or housing for rent, environmental hazards in close proximity to housing, and so forth. The promotion of the application of fair and equitable urban land reform efforts, where possible, with a view to ensuring a sufficient supply of affordable urban land should also be attempted.

39. The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has attempted to help to promote the adoption of national laws within States parties with a view to promoting compliance with the Covenant’s housing rights norms, as well as towards ensuring overall legal consistency between relevant national and international obligations. For instance: The Committee requests the Government to apply existing housing rights provisions in the Constitution and for that purpose to take such measures to facilitate and promote their application. Such measures could include: (a) adoption of comprehensive housing rights legislation; (b) legal recognition of the right of affected communities to information concerning any Governmental plans actually or potentially affecting their rights; (c) adoption of urban reform legislation which recognizes the contribution of civil society in implementing the Covenant and addresses questions of security of tenure, the regularization of land ownership arrangements, etc."14/

The Committee also urges the Government seriously to consider the embodiment into domestic law of the right to housing15/.

40. Monitoring and preventing housing rights violations form crucial elements of an effective approach towards securing the full realization of the human right to adequate housing. Very few States, however, have developed the administrative measures necessary to ensure Government wide approaches to housing rights obligations. In this light, States should be encouraged to adopt national housing strategies defining the objectives for the development of the housing sector, identifying the resources available to meet these goals, the most cost-effective way of using them and setting out the responsibilities and time-frame for the implementation of the necessary measures. For both reasons of relevance and effectiveness, as well as in order to ensure respect for other human rights, such a strategy should reflect extensive genuine consultation with, and participation by, all those affected, including the homeless, the inadequately housed and their representatives, and include legal protection of housing rights for all people without discrimination under the constitution and other national laws; facilitating co-ordination between ministries, regional and local authorities in order to reconcile related policies with housing rights obligations, measures to reduce land and housing speculation, regulation of the housing market, promoting public debate on national housing policies and strategies to ensure the full realization of housing rights, measures to expand the coverage of housing subsidies, assessing the degree to which the right to housing remains unsatisfied or denied, providing accessible legal remedies and redress procedures, educating government and other officials concerning the legal implications of housing rights and monitoring and identifying where and to what extent the right is not in place.

41. The implementation of an effective housing rights strategy would be facilitated by the establishment of Governmental Offices for Housing Rights responsible for coordinating the national housing rights strategies, monitoring the national housing rights situation and preventing violations on housing rights. A key function of such offices would involve the promotion of understanding and awareness of the vital importance of local government in securing the practical realization of housing rights, and how local government can most effectively work with civil society organizations towards the full realization of housing rights. National housing rights offices should also be responsible for monitoring developments in States with regard to housing law and policy to ensure that no retrogressive measures of any kind are undertaken with respect to the right to adequate housing, focusing in particular on preventing the repeal of legislation or policy recognizing and protecting any core element of housing rights and place emphasis on precluding any of the following acts of commission which could constitute retrogressive measures: the formal removal or suspension of legislation necessary for the continued enjoyment of housing rights, the active denial of housing rights to particular individuals or groups, whether through legislated or enforced discrimination, the active support for measures adopted by third parties which are inconsistent with housing rights obligations, the adoption of legislation or policies which are manifestly incompatible with pre-existing legal obligations relating to these rights, unless it is done with the purpose and effect of increasing equality and improving the realization of economic, social and cultural rights of the most vulnerable groups; the calculated obstruction of, or halt to, the progressive realization of housing rights, and the reduction or diversion of specific public expenditure, when such reduction or diversion results in the non-enjoyment of housing rights and is not accompanied by adequate measures to ensure minimum subsistence rights for everyone.

42. Finally, national benchmarks outlining concrete targets leading to the most expeditious progressive and full realization of the right to adequate housing should be developed in all States. Such benchmarks could be based on a scale measuring ‘progressive realization’, or in instances of decline ‘regressive non-realization’. In recognition of the importance of local mechanisms designed to promote, implement and monitor progress with respect to housing rights, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has suggested to several States that they establish new national housing institutions. For instance:

45. The obligations of States to secure housing rights for those entitled to the right as enhanced in existing international legal instruments and the role of civil society organizations in this process are extensive and complex. It is through the wide net these obligations cast that the right to adequate housing has come to represent such promise to those persons who have yet to achieve access to housing rights. Measures to achieve progress in the full and progressive realization of the human right to adequate housing should be designed to adequately address each layer of obligation, and that only in this comprehensive manner can nationwide approaches achieve success. These obligations may be analyzed in four groups, to respect, to protect, to promote and to fulfil. This methodology of distinguishing the particular obligations associated with a recognition of human rights is often applied to the field of economic, social and cultural rights and is widely accepted. The contents of annex 1 below provide additional details as to how these obligations are derived from the normative basis of housing rights under international human rights law. The remainder of this chapter will examine each of the four layers of obligation with a view to providing a coherent basis for further action at the national and local level and the development of the United Nations Housing Rights Programme (UNHRP) which can assist these actions contributing to the realization process of this right. Each sub-section will contain a listing of ‘possible actions’, each of which can be undertaken by national and local level actors in support of the full and progressive realization of the human right to adequate housing.

The obligation to respect housing rights

46. The obligation to respect housing rights requires the State, and thereby all of its organs and agents to abstain from carrying out, sponsoring or tolerating any practice, policy or legal measure violating the integrity of the individual or infringing upon his or her freedom to use those material or other resources available to them in a way they find most appropriate to satisfy individual, family, household or community housing needs. This obligation requires governments to desist from restricting the right to popular participation and to accept the corresponding commitment to facilitate and create economic, social and political conditions conducive to self-help initiatives by the beneficiaries of housing rights, as well as rights to freely organize and assemble, which are essential for the assertion of demands by dwellers or tenants groups. States should ensure that economic and trade policies do not impinge on the satisfaction of housing and other rights, as well. The obligation to respect is comprised of seven specific obligations: Prevention of Illegal Evictions; Prevention of All Forms of Discrimination; Prevention of any Measures of Retrogressivity; Housing-Based Freedoms; The Right to Privacy and Respect for the Home; Popular Participation in Housing; and, Respecting the Cultural Attributes of Housing. Possible actions in these groups are:

47. Prevention of Illegal Evictions

Possible Actions:

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54. The obligation to protect the right to housing obliges States to prevent the violation of any individual's rights to housing by any other individual or non-State actor. Housing rights beneficiaries should, for instance, be protected from abuse by landlords, property developers, land owners or any other third party capable of abusing these rights. Where such infringements do occur, public authorities should act to preclude further deprivations as well as guaranteeing access to legal remedies for any infringement caused. Effective measures protecting persons from forced evictions, racial or other forms of discrimination, harassment, withdrawal of services or other threats must also be in place. The seven key obligations to protect housing rights include: Preventing Violations of Housing Rights; Ensuring Domestic Legal and Other Remedies and the Domestic Application of International Law; Ensuring Equality Rights for All Groups; Access for All to Affordable Housing and the Development of an Affordability Benchmark; Accessibility of Housing to Disadvantaged Groups Requiring Special Measures; Democratic Residential Control of Housing; and, Safe Guarding Residential Stability. Possible actions in these groups are:

55. Preventing Violations of Housing Rights

Possible Actions

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62. The obligation to promote requires States to recognize the multifaceted human rights dimensions of housing and to take steps to ensure that no measures are taken with the intention of deliberately eroding the legal and practical status of this right. Moreover, comprehensive legislative review should take place, with any existing legislation or policies negatively affecting the exercise of the right to housing subject to repeal or alteration. The promotion function additionally requires States to place sufficient legal and policy emphasis on the full realization of housing rights, through a series of active measures including national and/or local legislative recognition of the right, the treatment of this right as a cornerstone of ‘public interest’, the incorporation of housing rights imperatives into housing and related policies, and the identification of discernable 'benchmarks' towards the full enjoyment of housing rights by all sectors of society. The seven components of the obligation to promote housing rights include: Develop National Housing Rights Strategies; Develop Benchmarks of Full Realization; Legislative Review and Recognition of Housing Rights; Security of Tenure; Focus on the Rights of Vulnerable Groups; Access to Housing Information; and, Ensuring a Sufficient Supply of Affordable Land. Possible actions in these groups are:

63. Develop National Housing Rights Strategies

Possible Actions

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70. The obligation to fulfil the right to adequate housing is the most pro-active and positive in nature, involving issues of public expenditure and housing subsidies, monitoring rent levels and other housing costs, the provision of social housing, basic services and related infrastructure and taxation and subsequent redistributive measures. On the issue of housing finance and budgetary allocations, States must establish forms and levels of expenditure adequately reflecting society's unmet housing needs, and which are consistent with the commitments arising from the Covenant and other legal sources enshrining housing rights. The duty of fulfilment comprises those active measures by government necessary for guaranteeing for each person under its jurisdiction opportunities to access the entitlements of housing rights which cannot be obtained or secured through exclusively personal efforts. The seven key obligations to fulfil the right to adequate housing include: Combatting, Reducing and Eradicating Homelessness; Increase and Properly Target Public Expenditure on Housing; Adequate and Habitable Housing for All; Develop Minimum Physical Housing Standards; Provision of All Necessary Services and Infrastructure; Popular Housing Finance and Saving Schemes; and, Social Housing Construction.

71. Combatting, Reducing and Eradicating Homelessness

Possible Actions

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Responsibilities
Possible actions	To Respect	To Protect	To Promote	To Fulfil
	Prevention of Illegal Evictions	Preventing Violations of Housing Rights	Develop National Housing Rights Strategies	Combatting, Reducing and Eradicating Homelessness
	Prevention of All Forms of Discrimination	Ensuring Domestic Legal and Other Remedies and the Domestic Application of Int. Law	Develop Benchmarks of Full Realization	Increase and Properly Target Public Expenditure on Housing
	Prevention of any Measures of Retrogressivity	Ensuring Equality Rights for All Groups	Legislative Review and Recognition of Housing Rights	Adequate and Habitable Housing for All
	Housing-Based Freedoms	Access for All to Affordable Housing and the Development of an Affordability Benchmark	Security of Tenure	Develop Minimum Physical Housing Standards
	Right to Privacy and Respect for the Home	Accessibility of Housing to Disadvantaged Groups Requiring Special Measures	Focus on the Rights of Vulnerable Groups	Provision of All Necessary Services and Infrastructure
	Popular Participation in Housing	Democratic Residential Control of Housing	Access to Housing Information	Popular Housing Finance and Saving Schemes
	Respecting the Cultural Attributes of Housing	Safeguarding Residential Stability	Ensuring a Sufficient Supply of Affordable Land	Social Housing Construction

78. In addition to individual States and the organizations of civil society, the international community as a whole also possesses certain identifiable obligations under international law regarding the enforcement of housing rights norms, including: (a) refraining from any coercive measures designed to force a particular State to abrogate or infringe its housing rights obligations; (b) providing financial or other assistance to States for housing development particularly in relation to cases where populations are affected by natural or manmade disasters, resulting in, inter alia, the destruction of homes and settlements; (c) ensuring the provision of shelter and/or housing to refugees and internally displaced persons fleeing persecution, civil strife, armed conflict, droughts or famine, as well as those wishing to return home voluntarily after the cessation of the causes of the original displacement; (d) responding to abject violations of housing rights carried out in any State; (e) ensuring that the imposition of economic or other sanctions do not explicitly aim to violate the right to adequate housing; (f) facilitate exchange of information and experience related to the housing rights field; (g) provide guidelines and support to national and local level actions in the implementation of international instruments related to housing development particularly the Habitat Agenda and increase the support and capacity of these actors; and (h) protect the rights of future generations to adequate housing.

79. In addition, attention should be placed on the positive and negative roles played by the international financial institutions, encouraging these institutions to devote increased resources to the effective enjoyment of the right to adequate housing and to refrain from any actions or policies which undermine or violate this right. As elaborated in the Final Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, relevant organizations and agencies such as ILO, UNESCO, WHO, FAO, UNICEF, UNRISD, UNHCR, UNDP, World Bank and other inter-governmental organizations should carry out measures explicitly supporting the mainstreaming of housing rights concerns. The UNHRP should provide assistance to these organizations in this respect.

Possible Actions

81. This chapter outlines the possible activities and parameters of a joint UN Housing Rights Programme (UNHRP) and identifies steps that can be taken with respect to these rights towards the promotion, protection and implementation of this fundamental entitlement. The activities of the proposed United Nations Housing Rights Programme have been designed to build on the continuing momentum in support of further and increasingly refined attention to and action on implementing the human right to adequate housing throughout the UN system. It supplements and expands upon previous reports issued by the Executive Director of UNCHS (Habitat) on housing rights themes. These proposed activities should be prioritized and be put into a programmatic framework based on available human and financial resources and capacities with realistic objectives. The main trust of this programme should be to assist governmental authorities both at the national and local levels, the organizations of civil society and other stakeholders in their roles and functions contributing to the realization process of housing rights.

82. The legislative and institutional basis for the UN Housing Rights Programme will be comprised of various components including, internationally accepted guidelines for human settlements development (such as the recommendations of the Habitat Agenda, Agenda 21), international human rights law, international law generally, regional human rights law and relevant national legislation and policy. Each of these declaratory, legal and policy regimes are directly relevant to the recognition, clarification and enforcement of the right to adequate housing. The UNHRP will benefit from an increasing convergence of norms between international human rights and international human settlements activities, whereby these two distinct areas overlap. In addition, the UNHRP will be grounded in the recognition that human rights are universally accepted as a legitimate international concern and a fundamental and indispensable ingredient of sustainable human development. Placing emphasis upon human rights, in particular housing rights, provides a unique body of principles and laws which can be utilized to eliminate poverty, improve the housing and living conditions of the poor and to promote mutual respect, liberty, equality and ultimately, the inherent dignity of all human beings.

83. The implementation of the UN Housing Rights Programme (UNHRP) outlined below will be the joint responsibility of UNCHS (Habitat) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Overall responsibility for the implementation of the responsibilities of UNCHS (Habitat) will be those of the Executive Director of UNCHS (Habitat) facilitating necessary organizational arrangements in the Centre to carry out required actions. The responsibility of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights will fall with the responsible staff of the technical cooperation branch and the right to development branch. Both UNDP and the Office of the Secretary-General should play equally major roles in ensuring sufficient financial and political support to the execution of the UNHRP.

84. There is an overall need for a pro-active housing rights programme, which promotes a vision of housing shifting the emphasis from housing constituting purely a commodity to views of housing as a means for economic and social development. The programme should be designed to facilitate the most expansive possible reach of national housing strategies and plans. The UNHRP must become a programme which can contribute to making a real difference in the lives of those who have not yet been able to attain a recognized right to adequate housing. A concerted attempt should be made to improve access to legal services and augment the responsiveness of government officials and the private sector in directions fully in support of housing rights.

85. The UNHRP should also develop the capacity to enable it to have some kind of remedial dimension to it, with a view to ensuring accountability, access to information and participation in decision-making. The UNHRP should have a significant component on human rights awareness and education. The UNHRP should be based on various fundamental criteria for identifying and analyzing the practical aspects of housing rights. The UNHRP must be formulated in a manner wholly consistent with the precise nature, attributes and position of housing rights provisions under international human rights law. The programme should be an accurate reflection of State practice, and in the most efficient possible manner, aim to fill lacunae in the system of housing rights protection. It should receive widely publicized and explicit support from the highest level officials of the United Nations system.

86. The successful experience of other UN agencies, individual governments and the efforts of civil society in addressing human rights concerns, particularly when this has occurred successfully, should form an additional element of the programme. It goes without saying, that the UNHRP must focus on securing the housing rights of the poorest of the poor. Above all, the UNHRP should be realistic, attainable and practical.

Recommendations and possible actions of the UN Housing Rights Programme (UNHRP)

A. Joint Actions

87. The UN Housing Rights Programme should be carried out in a cooperative manner, involving joint actions between the UNCHS (Habitat) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The proposed actions include: In-house training on housing rights; Facilitating adequate financial and human resources; Technical cooperation, advisory services and training to national and local governments and civil society organizations; Housing rights standard-setting; Developing a housing rights composite indicator/index; Adding a housing rights section to the UNCHS and OHCHR Web-Sites; Developing a model national plan of action on housing rights; Facilitating popular understanding of human rights by beneficiaries; Drafting model housing rights legislation; and Special group focus. Actions marked with an asterisk incorporate priority areas as suggested by the Expert Group Meeting which was organized jointly by UNCHS (Habitat) and the OHCHR in March 1999 to review and assist the finalization of this report. In addition to these suggestions, the Expert Group Meeting also stressed the usefulness of UNCHS (Habitat) and the OHCHR cooperation at the field operations level in the form of a pilot project.

88. Joint Action 1: In-House Training on Housing Rights

Both UNCHS (Habitat) and the OHCHR should sponsor intensive in-house housing rights training programme for all staff who could potentially become involved with the implementation of the UN Housing Rights Programme. The training sessions should be designed to provide an emphasis on the key housing related issues for the OHCHR, and conversely on the key rights issues for staff of the UNCHS (Habitat).

89. Joint Action 2: Facilitating Adequate Financial and Human Resources

A successful Housing Rights Programme will require substantial increases of both human and financial resources. The UNCHS (Habitat) and the OHCHR should each have sufficient number of staff solely responsible for the implementation of the UNHRP, all of whom should have recognized and specialized competence in both the fields of human rights and housing matters. Budgetary requirements of the overall Housing Rights Programme (including the full -time staff members) should be determined as a matter of urgency, and funding sought from the regular United Nations budget as well as from relevant United Nations bodies such as UNDP and bilateral donors.

90. Joint Action 3^*: Technical cooperation, advisory services and training to national and local governments and civil society organizations

The provision of high-quality, targeted and professional technical cooperation, advisory services and training to national and local governments, judiciaries and civil society organizations should form a key element of the UNHRP and be designed to generate awareness of the Programme and develop the national, local and community-level capacity to implement housing rights obligations. These initiatives could incorporate the following activities: a project checklist could be developed for use in project documents linked to technical cooperation, advisory services and training to facilitate the full inclusion of all relevant housing rights matters; advice towards the development of national plans of action for housing rights; constitutional drafting and review assistance to facilitate the inclusion of housing rights norms; assistance on legislative drafting and/or reform on laws concerning housing rights; advice concerning the creation of, or where already existing, the inclusion of housing rights mandates within national human rights institutions; assistance in curriculum development for courses on housing rights; and assistance to government officials entrusted with preparing reports in accordance with human rights treaty obligations.

91. Joint Action 4^*: Housing Rights Standard-Setting

92. Comprehensive Human Rights Guidelines on Development-Based Displacement

An Expert Seminar on Forced Evictions was convened by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in June 1997 which resulted in the adoption of Comprehensive Guidelines on Development-Based Displacement, designed to be ultimately applicable to all nations irrespective of their ratification of human rights treaties.27/ The UNHRP should prioritize the formal adoption of these guidelines by Governments; either within the UN Commission on Human Rights or the General Assembly.

93. Principles, Guidelines and Standard Rules on Housing Rights

Attempts should be made to comply with the recommendation that: "The Expert Group Meeting considered that priority should be accorded to the preparation of principles and standard rules dealing with the practical implementation of the different aspects of the human right to adequate housing at the national level. It called upon the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) to take whatever measures are required in order to begin a process of consultation and drafting with a view to producing such documents" (HS/C/16/2/Add.2, para. 11)

94. Guidelines on Property and Housing Restitution in the Context of Refugee and Internally Displaced Persons Return

Resolution 1998/26 of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on ‘Housing and property restitution in the context of the return of refugees and internally displaced persons’ provides a useful synthesis of law by effectively combining within a single text, housing rights, the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons and the importance of ensuring the right to restitution of housing and property for these groups when they return to their countries of origin. The resolution also ‘invites the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in consultation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, to develop policy guidelines to promote and facilitate the right of all refugees and, in appropriate to her mandate, internally displaced persons, to return freely, safely and voluntarily to their homes and places of habitual residence’. This initiative should form part of the UN Housing Rights Programme.

95. Guidelines on International Events and Forced Evictions

In resolution 1995/29 the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities took note of a report of the Secretary-General on ‘guidelines on international events and forced evictions’ (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/13). No further action has been taken to date, and thus the UNHRP should aim to achieve the drafting adoption of such guidelines.

96. General Comment on Women

The UNHRP should assist and encourage the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to adopt a general comment on the rights of women under the Covenant, placing sufficient focus upon the particular housing rights issues arising in this respect.

97. General Recommendation on Women, Discrimination and Housing Rights

The UNHRP should assist and encourage the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to adopt a general recommendation on women, discrimination and housing rights.

98. General Recommendation on Housing Rights and Racial Discrimination

The UNHRP should assist and encourage the UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) to adopt a general recommendation on housing rights and racial discrimination.

99. Guiding Principles on Internal DisplacementThe UNHRP should encourage States to adopt and apply the ‘Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement" (E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2), developed in 1998 by the Representative to the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons.

100. Joint Action 5^*: Developing a Housing Rights Composite Indicator/Index

Developing an appropriate, consistent and reliable framework for monitoring housing rights standards and measuring progress achieved by governments towards realizing this right should be fundamental feature of the UN Housing Rights Programme. The urban indicators programme (including shelter sector performance indicators) has developed many indicators towards monitoring issues directly relevant to housing rights. These include, for instance, indicators on housing quality, housing availability, housing affordability and tenure. In monitoring housing rights standards, existing indicators programme should be drawn on where relevant. Any framework for measuring progress with regard to housing rights must, at the same time, provide indications as to the degree to which the right to housing is not currently enjoyed within a given society and the measures necessary to ensure greater levels of realization of this right. Monitoring should not focus exclusively on progress achieved, but equal priority must also be placed on measuring any regression in the enjoyment of housing rights, why this has occurred and which obstacles require clearance before progress can be attained. Measuring the 'progressive realization' of the right to adequate housing should be based upon the norms established and subsequent interpretation of article 2(1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, under General Comment No. 3 and other texts. As such, the phrases "undertakes to take steps...by all appropriate means" and "to the maximum of its available resources" will also require measurement in any monitoring process. These groupings of indicators should result in the identification of indicators which are disaggregated, valid, reliable, globally applicable and regularly available. The composite indicator could resemble the development of the human development index, developed by UNDP.

101. Joint Action 6: Adding a Housing Rights Section to the UNCHS and OHCHR Web-Sites

At present neither the UNCHS (Habitat) nor the OHCHR web-sites have specific sections devoted to the human right to adequate housing. The two agencies should consider creating such place within their sites as well as refer to existing sites such as <www.cohre.org> which does cover this area of law.

102. Joint Action 7: Developing a Model National Plan of Action on Housing Rights

The UNHRP should develop a model national plan of action on housing rights, designed be flexible enough to be universally applicable, but precise enough to reflect, in full, the status and content of the right to adequate housing. Linking such an initiative to national shelter strategies, national plans of action on housing rights could involve the establishment of specific targets or benchmarks of desired achievement and indicate specific policy and legislative changes. In this respect, the UNHRP should encourage States to appoint specific offices/officers under the National Government to coordinate national plans of action on housing rights.

103. Joint Action 8: Facilitating Popular Understanding of Human Rights by Beneficiaries

A key obstacle to the continued non-enjoyment of the human right to adequate housing rests on the lack of knowledge and awareness about how such rights can be claimed, asserted, implemented and enforced by the very beneficiaries of these rights. To begin to improve this situation, the UNHRP should convene meetings on community-based initiatives to enforce housing rights, with a view to bringing together community-level activists in the housing field, who have actively used housing rights standards. Ultimately the success of using housing rights law as a tool of improving peoples housing and living conditions, and the very success of the UNHRP itself, will require extensive community and NGO involvement. These groups should be assisted in making the UNHRP known at the grassroots level. Moreover, these groups can further assist by distributing popular literature and manuals on housing rights, documenting violations, promoting the submission of housing rights test cases to local or national courts, instigating campaigns for housing rights, preparing report on housing rights as contributions to their Government’s reports to the various UN treaty bodies and so forth.

104. Joint Action 9^*: Developing Principles of Housing Rights Legislation

Similar to the proposal of draft model national plans of action on housing rights, the UNHRP could also undertake initiatives with a view to developing the principles which could be included within national housing rights legislation, in the form of National Housing Rights Acts. Similarly, the UNHRP could develop the capacity, when countries are pursuing legislative review of housing laws or related legislation, to provide assistance to ensure the domestic compatibility of new/revised legislation with international housing rights standards. In this regard, capacities could be developed enabling the Housing Rights Programme to provide an independent legal reviews of draft national legislation prior to submission to national legislatures, should this be desired by relevant governments.

105. Joint Action 10^*: Special Focus on Women

The UN Housing Rights Programme should include a special focus on women, given the particular difficulties women face, in many countries, in accessing housing rights. In particular, a specific sub-programme to the overall UNHRP should be developed - either in conjunction with other relevant UN institutions or programmes (such as the UNCHS Women’s Programme) or on an independent basis - on ‘Women and Housing Rights’.

106. In addition to the ten areas of possible joint action, there are several additional actions which might be more appropriately carried out by one or the other individual agencies due to their mandate, structure and capacities.

B. UNCHS (Habitat) Actions

107. There are four proposed exclusive responsibilities of UNCHS (Habitat): 1. Research and Publications; 2. International Housing Rights Documentation Centre; 3. UNCHS Participation within International and Regional Human Rights Activities; and 4. Country Papers on National Housing Rights Strategies.

108. Research and Publications

Several research activities and preparation of publications could be carried out under auspices of the UNHRP by UNCHS (Habitat). In the first stage of UNHRP implementation the following may be initiated: (1) ‘Constitutional Recognition of Housing Rights and Progress on the Full Realization of Housing Rights’; (2) ‘The Appropriate Role of Local Government in the Realization of Housing Rights’; (3) ‘Best Practices on Housing Rights’; (4) ‘Women and Housing Rights’; and (5) ‘Natural and Manmade Disasters and Housing Rights’.

109. International Housing Rights Documentation Centre

The UNCHS (Habitat) should create an International Housing Rights Documentation Centre which could allow all relevant housing rights documents to be made available at the Offices of the organization. The Centre should include a Housing Rights Case Law Data-Base, containing exhaustive references to international, regional, national and local case law of relevance, the contents of which would also be placed on the housing rights web-site.

110. UNCHS Participation within International and Regional Human Rights Activities

The UNCHS (Habitat) component of the UNHRP should develop capacities to provide active follow-up to Concluding Observations issued by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concerning the housing rights situation within Member States. Equally, greatly expanded attention and participation within the regional human rights systems of the Council of Europe; the Organization of American States (OAS); and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) should be contemplated with a view to addressing housing rights issues. UNCHS Field Offices should be given particular responsibilities for implementing aspects of the UNHRP. Creation of Regional UNCHS Housing Rights Liaison Officers should also be considered.

111. Country Papers on National Housing Rights Strategies

UNCHS (Habitat) should consider sponsoring and issuing country papers, with the approval of the Government concerned, focused on the specific housing rights issues concerning the country. These could be called the UNCHS Series on: ‘Housing rights and UNCHS (Habitat) experience at the country level’.

C. OHCHR Actions

112. There are also four proposed key responsibilities of the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights which would be initiated in the first stage of the implementation of the UNHRP. These include: 1. Advocacy and Prevention of Violations; 2. Research, Publications and Manuals; 3. Incorporating Housing Rights Concerns into the OHCHR Field Operations; and 4. National Human Rights Institutions.

113. Advocacy and Prevention of Violations

Given the nature of the mandate of the OHCHR, it would be entirely appropriate, if not indispensable for the success of the UNHRP, for the OHCHR to develop various forms of advocacy in support of housing rights and to prevent violations of these rights. Some of the type of initiatives which could be envisaged, include: (1) the establishment of rapid response mechanisms to pending large-scale forced evictions; (2) the creation of an early warning mechanism to prevent violations of housing rights, especially those involving housing discrimination, forced evictions, increases in homelessness and so forth; (3) the development of appropriate forms of discussions with States, focusing in particular on promoting the establishment of legal remedies to enforce housing rights, the adoption of favourable legislation and policy in support of housing rights and issuing surrounding public expenditure insofar as this is used to facilitate the enjoyment of housing rights.

114. Research, Publications and Manuals

The OHCHR should consider carrying out research and preparation of, publications and manuals on relevant topics which may include:(1) ‘A Global Legislative Compilation on Housing Rights’; (2) ‘Armed Conflict and Housing Rights: Key Areas of Concern’; ‘Litigating for Housing Rights: Tools for Lawyers and Advocates’; and (4) ‘Human Rights Training and Education for Housing Rights’;

115. Incorporating Housing Rights Concerns into the OHCHR Field Operations

Key housing rights issues should form an element of all human rights field operations. While the specific modalities of such involvement requires extensive consideration, two areas where action could easily be taken are in the prevention or redress associated with any forced evictions and assisting, when relevant, with legal, practical and other issues connected to housing, land and property restitution for refugees and internally displaced persons returning to their original homes.

116. National Human Rights Institutions

When the OHCHR is involved in establishing, advising or cooperating with national human rights institutions, it should ensure that housing rights issues are accorded proper emphasis.28/

117. Of all the possible actions which could be envisaged during the initial stages of the implementation of the United Nations Housing Rights Programme by the UN Centre on Human Settlements and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in support of national and local actions, the following were specifically suggested by the Expert Group Meeting referred to in paragraph 85. These activities are already incorporated in the joint actions marked with an asterisk in section A above:

Blasi (1987) "Litigating on Behalf of the Homeless: Systematic Approaches", Washington University Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law, vol. 31.

Blomkvist, Hans (1989) "Housing and the State in the Third World: Misperceptions and Non-perceptions in the International Debate", Scandinavian Housing & Planning Research, vol 6., 129.

Boucher, Laurie (1990) "Building Housing Rights from the Bottom Up: A Community Development Approach", (A Discussion Paper Prepared for the "Working for Housing Rights Conference", sponsored by Habitat International Coalition, Ottawa, May 1990).

COHRE, Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 7 (September 1998)

COHRE, Sources #4: Legal Provisions on Housing Rights: International and National Approaches, (2nd ed., May 1999).

COHRE, Sources #3: Forced Evictions and Human Rights: A Manual for Action, (2nd ed., May 1999).

COHRE, Violence Against Women and Social and Economic Rights (June 1998).

Cook (1987) " A Right to a Home?", The National Law Journal, vol. 9(36).

Daly, Mary (1994) The right to a home, the right to a future, FEANTSA, Brussels.

Devereux, Annemarie (1991) "Australia and the Right to Adequate Housing" in Federal Law Review, vol. 20, 223.

Eviction Watch Asia (1998) Forced Eviction and Housing Right Abuses in Asia: Second Report 1996-1997 (K. Fernandes, ed.), City Press, Karachi.

Eze, Osita (1996) Study on the Right to Adequate Housing in Nigeria, Shelter Rights Initiative, Lagos, Nigeria.

Farha, Leilani (1998) "Is There a Woman in the House? Women and the Right to Adequate Housing" in A Resource Guide to Women’s International Human Rights, Transnational Publishers, New York.

Foscarinis (1996) "Downward Spiral: Homelessness and its Criminalization" in Yale Law & Policy Review, vol. 14, no. 1, 1.

Gilderbloom, John I. and Appelbaum, Richard P. (1988) Rethinking Rental Housing, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.

Greer, Nora Richter (1986) "The Right to Shelter", The Search for Shelter, The American Institute of Architects, pp. 37-42, Washington, DC.

Hardoy, Cairncross and Satterthwaite (1990), The Poor Die Young: Housing and Health in Third World Cities, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London.

Hardoy, Jorge and Satterthwaite, David (1989), Squatter Citizen: Life in the Urban Third World, Earthscan Publications Ltd, London.

Hayes, Robert (1987) "Litigating on Behalf of Shelter for the Poor", Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, vol. 22:1 Winter, 89.

Hebel, Herman von (1987) "The Implementation of the Right to Housing in Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights", SIM Newsletter, No. 20, December, 26.

Herman, Marc-Olivier (1994) "Fighting Homelessness: Can International Human Rights Law Make a Difference?" in Georgetown Journal on Fighting Poverty (Fall), vol. 2, . 59.

Hulchanski, J. David (1988) "Do All Canadians Have A Right to Housing?", UBC Planning Paper No. 14, University of British Colombia, Vancouver.

Institute of Policy Studies Working Group on Housing (with Dick Cluster) (1989), The Right to Housing: A Blueprint for Housing the Nation, Oakland.

Jacobs, Sidney (1976) The Right to a Decent House, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd.

Jones, Timothy (1996) "Property Rights, Planning Law and the European Convention" in European Human Rights Law Journal, vo. 3, 233.

Leckie, Scott (1998) "Another Step Towards Indivisibility: Identifying the Key Features of Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights" Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 1, February, 81.

------- (1995) When Push Comes to Shove: Forced Evictions and Human Rights, Habitat International Coalition, Mexico.

------- (1992) From Housing as a Need to Housing as a Right: International Human Rights Law and the Right to Adequate Housing, London, Human Settlements Programme, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

Lege, Bernard (1991) Le Droit au Logemont en Question, Syros/Alternatives, Paris.

Lourdes-Pintasligo, Maria de (1987) "The Right to Shelter and the Independence of Public Policies--The Portuguese Case", in Homes Above All: Homelessness and the Misallocation of Global Resources, prepared by The Building and Social Housing Foundation, U.K., 125.

McAuslan, Patrick (1987) "Legislation, Regulation and Shelter: Hinderance or Help to the Homeless?", Cities, February, 23.

Michelman, Frank I. (1970) "The Advent of a Right to Housing: A Current Appraisal", Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, 207.

National Coalition for the Homeless (1989) The International Right to Shelter (Reid, Graeme & Alker, Joan), Washington, DC.

O’Leary, Sheila (1994) "The Constitutional Right to Housing in the Russian Federation: Rethinking the Guarantee in Light of Economic and Political Reform" in American University Journal of International Law and Policy, vol. 9:3, 1015.

Ortiz, Enrique (1990) The Right to Housing: A Global Challenge, Habitat International Coalition, COPEVI, Mexico.

Parkdale Community Legal Services (1988) "Homelessness and the Right to Shelter: A View From Parkdale", Journal of Law and Social Policy, no. 4, 35.

Pillay, Karrisha (1998) "Local Government and the Right to Adequate Housing" in ESR Review: Economic and Social Rights in South Africa, vol. 1, no. 1, 11.

Planact (1992) Evictions and the Right to the City: A Critical Study of Communities Involved in the Struggle for Access to the Witwatersrand Region in South Africa, report prepared for the International Development Research Centre & HIC, August.

Randall, Geoffrey (1994) Housing Rights Guide, London, SHAC.

Unnayan (1984) Gaining Housing Rights: A Handbook of Legal Housing Strategies for the Labouring Classes of Calcutta (First Draft), September, Unnayan, Calcutta.

United Nations Documents

Sachar, Justice Rajindar (1995) Final Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, prepared by the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights, Justice Rajindar Sachar, August 1995, UN doc: E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/12

-------(1994) Second Progress Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, prepared by the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights, Justice Rajindar Sachar, August 1994, UN doc: E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/20

-------(1993) First Progress Report on the Right to Adequate Housing, prepared by the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights, Justice Rajindar Sachar, August 1993, UN doc: E/CN.4/Sub.2/ 1993/15

-------(1992) Working Paper on Promoting the Realization of the Right to Adequate Housing, prepared by the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights, August 1992, UN doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/15).

Türk, Danilo (1989-1992) Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, UN Special Rapporteur on the Realization of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, E/CN.4/Sub.2/1989/19; E/CN.4/Sub.2/1990/19; E/CN.4/Sub.2/1991/17; E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/16;

UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1987-1998)

-------(1990) "Revised guidelines regarding the form and contents of reports to be submitted by states parties under articles 16-17 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights," Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Report of the Fifth Session (UN Doc: E/C.12/1990/8), pp. 88-110 (right to housing at pp. 101-103);

-------(1991) "General Comment No. 4 on the Right to Adequate Housing (Article 11 of the Covenant)", adopted on 12 December 1991 (E/1992/23, pp. 114-120).

-------(1997) "General Comment No. 7 on Forced evictions (16 May 1997), adopted by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/1997/4)

United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights Fact Sheet No. 25 on Forced Evictions and Human Rights (1996) United Nations, Geneva

United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights Fact Sheet No. 21 on the Right to Adequate Housing (1993) United Nations, Geneva

United Nations Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights Fact Sheet No. 16 on The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1996), United Nations, Geneva

UN Centre on Human Settlements (Habitat), Towards A Housing Rights Strategy: Practical Contributions by UNCHS (Habitat) on Promoting, Ensuring and Protecting the Full Realization of the Human Right to Adequate Housing (February 1995), UN doc. HS/C/15/INF.7

UN Expert Group Meeting, "Comprehensive Human Rights Guidelines on Development-Based Displacement" (13 June 1997), UN doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/7)

UN Secretary-General, Forced Evictions: Analytical Report Compiled by the Secretary-General Submitted Pursuant to Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1993/77 (December 1993), UN doc: E/CN.4/1994/20

1. The present report is premised on the understanding that the normative basis for carrying out specific and targeted activities designed to promote the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing is sufficiently clear, firm and widely supported by the international community. These norms have gained further refinement, particularly over the past decade, as a result of the parallel activities undertaken by both the human settlements and human rights programmes of the United Nations. In turn, these developments have benefitted greatly from, and in many instances, been heavily influenced by, input from international, national and local non-governmental and community-based organizations. A juncture has been reached whereby a continually expanding normative convergence has taken place whereby the principles established under both systems have come increasingly to resemble, reflect and re-affirm the contents and standards of the other.

2. From the human settlements component of the UN, it is evident that precise housing rights provisions have been consistently recognized and reaffirmed for more than 20 years, and subsequently included within the UN Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements (1976), the UN Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000 (1988), Agenda 21 (1992) and the Habitat Agenda (1996).

3. The Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements and Plan of Action (1976) included reference to a range of individual human rights, State-based rights and other legal provisions.29/ The Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000 (1988) clearly asserts that: "the right to adequate housing is universally recognized by the community of nations...All nations without exception, have some form of obligation in the shelter sector, as exemplified by their creation of ministries or housing agencies, by their allocation of funds to the housing sector, and by their policies, programmes and projects....All citizens of all States, poor as they may be, have a right to expect their Governments to be concerned about their shelter needs, and to accept a fundamental obligation to protect and improve houses and neighbourhoods, rather than damage or destroy them."30/

4. The third major international instrument relevant to the continued work on housing rights, Chapter 7 of Agenda 21 adopted by the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992), also contains clauses referring to aspects of the human right to adequate housing.31/ These include reference in chapter 7 that "Access to safe and healthy shelter is essential to a person's physical, psychological, social and economic well-being and should be a fundamental part of national and international action. The right to adequate housing as a basic human right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Despite this, it is estimated that at the present time, at least one billion people do not have access to safe and healthy shelter and that if appropriate action is not taken, this number will increase dramatically by the end of the century and beyond" and in chapter 7.9(b) that "All countries should adopt and/or strengthen national shelter strategies, with targets based, as appropriate, on the principles and recommendations contained in the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000. People should be protected by law against unfair eviction from their homes or land".

5. Finally, the Habitat Agenda addresses the right to adequate housing and broader human rights issues extensively throughout the text. Paragraphs 26, 39 and 6132/ are the most pertinent as regards to elaborating actions to contribute to the process of the full and progressive realization of housing rights.

6. Paragraph 26 proclaims: We reaffirm and are guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and we reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the full realization of the human rights set out in international instruments and in particular, in this context, the right to adequate housing as set forth in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and provided for in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, taking into account that the right to adequate housing, as included in the above-mentioned international instruments shall be realized progressively. We reaffirm that all human rights - civil, cultural, economic, political and social - are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated. We subscribe to the principles and goals set out below to guide us in our actions.

7. Paragraph 39 asserts: We reaffirm our commitment to the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing, as provided for in international instruments. In this context, we recognize an obligation by Governments to enable people to obtain shelter and to protect and improve dwellings and neighbourhoods. We commit ourselves to the goal of improving living and working conditions on a equitable and sustainable basis, so that everyone will have adequate shelter that is healthy, safe, secure, accessible and affordable and that includes basic services, facilities and amenities, and will enjoy freedom from discrimination in housing and legal security of tenure. We shall implement and promote this objective in a manner full consistent with human rights standards.

8. Paragraph 61 reiterates: Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the right to adequate housing has been recognized as an important component of the right to an adequate standard of living. All Governments without exception have a responsibility in the shelter sector, as exemplified by their creation of ministries of housing or agencies, by their allocation of funds for the housing sector and by their policies, programmes and projects. The provision of adequate housing for everyone requires action not only by Governments, but by all sectors of society, including the private sector, non-governmental organizations, communities and local authorities, as well as by partner organizations and entities of the international community. Within the overall context of an enabling approach, Governments should take appropriate action in order to promote, protect and ensure the full and progressive realization of the right to adequate housing. These actions include, but are not limited to:

10. The recognition and promotion of the human right to adequate housing by the United Nations began with the creation of the organization itself, during the drafting of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, which clearly provides in article 25(1) that: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being of himself and his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.... Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration in 1948, the human right to adequate housing has been repeatedly reaffirmed. Although slightly different terminology is used, a right to adequate housing is expressed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (art. 11(1)), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 5(e)(iii)), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 27(3)); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (art. 14(2)), the Convention on the Status of Refugees (art. 21); the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (art. 43(1)(d)), and ILO Recommendation No. 115 on Workers' Housing. Throughout the past decade resolutions recognizing and reaffirming the right to adequate housing have been adopted by the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. In 1993, the latter body appointed a UN Special Rapporteur on Promoting the Right to Adequate Housing to undertake a comprehensive study on developing practical measures toward the realization of this human right. In pursuit of his mandate, the Special Rapporteur, prepared four detailed reports and concluded his work in August 1995.33/

11. The legal recognition of housing right has also proceeded apace within the regional systems of human rights law, under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the Organization of American States and the Organization for African Unity. Most notably, the revised European Social Charter (1996) includes an independent provision recognizing housing rights in its Article 31 which provides: "With a view to ensuring the effective exercise of the right to housing, the parties undertake to take measures designed: (1) to promote access to housing of an adequate standard; (2) to prevent and reduce homelessness with a view to its gradual elimination; (3) to make the price of housing accessible to those without adequate resources". States which have ratified the new Charter have further added to the repertoire of legal responsibilities towards their citizens by explicitly guaranteeing the effective exercise of the right to housing which is of an adequate standard and affordable, set within a wider political, social and economic context where the prevention, reduction and elimination of homelessness are official considerations of paramount importance. As part of the effective exercise clause in Article 31, a ‘collective complaints procedure’ related to the rights established under the Charter was opened for ratification in 1995 by Council of Europe countries which now enables NGOs and other recognized groups to present formal legal complaints to the European Committee of Experts alleging violations or non-compliance with the norms of the Charter. This is an important step forward.

12. Constitutions from all regions, representing every major legal system, culture, level of development, religion and economic system specifically address individual rights and State obligations relating to housing. Close to half of the world's Constitutions refer to general obligations within the housing sphere or specifically to the right to adequate housing. If human rights intricately linked to and indispensable for the enjoyment of housing rights are included in such an analysis (eg. the right to freedom of movement and to choose one's residence, the right to privacy and respect for the home, the right to equal treatment under the law, the right to dignity, the right to security of the person, certain formulations of the right to property or the peaceful enjoyment of possessions, etc.), the overwhelming majority of constitutions make reference, at least implicitly, to housing rights.13. The term ‘housing rights’ encompasses concerns much more complex and expansive than the mere possession or provision of an adequate dwelling. The housing process demands a broad and holistic approach to housing rights, and thus additional human rights can assist, or if violated impede, in securing progress on housing rights. These include: the right to popular participation throughout the housing development process, including the right of citizens to influence, control and decide upon any relevant housing laws or policies; the rights to organize, assemble and associate, particularly with respect to tenants organizations, community-based organizations and housing cooperatives; legal protection from forced or threatened eviction or house demolitions; the right to security of tenure for all dwellers; the right to equality of treatment, particularly in terms of the allocation of housing resources, access to housing finance and resident permits; the right to freedom of movement and to choose one’s residence, the right to security of the person, the right to peaceful enjoyment of one’s possessions, the right to privacy, including the protection from arbitrary searches of residences; the right to be free from all forms of discrimination, particularly in the housing allocation process; the availability of impartial legal remedies in cases of alleged violations of housing rights; access to essential services including piped water, drainage, sanitation facilities, garbage removal, electricity, heating (if necessary) and emergency fire and life-saving services. An effective approach contributing to the full and progressive realization of housing rights will develop ways and means of adequately addressing each of these elements of the larger right to adequate housing.

14. Housing rights as human rights have been very widely recognized. This cannot, however, be seen as a substitute for undertaking operationalized and sustained endeavours designed to closely monitor achievements and failures in the struggle for the human right to adequate housing and to develop a comprehensive approach within the United Nations system to address different aspects of the realization process of housing rights. Adequately resourced and clearly-defined initiatives and objectives by the international community involving activities designed to prevent housing rights abuses, to empower, educate and train citizens about their entitlements to adequate housing as a human right and the incorporation of housing rights themes within ongoing human rights operations at the field level could go a long way towards actually protecting this fundamental human right. The ultimate success of such approaches will invariably be contingent upon more effectual and expansive views of housing rights as human rights as the components of these rights attain greater levels of international consensus.

15. The firm foundations of housing rights norms within UN and other texts and the subsequent interpretive development of these standards have resulted in an amplified approach to housing rights, which in many respects expand beyond traditional, and often rudimentary, perceptions of these rights. While such an approach generates numerous ramifications for the international and national legal regimes wherein these rights are recognized, it will be imperative to consolidate promotional activities through an expanded focus on the global protection of housing rights supported by the United Nations through its relevant organizations and programmes.

16. The recognition by States of the human right to adequate housing implies that a culture of housing rights would be expected to pervade not just those areas of law affected or influenced by housing rights norms, but that each element of the right to adequate housing will find equal expression within and throughout a nation’s housing policy.17. A positive, pro-housing rights housing policy will, when acted upon in a manner where the housing rights dimensions of that policy are fully integrated into such measures, focus on developing an overall housing market which simultaneously satisfies all macro-level concerns, while assisting and strengthening the micro-level, individual rights of all people in a given society.

18. Indeed, the foundations of a positive housing policy must necessarily include an adequate supply of habitable and affordable housing consistent with relevant demand, housing which is adequate in terms of its physical quality and size, housing which has adequate security of tenure, the expenditure of public funds in an adequate and well-targeted manner, the provision of housing subsidies and credits, the collection and disaggregation of adequate statistical data on housing and the development of sufficient administrative capacities to implement the housing policy. Housing policy organized in this manner will almost invariably work to the benefit of the progressive realization of housing rights.19. At the same time, however, it must be emphasized that the components, implications and results of housing policy and actions related to the realization of housing rights are not always entirely synonymous with one another. Though both are certainly in many areas entirely indivisible, realization of housing rights often involve more specific entitlements and concerns than overall housing policy (which tends to be national in nature), and emanate from the individual citizens creating corresponding legal obligations on behalf of national and local authorities which have freely undertaken to implement these rights such that it is subject to full realization.20. Notwithstanding how widespread and well-established the recognition of housing rights is within the law - international, regional and national - without consistent political will, strong administrative and judicial systems built on the firm foundations of the rule of law and housing policies designed in their entirety to ensure the most rapid possible full realization of housing rights for everyone, this right will remain unfulfilled for large segments of society - as it is today. Moreover, by empowering the beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing through education and training on the protection and enforcement of their housing rights, the right stands a much better chance of realization.

Economic, social and cultural rights

21. As housing rights are generally (but certainly not exclusively) viewed as one of the economic, social and cultural rights, it may be useful to briefly examine the nature of these rights prior to focusing more thoroughly on the human right to adequate housing. In general terms, the UN Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights established a series of postulates relating to these rights (and which form a useful basis for understanding housing rights) including the following:

a) All States possess varying degrees of legal obligations to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights. These obligations have local, national, regional and international dimensions;

22. The general principles and legal prominence of economic, social and cultural rights have expanded significantly in recent years, in accordance with right-specific efforts towards clarifying the nature, scope and corresponding duties of States. With respect to housing rights, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights has noted that "the fundamental necessity of an adequate place to live in peace, dignity and security is such that a recognition of housing rights must be seen and interpreted, in the most general sense, to imply the following:

24. Article 11(1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) has been ratified by a large majority of States and is widely accepted as the most significant international legal source of the right to adequate housing. It has thus far received more attention than any other legal foundation of housing rights under international human rights law37/. The Covenant requires States to respect, protect, protect and fulfil the contents of article 11(1):

26. In its General Comment No. 4, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has provided States with detailed guidance vis-a-vis this right, the legal obligations of States under the Covenant and what this right must be taken to mean in practice. In the Committee's view, for instance, the right to housing should not be interpreted in a reductionist sense which equates it with the shelter provided by merely having a roof over one's head or views shelter exclusively as a commodity. It should be seen as the right to a place to live in security, peace and dignity.39/ The Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights has adopted two key principles of interpretation of the right to adequate housing; that it is universal and that it must not be interpreted narrowly:

What does adequate housing mean?

28. In elaborating the legal entitlements of citizens implicit with the recognition of housing rights within article 11(1), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its General Comment No. 4 asserts that the following seven principles (all of which also find recognition within the Habitat Agenda) provide a context for defining housing "adequacy" and in determining the level to which the right to adequate housing is in place in any given society: Legal Security of Tenure: All persons should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment or other threats. Governments should consequently take immediate measures aimed at conferring legal security of tenure upon those households currently lacking such protection, in genuine consultation with affected persons and groups. Availability of Services, Materials and Infrastructure: All beneficiaries of the right to adequate housing should have sustainable access to natural and common resources, potable drinking water, energy for cooking, heating and lighting, sanitation and washing facilities, food storage, refuse disposal, site drainage and emergency services. Affordable: Personal or household costs associated with housing should be at such a level that the attainment and satisfaction of other basic needs are not threatened or compromised. Housing subsidies should be available for those unable to obtain affordable housing, and tenants should be protected from unreasonable rent levels or rent increases. In societies where natural materials constitute the chief sources of building materials for housing, steps should be taken by States parties to ensure the availability of such materials. Habitable: Adequate housing must be habitable, in terms of providing the inhabitants with adequate space and protecting them from cold, damp, heat, rain, wind or other threats to health, structural hazards and disease vectors. The physical safety of occupants must also be guaranteed. Accessible:Adequate housing must be accessible to those entitled to it. Disadvantaged groups must be accorded full and sustainable access to adequate housing resources. Thus, such disadvantaged groups as the elderly, children, the physically disabled, the terminally ill, HIV-positive individuals, persons with persistent medical problems, the mentally ill, victims of natural disasters, people living in disaster-prone areas and other groups should be ensured some degree of priority consideration in the housing sphere. Both housing law and policy should take fully into account the special housing needs of these groups. Location: Adequate housing must be in a location which allows access to employment options, health care services, schools, child care centers and other social facilities. Housing should not be built on polluted sites nor in immediate proximity to pollution sources that threaten the right to health of the inhabitants.Culturally Adequate: The way housing is constructed, the building materials used and the policies supporting these must appropriately enable the expression of cultural identity and diversity of housing. Activities geared towards development or modernization in the housing sphere should ensure that the cultural dimensions of housing are not sacrificed.40/

29. The Committee has developed an international housing rights jurisprudence through the issuance of concluding observations following the consideration of States reports on legislative and other measures States have undertaken to implement the Covenant. In addition to widely condemning the practice of forced evictions carried out by States parties to the Covenant and regularly declaring evictions as a violation of the Covenant, the Committee has specifically addressed housing rights issues in States parties relating to: (a) the rights of tenants; (b) the universal provision of security of tenure; (c) homelessness; (d) the need to construct low-income housing; (e) the lack of domestic remedies for housing rights violations; (f) land regularization; (g) the prevalence of inadequate living conditions and service availability; (h) the need to establish a national housing commission; (i) protection from discrimination within the housing sphere; (j) expropriation for social housing purposes and others.

30. The primary duty of the States holding relevant legal obligations is to create conditions (legislative, administrative, regulatory, economic, social, policy and so forth) such that all residents may benefit from and enjoy in full the entitlements connected with the right to housing, within the shortest possible time-frame. General Comment No. 4 attests that "while the most appropriate means for achieving the full realization of the right to adequate housing will inevitably vary from one State party to another, the Covenant clearly requires that each State party take whatever steps are necessary for that purpose". (para.12) The General Comment continues stating that "measures designed to satisfy a State party's obligations in respect of the right to adequate housing may reflect whatever mix of public and private sector measures considered appropriate. While in some States public financing of housing might most usefully be spent on direct construction of new housing, in most cases, experience has shown the inability of Governments to fully satisfy housing deficits with publicly built housing." (para.14).

National laws pertaining the realization of housing rights

31. With respect to legislating on housing rights, international debates on the desirability or effect of enshrining housing rights provisions within national constitutional structures are characterized by a degree of ambiguity. While most commentators argue in support of such recognition, it is sometimes claimed that the inclusion of housing rights norms within constitutions will have an invariably negative impact upon the actual enjoyment of these rights by dwellers and that overall housing conditions in society will decline. The Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights has suggested that in order to clarify and strengthen the right to adequate housing, "all States proceeding with the elaboration of new, revised or amended national Constitutions, should give due attention to including housing rights provisions in these texts".41/ Practice amply shows that the inclusion of the right to housing at the constitutional level will not invariably lead to the comprehensive implementation of this right; just as is the case with other rights. Legal and political problems relating to the enforcement of housing rights, the lack of clear and precise identification of legal responsibilities to ensure these rights, failing to secure a consistency between the legal and policy regimes and the non-justiciability of certain constitutional norms each contribute to an imperfect situation with respect to the real implementation of the human right to adequate housing. At the same time, however, the absence of housing rights provisions within a constitutional framework does not necessarily imply bad faith on behalf of the State concerned, and certainly does not mean that the enjoyment of housing rights will necessarily be less than in States which have enshrined housing rights norms within the constitutional sphere. The establishment of constitutional rights to adequate housing and the corresponding series of State obligations to create the legal, social and economic conditions necessary for the satisfaction by all of this right represent, however, exceptionally important legal foundations for further, more refined, legislative action towards ensuring this right and should be supported where possible.

32. Overall, human rights law affords States some degree of discretion as far as the adoption of national legislation as a means of implementing international standards is concerned. The Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights provide useful guidance as to whether national legislation is actually an obligation under the Covenant.42/ Limburg Principle 17 proclaims that article 2(1) of the Covenant requires States at the national level to use all appropriate means, including legislative, administrative, judicial, economic, social and educational measures, consistent with the nature of the rights in order to fulfill their obligations under the Covenant. Governments are also obliged, under the Covenant, to take "whatever steps are necessary" for the purposes of the full realization of the right to adequate housing, including, but not only, the undertaking of legislative measures. General Comment No. 4 reiterates that "the role of legislative and administrative measures should not be underestimated". Therefore, although States might not be ipso facto obliged in all cases to adopt domestic legislation giving full effect to international legal obligations an analysis of State practice and international legal perspectives on this issue suggest the necessity of a more nuanced approach to this important issue. In fact, the legislative regulation of matters with a direct influence on the fulfillment of housing rights is now so widespread at the national and local levels that it may be more appropriate to ask how, rather than if, such legislation should be formulated.

33. Under the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, States parties are required to submit reports every five years on the legislative and other measures they have taken to ensure compliance with the legal duties emerging from this instrument. These reports are meant to be constructed in accordance with a series of detailed guidelines. The guidelines relating to the housing rights norms established under the Covenant provide an extensive series of questions referring to the status of pertinent national legislation, thus indicating what the Committee has called the indispensable role of national legislative activities in pursuit of the right to housing.43/ There are, at the same time, certainly cases where the adoption of national legislation would be required under international human rights law. For example, in circumstances where existing laws are manifestly inconsistent with international human rights texts which include housing rights, legislation must be enacted to repeal such legislation or to create new legal rules.

34. The Final Report of the Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights addresses this issue in several of his recommendations, suggesting that "States should seek to fully integrate the contents of General Comment No. 4 on the right to adequate housing (art. 11(1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) into relevant national legislative and policy domains". He adds that "the adoption of comprehensive national housing rights acts should be positively contemplated by States" and that "as far as national legislation ... is concerned, States should, at a minimum, ensure that no violations of the right to adequate housing ... are allowed to take place".44/ The Special Rapporteur also recommended to States parties to the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to "duly alter any domestic laws clearly incompatible with the housing rights provisions of the Covenant, and should take it fully into account in adopting any new legislation".45/ Moreover, the UN Secretary General has noted that there is a compelling need to create new legislation and effective mechanisms geared to the prevention of forced evictions at national, regional and international levels, with a view to enforcing the implementation mechanisms of the right to adequate housing.46/

35. There are clearly advantages of pursuing housing issues through the process of enforcing and implementing housing rights and subsequently codifying this right within domestic legislation. The relative strength of legislation as contrasted with policy decisions provides a valuable assurance that acceptance of housing as a human right will not as easily be subject to the whims of differing political administrations. Enshrining housing rights standards in national legal frameworks may be the only manner of ensuring equitable access of adequate housing resources by disadvantaged groups and protecting the rights of the economically marginalized populations. Additionally, the incorporation of housing rights provisions in law encourages governmental accountability to citizens and provides tangible substance to what are often in practice vague international commitments by a particular State. Housing rights legislation can provide important incentives to ensuring substantive equality of treatment throughout given societies, which in turn transcend purely moral or ethical claims to adequate housing by all people.

36. A wide cross-section of national-level legislation will, to one degree or another, affect the scale by which the right to housing is enjoyed in any society. The Special Rapporteur on Housing Rights has remarked that States should "take into account the fact that many areas of legislation and policy, above and beyond those relating exclusively to housing, have a major bearing upon the degree to which the right of everyone to adequate housing is actually realized".47/ Thus, in addition to constitutional sources of housing rights, the following types of legislation may have a direct bearing upon the enjoyment of housing rights at the national level: a) housing acts; b) rent and rent restriction legislation; c) specific housing rights legislation, including homeless person acts; d) landlord-tenant law; e) urban reform laws; f) security of tenure legislation; g) civil & criminal codes; h) land use, zoning and agrarian laws; I) planning laws and regulations; j) building codes and standards; k) laws relating to inheritance rights for women; l) land acquisition and expropriation acts; m) non-discrimination; n) equality rights; o) eviction laws; p) development laws; and q) environmental standards.

Article 2(1) of the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

37. Under the general obligations clause of the Covenant found in article 2(1), States parties are required to take legislative and other steps to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the Covenant, including, the right to adequate housing. Under the same article, States are required to ensure that no form of racial or other manifestations of discrimination are tolerated to the detriment of the enjoyment of the rights found in the Covenant.48/ States have often sought shelter from international critiques behind what appears superficially to be the imprecise terminology utilized in article 2. However, as linguistically non-committal as these terms may initially appear, there now exists a degree of agreement as to the general duties of States under the Covenant, which establish important principles of international law on housing rights. For instance, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has declared that even when available resources are verifiably inadequate, States must nonetheless strive to ensure the widest possible enjoyment of the relevant rights under prevailing circumstances, and demonstrate that every effort has been made to use all resources that are at its disposition in an effort to satisfy, as a matter of priority, these minimum responsibilities.49/

Progressive Realization

38. The clause allowing for the progressive realization of the rights in the ICESCR imposes an obligation on States to move as expeditiously and effectively as possible towards realizing fully the right to housing, and as an obligation, exists independently of any increase in available resources. Any deliberately retrogressive measures affecting housing or other rights could only be justified by reference to the totality of the rights provided for in the Covenant and in the context of the full utilization of a States maximum available resources. This clause requires effective and equitable use of combined resources immediately.50/ The progressive norms found in the Habitat Agenda should also be interpreted in this manner.

1. Report o f the Secretary-General on Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform, UN doc. A/51/950 (14 July 1997).

2. General Comment No. 4 (para. 11).

3. General Comment No. 3, U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Fifth Session, 1990), E/1991/23, para. 1.

4. Canada, E/C.12/1993/19.

5. Mexico, E/C.12/1993/19.

6. COHRE (1998) Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights No. 7, Geneva.

7. Dominican Republic, E/C.12/1990/8.

8. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/7.

9. M. Partington & J. Hill (1991) Housing Law: Cases. Materials and Commentary, Sweet & Maxwell.

10. General Comment No. 4, para. 10.

11. Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1998), published in Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 20, no, 3, 691.

12. General Comment No. 4, para. 11.

13. See, for instance: Working Paper and First Progress Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Promoting the Realization of the Right to Adequate Housing (UN docs. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/15 and E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/15).

14. Dominican Republic, E/C.12/1994/20.

15. Hong Kong, E/C.12/1994/20.

16. Belgium, E/C.12/1994/20.

17. Philippines, E/C.12/1995/18.

18. South Korea, E/C.12/1995/18.

19. United Kingdom, E/C.12/1995/18.

20. Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1998), published in Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 20, no, 3, 691.

21. General Comment No. 4, para. 11.

22. See, for instance: Working Paper and First Progress Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Promoting the Realization of the Right to Adequate Housing (UN docs. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/15 and E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/15).

23. M. Partington & J. Hill (1991) Housing Law: Cases. Materials and Commentary, Sweet & Maxwell.

24. General Comment No. 4 (para. 11).

25. The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action on Human Rights (June 1993)(para. 98).

26. Report of the Expert Group Meeting on the Human Rights to Adequate Housing (Geneva, 18-19 January 1996), organized jointly by the UN Centre for Human Rights and the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat).

27. "The Practice of Forced Evictions: Comprehensive Human Rights Guidelines on Development-Based Displacement", adopted by the UN Expert Seminar on the Practice of Forced Evictions (Geneva, 11-13 June 1997), UN doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1997/7.

28. The Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (1989) Our Homeless Children: Report of the National Inquiry into Homeless Children, Australian Government Publishing Service.

29. The individual rights provisions of these texts include: Human dignity and the exercise of free choice consistent with over-all public welfare are basic rights which must be ensured in every society (para. 4); The right of free movement and the right of each individual to choose the place of settlement within the domain of his own country should be recognized and safeguarded (para. 6); All persons have the right and the duty to participate, individually and collectively in the elaboration and implementation of policies and programmes of their human settlements (para. 13); The highest priority should be placed on the rehabilitation of expelled and homeless people who have been displaced by natural or man-made catastrophes, and especially by the act of foreign aggression. In the latter case, all countries have the duty to fully co-operate in order to guarantee that the parties involved allow the return of displaced persons to their homes and to give them the right to possess and enjoy their properties and belongings without interference (para. 15); Adequate shelter and services are a basic human right which places an obligation on governments to ensure their attainment by all people, beginning with direct assistance to the least advantaged through guided pro-grammes of self-help and community action. Governments should endeavour to remove all impediments hindering attainment of these goals. Of special importance is the elimina-tion of social and racial segregation, inter alia, through the creation of better bal-anced communities, which blend different social groups, occupations, housing and amenities (para. 8); Basic human dignity is the right of people, individually and collectively, to participate directly in shaping the policies and programmes affecting their lives. The process of choosing and carrying out a given course of action for human settlement improvement should be designed expressly to fulfil that right (para. 10); The ideologies of States are reflected in their human settle-ment poli-cies.  These being powerful instruments for change, they must not be used to dispossess people from their homes or land or to entrench privilege and exploitation.  The human settlement poli-cies must be in conformity with the declarati-on of principles and the Universal De-claration of Human Rights (para. A.3).
 
30. GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR SHELTER TO THE YEAR 2000, adopted by the UN General Assembly in resolution 43/181 on 20 December 1988 (Point 13).

31. The central human settlements objectives contained in Agenda 21 were elaborated in order to:"improve the social, economic and environmental quality of human settlements and the living and working environments of all people, in particular the urban and rural poor.  Such improvement should be based on technical cooperation activities, partnerships among the public, private and community sectors and participation in the decision-making process by community groups and special interest groups such as women, indigenous people, the elderly and the disabled.  These approaches should form the core principles of national settlement strategies .... Furthermore, countries should make appropriate provision to monitor the impact of their strategies on marginalized and disenfranchised groups, with particular reference to the needs of women". Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 1992 (UN Publications, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and corrigenda), vol. I: Resolutions adopted by the Conference, resolution 1, annex II, para. 7.4.

32. The following provisions of the Habitat Agenda also address human rights and housing rights considerations:
Para. 11: More people than ever are living in absolute poverty and without adequate shelter. Inadequate shelter and homelessness are growing plights in many countries, threatening standards of health, security and even life itself. Everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing, housing, water, sanitation, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.
Para. 22: The objectives of the Habitat Agenda are in full conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and international law.
Para. 23: While the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be borne in mind, it is the duty of all States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development.
Para. 24: Implementation of the Habitat Agenda, including implementation through national laws and development priorities, programmes and policies, is the sovereign right and responsibility of each State in conformity with all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, and taking into account the significance of and with full respect for various religious and ethical values, cultural backgrounds, and philosophical convictions of individuals and their communities, contributing to the full enjoyment by all of their human rights in order to achieve the objectives of adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development.
Para. 40: We further commit ourselves to:
 a) Ensuring consistency and coordination of macroeconomic and shelter policies and strategies as a social priority within the framework of national development programmes and urban policies in order to support resource mobilization, employment generation, poverty eradication and social integration;
 b) Providing legal security of tenure and equal access to land to all people, including women and those living in poverty; and undertaking legislative and administrative reforms to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technologies;
 c) Promoting access for all people to safe drinking water, sanitation and other basic services, facilities and amenities, especially for people living in poverty, women and those belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups;
 d) Ensuring transparent, comprehensive and accessible systems in transferring land rights and legal security of tenure;
 e) Promoting broad, non-discriminatory access to open, efficient, effective and appropriate housing financing for all people, including mobilizing innovative financial and other resources - public and private - for community development;
 ....
 h) Increasing the supply of affordable housing, including through encouraging and promoting affordable home ownership and increasing the supply of affordable rental, communal, cooperative and other housing through partnerships among public, private and community initiatives, creating and promoting market-based incentives while giving due respect to the rights and obligations of both tenants and owners;
 i) Promoting the upgrading of existing housing stock through rehabilitation and maintenance and the adequate supply of basic services, facilities and amenities;
 j) Eradicating and ensuring legal protection from discrimination in access to shelter and basic services, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status; similar protection should be ensured against discrimination on the grounds of disability or age;
 ...
 l) Promoting shelter and supporting basic services and facilities for education and health for the homeless, displaced persons, indigenous people, women and children who are survivors of family violence, persons with disabilities, older persons, victims of natural and man-made disasters and people belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, including temporary shelter and basic services for refugees;
 m) Protecting, within the national context, the legal traditional rights of indigenous people to land and other resources, as well as strengthening of land management;
 n) Protecting all people from and providing legal protection and redress for forced evictions that are contrary to the law, taking human rights into consideration; when evictions are unavoidable, ensuring, as appropriate, that alternative suitable solutions are provided;
Para. 41: Providing continued international support to refugees in order to meet their needs and to assist in assuring them a just, durable solution in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions and international law.
Para. 43: We further commit ourselves to the objectives of: (a) Promoting, as appropriate, socially integrated and accessible human settlements, including appropriate facilities for health and education, combatting segregation and discriminatory and other exclusionary policies and practices, and recognizing and respecting the rights of all, especially of women, children, persons with disabilities, people living in poverty and those belonging to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups....
Para. 60: Adequate shelter means more than a roof over one’s head. It also means adequate privacy; adequate
space; physical accessibility; adequate security; security of tenure; structural stability and durability; adequate lighting, heating and ventilation; adequate basic infrastructure, such as water supply, sanitation and waste
management facilities; suitable environmental quality and health-related factors; and adequate and accessible location with regard to work and basic facilities: all of which should available at an affordable cost. Adequacy should be determined together with the people concerned, bearing in mind the prospect for gradual development. Adequacy often varies from country to country, since it depends on specific cultural, social, environmental and economic factors. Gender specific and age-specific factors, such as the exposure of children and women to toxic substances, should be considered in this context.

33. See the reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on Promoting the Realization of the Right to Adequate Housing, Justice Rajindar Sachar, as contained in: E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/15 (Working Paper); E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/15 (First Report); E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/20 (Progress Report) and E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/12 (Final report).

34. Realization of economic, social and cultural rights, Second progress report prepared by Mr. Danilo Türk, Special Rapporteur (UN doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1991/17, pp. 18-19.

35. The right to adequate housing, Final report submitted by Mr. Rajindar Sachar, Special Rapporteur, UN doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/12, p. 5.

36. E/CN.4/Sub/2/1995/12, pp. 4-5.

37. See 'General Comment No. 4 on the Right to Adequate Housing (article 11(1) of the Covenant), adopted by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at its sixth session (1991), UN doc: E/C.12/1991/4, pp. 114-120.

38. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, opened for signature 19 December 1966, entered into force 3 January 1976; GA Res. 2200 A(XXI), 21 UN GAOR, Supp. No. 16, at 49 (UN doc. A/6316 (1966)).

39. General Comment No. 4, (para. 7).

40. General Comment No. 4, para. 8.

41. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/12, para. 164.

42. The Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 9(2), (May 1987), pp. 122-135.

43. Part c) of the Revised guidelines regarding the form and contents of States reports to be submitted by States parties under articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights contains a broad request to States parties to provide information on eleven distinct areas of legislation viewed by the Committee as relevant to the human right to adequate housing: c) Please provide information on the existence of any laws affecting the realization of the right to housing, including: (I) Legislation which gives substance to the right to housing in terms of defining the content of this right; (ii) Legislation such as housing acts, homeless person acts, municipal corporation acts, etc; (iii) Legislation relevant to land use, land distribution, land allocation, land zoning, land ceilings, expropriations including provisions for compensation, land planning including procedures for community participation; (iv) Legislation concerning the rights of tenants to security of tenure, to protection from eviction, to housing finance and rent control (or subsidy), housing affordability, etc; (v) Legislation concerning building codes, building regulations and standards and the provision of infrastructure; (vi) Legislation prohibiting any and all forms of discrimination in the housing sector, including groups not traditionally protected; (vii) Legislation prohibiting any form of eviction; (viii) Any legislative appeal or reform of existing laws which detracts from the fulfilment of the right to housing; (ix) Legislation restricting speculation on housing or property, particularly when such speculation has a negative impact on the fulfilment of housing rights for all sectors of society; (x) Legislative measures conferring legal title to those living in the 'illegal' sector; (xi) Legislation concerning environmental planning and health in housing and human settlements. (UN doc: E/C.12/1990/8, pp. 88-110).

44. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/12, paras. 162 & 165.

45. id, para. 179.

46. E/CN.4/1994/20 (para. 144).

47. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/12, para. 180.

48. Article 2(1) reads: "Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures."

49. General Comment No. 3 (1990): the nature of States parties' obligations (art. 2, para. 1 of the Covenant), UN doc. E/C.12/1990/8, pp. 83-87.

50. id.