Right to Adequate Housing Understanding HUman Rights in Cities - Training Workshop - SESSION 3 Right to Adequate Housing (DRAFT) May 2015 Right to Adequate Housing Housing Rights is simplified reference to Right to Adequate Housing as a component of the Right to Adequate Standard of Living. “Housing Rights” and “the Right to Adequate Housing” are interchangeable. Enshrined in UDHR (Article 25) – customary law - and in ICESCR (Article 11) – treaty law Soft law: CESCR General Comments, Pinheiro principles, etc. 20/04/2015 UN Habitat, Housing Unit, HSUB

Right to Adequate Housing DEFINITION: Not 4 walls and a roof but…. The right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity Main elements: Security of tenure Availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure Affordability that doesn’t threaten or compromises the occupants’ enjoyment of other human rights Habitability that guarantees physical safety, provides adequate space and protection against the cold, damp, heat, rain, wind, other threats to health and structural hazards Accessibility for disadvantaged and marginalized groups Location close to employment opportunities, health-care services, schools, childcare centers and other social facilities and not located in polluted or dangerous areas Cultural adequacy that enables the expression of cultural identity (OHCHR/UN Habitat Fact sheet 21) 20/04/2015

Right to Adequate Housing Additional dimensions include: - non-discrimination (i.e. zoning, exclusionary laws or rules, denial of security of tenure, etc.): States have an obligation to ensure de jure and de facto equality in access to adequate housing and protection against forced evictions Women and children special protection ( inheritance laws, single mothers) (OHCHR/UN Habitat Fact Sheet 21) United Nations Housing Rights Program (UNHRP) was launched jointly by OHCHR and UN-Habitat in 2002 in order to support the efforts by Governments, civil society and national human rights institutions towards the realization of the right to adequate housing” (RTAH Factsheet: 36). 20/04/2015

… in a nutshell! The Right to Adequate Housing: Does not mean: Government to provide housing for everybody It does mean: Government has to plan for security of tenure It does mean: forced evictions are prohibited, unless exceptional circumstances and according to IL criteria It does mean: protection from arbitrary interference with ones’ home and privacy It does mean: equal and non-discriminatory access to property and adequate housing of all social groups It does mean: people’s participation in housing-related decision-making at national and community levels (OHCHR/UN Habitat Fact Sheet 21) 20/04/2015