29/10/2019

Implementing the Right to Adequate Housing: Nourishing Durban Congress debates and the next Report of the UN Special Rapporteur

The next UCLG World Congress of Durban (11-15 November) will host several events and networking opportunities that will define the future strategy on housing of member local governments and the world organization in the coming period.

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A working session organized by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing on 13 November from 11:00 to 12:00 will seek to collect local governments and partners’ contributions for her next annual report on “Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Housing”. The Rapporteur will participate in several events throughout the Congress with a view to collect all relevant contributions to the report.

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The CSIPDHR actively encourages local governments committed to this issue to send their written contributions to this process. These contributions might be composed of housing strategies examples, reports or messages that you would like to see reflected in the report.

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Interested parties are invited to send their contributions to [email protected] before the Congress (November 11). The draft of this report is attached to this document.

Special Session on “The Future of Housing"

On 13 November, the CSIPHDR will also co-organize the Special Session “The Future of Housing: Local Governments Promoting the Right to Adequate Housing” from 14.30 to 16.00. This session will be attended by local leaders committed to the issue of housing, the Special Rapporteur and other international representatives. It will provide a platform for defining, as part of the “Cities for Adequate Housing” Declaration and “The Shift” movement, the key messages and housing priorities for the global organization during next few years.

Context

In recent years, housing has become a central issue for the agendas of many local governments. Faced with old and new challenges that prevent the full realization of the right to adequate housing for all residents, local governments have been at the forefront of many new initiatives and campaigns over the last year. The “Cities for Adequate Housing” Declaration (2018) is a clear example of this shared aspiration by local governments.

In response to the global housing crisis, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur has helped to articulate government and civil society initiatives for the right to housing, particularly through “The Shift” initiative. The Rapporteur's mandate has also been defined by the publication of numerous reports showing that the right to housing is not simply “a call to action”, but a very concrete way of developing public policies and strategies.