Realizing the right to adequate housing is a pre-requisite for achieving an equitable city!
International human rights law recognizes everyone’s right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate housing. Despite the central place of this right within the global legal system, well over a billion people are not adequately housed. Millions around the world live in life- or healththreatening conditions, in overcrowded slums and informal settlements, or in other conditions which do not uphold their human rights and their dignity. Further millions are forcibly evicted, or threatened with forced eviction, from their homes every year.
Adequate housing was recognized as part of the right to an adequate standard of living in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Other international human rights treaties have since recognized or referred to the right to adequate housing or some elements of it, such as the protection of one’s home and privacy.
The right to adequate housing is relevant to all States, as they have all ratified at least one international treaty referring to adequate housing and committed themselves to protecting the right to adequate housing through international declarations, plans of action or conference outcome documents. Several constitutions protect the right to adequate housing or outline the State’s general responsibility to ensure adequate housing and living conditions for all. Courts from various legal systems have also adjudicated cases related to its enjoyment, covering, for instance, forced evictions, tenant protection, discrimination in the housing sphere or access to basic housing-related services.
The right to adequate housing contains freedoms. These freedoms include:
- Protection against forced evictions and the arbitrary destruction and demolition of one’s home;
- The right to be free from arbitrary interference with one’s home, privacy and family; and
- The right to choose one’s residence, to determine where to live and to freedom of movement.
• The right to adequate housing contains entitlements. These entitlements include:
- Security of tenure;
- Housing, land and property restitution;
- Equal and non-discriminatory access to adequate housing;
- Participation in housing-related decision-making at the national and community levels.
Here is a link to the OHCHR/UN-Habitat Factsheet 21 on the Right to Adequate Housing: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FS21_rev_1_Housing_en.pdf
In your views and experiences, how is this human right to adequate housing being upheld/violated where you come from, or where you live?
James Duminy (Moderator) from South Africa, 10 May 2012Brilliant topic Channe. In South Africa all people are guaranteed the right to adequate shelter in the Constitution. Recently, there have been numerous political and legal battles over what constitutes this right, and how the state is expected to realize it through policy and planning practice.
A recent example concerned a piece of legislation termed the 'Slums Act', which sought to provide the state with the legal means of relocating people who live in informal settlements, and to prevent the development of new 'slums'. Grassroots political organizations of slum dwellers such as Abahlali baseMjondolo successfully challenged this legislation in the South African Constitutional Court, arguing that it gave the state too much leeway to evict and forcibly remove those living in slums. The residents of the 'slums' interpreted their Constitutional right to adequate housing as the right to stay where they were, even if living conditions are not adequate. See this link for more information about the court case: http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71654?oid=146829&sn=Detail&pid=71654
Forced evictions of people living in informal settlements is a major way that housing rights can be violated, and often these are carried out by the state and official planning processes. In Africa, Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe was a recent example.
Many people argue that a more progressive, rights-based approach to development would involve incremental informal settlement upgrading. What are good examples of such approaches?
Politicsweb - ConCourt declares Section 16 of KZN Slums Act illegal - PARTY
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71654?oid=146829
Oded Stephen Maramwidze, 10 May 2012Thanks Channe and James for your informing submissions. I am just a concerned individual and would like to ask how best I could help people in slums acquire decent homes? I do believe that as people, they should also be able to do something about their situation than wait for the government to act who knows when?
James Duminy (Moderator) from South Africa, 10 May 2012Hi Oded, here is a link to the website of Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI), which is a global network of community-based organizations of the urban poor, active in 33 countries: http://www.sdinet.org/
SDI and its national members provide assistance to local communities to upgrade their housing conditions according to an incremental process, which builds community cohesion and capacity. They also carry out community-based mapping and survey processes, so that residents have accurate information about themselves, their living conditions and needs.
Perhaps in your country there is a national federation that you can find out more about?
SDINet.org - Welcome to Shack/Slum Dwellers International
http://www.sdinet.org/
Oded Stephen Maramwidze, 11 May 2012Thanks James and G-d bless you.
Juan Carlos Castellanos, 17 May 2012In Bogota, the new administration local, proposed reduction of the segregation, through the redensification of the center of the city, this police can reduce the expantion the urban city and a major utilization of the capacity installed in service urban
http://www.bogotahumana.gov.co/images/PDF/plandedesarrollo20122016.pdf
http://www.bogotahumana.gov.co/images/PDF/plandedesarrollo20122016.pdf
Esther Ojeah, 18 May 2012Upgrading slums with low cost affordable houses should be preferable for low income, homeless persons, not government forcefully acquiring such area and developing it, so that it is out of reach of the initial habitants.