Habitat III: “It’s not about conferences, but people” – UN expert calls for big ‘Shift’ in approach to housing
QUITO / GENEVA (21 October 2016) – Current perceptions of housing as a commodity, of development at any expense, and the
exclusion of the most vulnerable, remain dominant in the global approach to housing, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, warned.
“Globally, there is an interest in housing – but not as a human right, or an issue requiring urgent attention to assist
the most vulnerable groups in cities around the world,” Ms. Farha said at the end of the UN Conference on Housing and
Sustainable Urban Development, Habitat III, that took take place this week in Quito, Ecuador.
“Despite the ever increasing rates of homelessness, forced evictions, insecure tenure, commodification of housing, land
and property speculation, and gentrification of cities in a context of rapid urbanization, the international community
has failed to place the right to adequate housing at the centre of its debates,” she noted.
The human rights expert explained that the conclusion of Habitat III has left global leaders, organizations and
community members poised with many questions about the direction of housing policy for the next twenty years. “However,”
she stressed, “a critical challenge remains: implementing the New Urban Agenda within a vibrant human rights framework –
a framework that has been embraced by civil society, social movements, and cities throughout the world.”
The Special Rapporteur, along with international partners the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and
United Cities and Local Governments, brought together a budding global alliance to push an international initiative on
the right to housing through the event ‘The Shift’, which was “an opportunity to test the appetite for moving popular
discourse away from housing as an investment or economic driver, to housing as a human right.”
“The millions who have been rendered homeless or forced to live in intolerable housing conditions have been treated as
the ‘problem’, Ms. Farha stated. “The Shift demands a different paradigm: those who are homeless and inadequately housed
must be treated as rights claimants and key actors must implement the right to adequate housing in a new urban rights
agenda.”
With over 100 participants from all sectors, ‘The Shift’ affirmed a common desire for change – to make the world a more
human place in which to live.
“Habitat III was a symbolic moment when diverse stakeholders came together to commit to a global change grounded in
human rights, but we are facing a steep hill ahead,” Ms. Farha said. “We are challenging those with huge wealth and
power; we are challenging the dominant understanding of who counts and who doesn’t; we are challenging dominant
perceptions about who cities are for.”
“This is only a first step, but I know, it is not conferences that make change, it’s people,” the UN Special Rapporteur
underlined.
ENDS