Today, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, presents his report to the UN Human Rights Council: “20 years Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing – Tacking stock – moving forward”
The report (A/HRC/47/43) highlights key achievements and contributions of the mandate since its establishment and identified seven priorities that will guide his future work.
The presentation of the report is expected to start today at around 17:00 Geneva time (CEST) at the Human Rights Council and can be watched on UN TV live. The dialogue of Mr. Rajagopal will likely continue tomorrow from 15:00-16:00 Geneva time (CEST). His oral statement is already available.
The Special Rapporteur will also present the mission report to New Zealand on behalf of his predecessor, Leilani Farha (A/HRC/47/43/Add.1).
The Special Rapporteur’s next thematic reports to the UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council to be presented in October 2021 and March 2022, respectively, will focus on housing discrimination and spatial segregation.
Related meeting reports and submissions by States, National Human Rights Institutions, equality bodies, UN entities, local governments and civil society are found here.
Last week, ahead of yesterday’s launch of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness yesterday, the Special Rapporteur published a joint OP-ED calling on EU countries to end homelessness and treat the homeless as rights holders. Together with the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty, Mr Rajagopal called upon all states belonging to the Council of Europe to submit over the next two months information about laws or regulations within their countries that may still criminalize persons in situation of homelessness or extreme poverty, for example by criminalizing begging, sleeping, or eating in public places.
Communications by the Special Rapporteur to States and other entities raising housing rights concerns are published 60 days after they have been sent and can be found here. Submissions to communicate particular housing rights concerns to the Special Rapporteur can be made through the online questionnaire.
Consult the short summary of his report.
Download the full report “20 years Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing – Tacking stock – moving forward”
Photo on front page: Down and out in London. Source: Getty. Photo on this page: Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context. Source: OHCHR.
