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News (118)
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India: Activist Arrested over Pro-farmer ‘Toolkit’ |
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By :Sky News and Shruti Menon, BBC |
| 19 February 2021 |
These two articles report the arrest of 22-year-old Indian climate activist Disha Ravi, who has been accused of sedition for allegedly authoring a pro-famers toolkit Global Farmers Strike - First Wave. The first article deals with her arrest, while the second provides the context of India’s Sedition Law and its
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Kenya: Supreme Court Rules Eviction Illegal |
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By :Emily Kinama, The Star |
| 30 January 2021 |
Mitu-Bell Welfare Society case: Landmark judgment by Supreme Court
Apex court finds eviction of 15,000 people in Mitumba illegal, such evictions continue today, also in violation of international law
In Summary
KAA and state disobeyed court order against forced eviction in 2011.
Supreme Court also relied on international customary law. Decision means that international
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Zimbabwe: Villagers up in Arms over Relocation |
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By :Tatenda Chitagu, Newsday.Co.Zw |
| 29 October 2020 |
RUNDE Rural District Council (RDC) faces resistance from about 50 families it intends to evict to pave way for the upgrading of Vugwi Business Centre into a growth point.
The business centre is about 22km from Zvishavane town and falls under Runde RDC.
The affected villagers have vowed to resist eviction without
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UAE: Sheikh Khalifa’s £5bn London Property Empire |
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By :Harry Davies, The Guardian |
| 21 October 2020 |
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan is president of the United Arab Emirates – and one of London`s richest landlords, owning a multibillion-pound property portfolio spanning London’s most-expensive neighbourhoods.
The row of 1960s-built houses with untidy gardens on a quiet cul-de-sac near Richmond-upon-Thames appears to have little in common with
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Namibia: Court Evicts Endombo Residents |
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By :Obrien Simasiku, NewEralive.na |
| 09 October 2020 |
OMUTHIYA - About 20 tenants of Endombo compound in Tsumeb suffered another blow after a failed attempt to have the High Court declare an order of eviction instituted by the landlord null and void.
The tenants have been refusing to vacate the property despite having been served with numerous eviction notices
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Cameroon: Threatened to Extinction |
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By :Amindeh Blaise Atabong, Good Governance Africa |
| 09 October 2020 |
Urbanisation and acculturation in Cameroon are eroding traditional conservation practices that helped maintain the equilibrium of the ecosystem.
Armand Boui has a problem. The 57-year-old native of Mongonam in the Kadey Division of Cameroon – part of the species-rich Congo Basin – is jobless. He wasn’t always unemployed, and he is
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COVID Could Add 150mil Extreme Poor by 2021 |
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By :World Bank |
| 07 October 2020 |
COVID-19 to Add as Many as 150 Million Extreme Poor by 2021
Decades of progress have gone into reverse; ‘the worst setback that we’ve witnessed in a generation’. Eight out of 10 ‘new poor’ will be in middle-income countries
WASHINGTON— Global extreme poverty is expected to rise in 2020 for the first
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USA: CSOs Urge Senate Reject SCotUS Pick |
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By :Over 150 organizations |
| 06 October 2020 |
Following the nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the United States Supreme Court, over 150 justice organizations and movements, including advocates for the homeless and defenders of the human right to adequate housing, issued a letter urging the Senate to oppose her confirmation. While the nomination raises a broad
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New from HIC-HLRN: “A Pandemic of Violations” |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 05 October 2020 |
On the occasion of World Habitat Day (5 October 2020) and “Urban October,” HIC-HLRN has produced its annual report from the HLRN Violation Database.
This year’s review of patterns and trends in housing and land rights violation around the world is dedicated to the theme: A Pandemic of Violations: Forced Evictions
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New from HIC-HLRN: "A Pandemic of Violations" |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 05 October 2020 |
On the occasion of World Habitat Day (5 October 2020) and “Urban October,” HIC-HLRN has produced its annual report from the HLRN Violation Database.
This year’s review of patterns and trends in housing and land rights violation around the world is dedicated to the theme: A Pandemic of Violations: Forced Evictions
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Kenya: Impoverishing Women with "Development" |
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By :HIC-HLRN, Mazingira Institute and Pamoja Trust |
| 25 September 2020 |
HIC-HLRN has just published the results of a study on the impacts of infrastructure development that dispossesses and displace women in Kenya. The report is a baseline assessment of women’s wealth, wellbeing and habitat values at stake.
This is the product of a collaborative project of Mazingira Institute, Pamoja Trust and
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Brazil: Largo de São Francisco Eviction amid COVID |
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By :Jaqueline Suarez, RioOnWatch |
| 09 September 2020 |
Families that Took Shelter from Pandemic in Central Rio Occupation Evicted
The pile of furniture on the sidewalk started to form around 8:30am, when the Military Police arrived to carry out a repossession of a second floor space near Largo de São Francisco, in Rio de Janeiro’s downtown Centro. While families
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USA: Eviction-Public health-Election |
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By :Jacob Passy, Market Watch |
| 02 September 2020 |
Renters in U.S. cannot be evicted through the end of the year due to coronavirus, CDC order states
Unpublished order provides declaration for renters to sign stating they are unable to pay rent, have sought government assistance
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is implementing a temporary eviction moratorium through the
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Court to Cape Town: “redress apartheid legacy” |
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By :Murray Williams, news24 |
| 31 August 2020 |
High Court sets aside R135m Sea Point school sale, frees land to address apartheid legacy
· The Tafelberg school property case has been running for five years.
· Finally, the High Court has ruled, upholding the legal challenge by two not-for-profit organisations.
· The sale of the land has now been reversed – much to
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USA: `Scarlet E`= Eviction as Life Sentence |
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By :Kaelyn Forde, Al Jazeera |
| 21 August 2020 |
Sandi Bachom, 75, never expected to be evicted. She once earned a six-figure salary at a New York City advertising firm and lived a comfortable life. But after getting divorced, losing her job and getting hit by a car, she fell behind on her $3,000 monthly rent payment.
In April 2012,
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Land Times issue 20 |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 08 August 2020 |
HIC’s Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN) welcomes you to its 20th issue of Land Times. This milestone edition emphasizes the role of civil society in identifying and remedying housing and land rights problems in the context of a global pandemic.
Amid this protracted crisis, events and developments in the Middle
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USA: Eviction Wave as Moratoriums End |
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By :Regina Garcia Cano and Michael Casey/AP |
| 04 August 2020 |
Wave of evictions expected as moratoriums end in many states
BALTIMORE— Kelyn Yanez used to clean homes during the day and wait tables at night in the Houston area before the coronavirus. But the mother of three lost both jobs in March because of the pandemic and now is facing eviction.
The
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USA: Mass Evictions to Hit People of Color Hardest |
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By :Camilo Maldonado, Forbes |
| 29 July 2020 |
Update: mass evictions set to begin - communities of color to be hardest hit
NEW YORK, NEW YORK—During a Monday interview on Fox Business, White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow backtracked his comments made Sunday and clarified that the eviction moratorium extension would be for mortgages in forbearance.
With regards
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A Chinese Province Razes Its Countryside |
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By :Alexander Boyd, SupChina |
| 10 July 2020 |
A Chinese province razes the countryside. Why?
How are Shandong villagers being convinced to go along with a provincial plan to raze their homes and move them into high-rises? With promises of economic benefits in the future, and if that doesn’t work, with coercion and threats.
Since March, the provincial government
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USA: Coronavirus Evictions |
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By :John Oliver, HBO |
| 02 July 2020 |
With evictions on the rise due to COVID-19, comedic actor and TV host John Oliver uses irony to discuss the long struggle to obtain and sustain adequate housing in the United States, why it’s gotten worse in recent months and how to prevent an impending crisis.
View the broadcast on YouTube:
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South Africa: Relocation Again in Alexandra TS |
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By :Dennis Webster, New Frame |
| 29 June 2020 |
Relocation rears its head: Bringing de-densification home in Alexandra
The American poet GC Waldrep recently described gravity as “a debt … incurred by God”. In the Stjwetla shack settlement in Alexandra, Johannesburg, gravity is God-sent. Built around a series of small rivulets that flow down the western bank of the Jukskei River in the
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What Happens When the Eviction Bans End? |
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By :Kriston Capps, City Lab |
| 29 May 2020 |
What Happens When the Eviction Bans End?
States are reopening courts to eviction hearings even as coronavirus-driven job losses continue, setting the stage for “a housing crisis of unparalleled magnitude.”
Last week, a crowd of about 30 people lined up in a single-file, socially distanced line outside the district court in Petersburg,
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USA: A Coming ‘Avalanche of Evictions’ |
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By :Sarah Mervosh, The New York Times |
| 27 May 2020 |
An ‘Avalanche of Evictions’ Could Be Bearing Down on America’s Renters [i.e., in USA]
The economic downturn is shaping up to be particularly devastating for renters, who are more likely to be lower-income and work hourly jobs cut during the pandemic.
EUCLID, Ohio — The United States, already wrestling with an economic
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Kenya: Ruai Evictions, Why Now? |
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By :Ruai News |
| 21 May 2020 |
Ruai Evictions : Is This Why Government Had To Do It Before September?
Renowned political commentator Allan Kibet has come out to claim that President Uhuru Kenyatta forcefully evicted the residents of Ruai and Kariobangi from the ` public` land so as to commence the construction of Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement
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USA: The Coming Eviction Crisis |
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By :Megh Wright, New York magazine |
| 18 May 2020 |
Patriot Act Returns to Terrify You About an Eviction Crisis
Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix series, Patriot Act, returned last night with its first new episode since the pandemic began, and Minhaj wasted no time addressing the show’s new remote format: “Don’t think of this as a Netflix show compromising. Think of this as a YouTube video overachieving.”
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USA: Which States Protect from Eviction? |
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By :Dan Keating and Lauren Tierney, The Washington Post |
| 29 April 2020 |
Which states are doing a better job protecting renters from being evicted during the coronavirus pandemic
For millions of renters who have lost income, rent day on May 1 is a looming disaster.
A majority of the country’s 43.8 million renting households have lost at least some of their income in the coronavirus shutdown,
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South Africa: Hsg Crisis, Eviction amid Lockdown |
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By :Kim Harrisberg, Thomon Reuters Foundation |
| 24 April 2020 |
Evictions, power cuts heighten South Africa housing crisis amid lockdown
JOHANNESBURG—From demolished shacks to water and electricity shutoffs, South Africa’s coronavirus lockdown is worsening the country’s housing crisis, despite government orders to suspend evictions, residents and activists warned.
With many unable to work or pay rent since stay-at-home orders went into effect
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South Africa: Evictions Despite Moratorium |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo |
| 29 March 2020 |
Evictions continue in Durban despite the national moratorium
The national government made a clear promise that there would be no evictions during the national shutdown implemented to slow the spread of the coronavirus. However, today, at around 12:30, Calvin Security returned to the Ekuphumeleleni settlement in Mariannhill, which falls under
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UN Invites Corporate Capture of Food Systems |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 23 March 2020 |
The UN has increasingly involved corporations in UN decision making, a trend made obvious in the 2012 Rio+20 Conference. This time, the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) has formed an alliance with the corporate world—outside of the framework of UN Charter-based specialized agencies—to set the global agenda for further corporate capture of
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Liberia: New Land Law Partial Victory |
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By :Jennifer O’Mahony, Mongabay Series: Global Forests, Global Palm Oil |
| 22 March 2020 |
New Land Law hailed as victory, but critics say it’s not enough
Areas allocated to rubber, oil palm and logging concessions cover around a quarter of Liberia’s total land mass.
Liberian activists and the international community have warned that land disputes on oil palm concessions were becoming a time bomb for conflict
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COVID-19: We Need a Human Rights Habitat |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 17 March 2020 |
In the current COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised and responsible governments have enforced that we stay at home stay, frequently wash our hands often with soap and warm water, maintain social distancing and keep our immune system strong, these live-saving measures are impossible for vulnerable people
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“Slumlord Millionaire” Jared Kushner (review) |
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By :Jude Dry, IndieWire |
| 12 March 2020 |
The Most Shocking Discoveries about ‘Slumlord’ Jared Kushner in Netflix’s “Dirty Money.” The president`s son-in-law is the subject of Alex Gibney`s docuseries, in an episode titled "Slumlord Millionaire."
Throughout his filmmaking career, documentarian Alex Gibney has made it his business to expose egregious abuse of power at the hands of the moneyed; from
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India: Evictions in Honor of Trump Visit |
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By :Avinash Nair, The Indian Express |
| 18 February 2020 |
Ahead of Donald Trump’s visit to India, officials serve 45 families in Gujarat slum with eviction notices. The move comes just days after the AMC began building a wall allegedly to cover the Saraniyavas or Dev Saran slum on a route that the US President is likely to take while
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HIC-HLRN: New Ways to Work with UN Habitat |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 09 February 2020 |
ABU DHABI—At a networking event in the 10th World Urban Forum (WUF) to consider a new UN Habitat “Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism for Sustainable Development,” HIC-HLRN presented its contribution to the current discussion about the eventual methods and functions of UN Habitat’s partnership with civil society, local governments and authorities, and
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‘Parasite’: Homes Play Characters in Oscar Winner |
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By :Karen Idelson, Variety |
| 03 February 2020 |
Haunted houses are always full of hidden passageways, secret rooms and a story or two about someone who used to live there who disappeared or died under mysterious circumstances. The Park house in “Parasite” is no exception to that rule.
It was first imagined by director Bong Joon Ho as a
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Wealth Inequality, not Over-population Causes Climate Crisis |
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By :The Conversation |
| 28 January 2020 |
Stop blaming population growth for climate change. The real culprit is wealth inequality. Consumption by the world’s richest 10% makes up half of the planet’s consumption-based CO₂ emissions. Why we should be wary of blaming ‘overpopulation’ for the climate crisis
The annual World Economic Forum in Davos brought together representatives from government and
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New York Evictions Down, Thanks to Voters |
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By :Mara Gay, The New York Time |
| 26 December 2019 |
The rent protections passed by the newly Democratic State Senate are working.
This spring, New York State enacted the strongest tenant protections in a quarter century. Already, they have made a difference in the lives of thousands of New York City residents.
Since the law took effect in June, landlords have tried
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Call for Proposals: Homes, Housing & Human Rights |
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By :Student Organizers at Trent University |
| 24 November 2019 |
13th Annual Community Movements Conference
Homes, Housing, and Human Rights January 31 - February 1, 2020
Peterborough, Ontario
On behalf of Trent Students affiliated with the International Development Studies program and the Student Association for International Development (SAID), we would like to invite you to participate in our 13th annual
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20 Firms Emit a Third of All Carbon |
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By :Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts, The Guardian |
| 09 October 2019 |
New data show how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers
The Guardian today reveals the 20 fossil fuel companies whose relentless exploitation of the world’s oil, gas and coal reserves can be directly linked to more than one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions in the modern
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USA: New Rule to Make Residents Homeless |
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By :Carey L. Biron, City |
| 13 August 2019 |
`We will become homeless`: U.S. residents fear housing rule change could force them out of homes. The rule change could make an entire household ineligible for social housing if a single member is undocumented, say experts.
WASHINGTON - Fears are mounting across the United States over a proposal by President Donald
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PHROC Rebukes Donor States over UNRWA Cuts |
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By :Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) |
| 04 August 2019 |
Palestinian Refugees must not suffer the consequences of alleged misconduct. Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) criticizes funding cuts to UNRWA over ethics evaluation.
PHROC: Support UNRWA and Ensure Refugee Rights under International Law
A ten-page report was issued by the ethics office of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
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Most South Africa Municipalities Don’t Deliver |
| 02 July 2019 |
Most South African municipalities not delivering for citizens
If the South African public were ever in doubt at the reasons for service delivery protests in townships and municipalities, a closer look should be taken at the municipal audit report released by Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu who expressed concern at the financial mismanagement
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Resident Revenge against Developers |
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By :George Hammond, Financial Times |
| 11 April 2019 |
Rising house prices and rents have sparked protests in London, Berlin and New York. Residents show how citizens are taking on city developers.
BERLIN—Last Saturday, as the sun shone on thousands of Berliners gathered in Alexanderplatz, one placard stood out in the crowd. Written on it — beneath a grotesque cartoon
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Human Right to Adequate Housing v. Blackstone L.P. |
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By :HLRN |
| 26 March 2019 |
Today, UN Special Rapporteur on to Adequate Housing Leilani Farha held a press conference in Copenhagen to speak about letters that she and Surya Deva, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises jointly released to governments and corporations
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USA: Most Citizens in 3rd World Conditions |
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By :Yossarian Johnson, The Intellectualist |
| 30 January 2019 |
A study by an MIT economist shows that the United States of America has regressed materially to a third-world nation for most of its citizens.
America divided: This concept increasingly graces political discourse in the U.S., pitting left against right, conservative thought against the liberal agenda. But for decades, [U.S.] Americans
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USA: Gov`t. Shutdown Could Evict Millions |
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By :Jeff Andrews, Curbed |
| 07 January 2019 |
Funding for HUD’s rental assistance programs would lapse if shutdown drags on
Entering its third week, and with no end in sight, the partial federal government shutdown is putting millions of low-income tenants who depend on funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at risk.
On January 4, HUD
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We`re Celebrating 70th Human Rights Day |
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By :HLRN |
| 10 December 2018 |
Declaration on Human Rights Day and the Right to the City
We, social movements, civil society and local governments’ organizations are committed to social justice through the promotion, defense and fulfillment of all human rights related to habitat, including the Human Right to Adequate Housing, Land and the Right to the
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USA: More HUD Tenants Now Living in Squalor |
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By :Suzy Khimm, Laura Strickler, Hannah Rappleye and Stephanie Gosk. NBC News |
| 15 November 2018 |
Under Ben Carson, more families live in HUD housing that fails health and safety inspections
While HUD Secretary Ben Carson pledged to fix low-income housing, the number of properties cited for health and safety violations has been on the rise.
HARTFORD CT—The mold started in the basement. But it soon spread to
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40-yr Struggle: Rights to Housing, Land and City |
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By :Álvaro Puertas Robina, Thomas Reuters Foundation |
| 12 November 2018 |
Are our global property rights still guaranteed? 40 years of global struggle for rights to housing, land and the city
Gentrification, forced evictions, lack of access to housing - these are all concepts familiar to us. They pose serious and real threats in all corners of the world and can violate
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Kenya: Inhabitants Seek Protection from Evictions |
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By :Jillo Kadida, The Star |
| 01 August 2018 |
Residents of more than six Nairobi estates yesterday sought to stop their eviction by the government.
Houses are to be demolished today in Kaloleni, Makongeni, Mbotela, Mutindwa, Dandora and Kenyatta University villages, Lang’ata and Wilson-South C link road reserve.
Moses Nyakiongora served residents with the notice on July 19. He is the
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Kenya: Kibera Demolitions Begin |
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By :Julius Otieno, Star; Josphat Thiong`o, Standard Digital |
| 24 July 2018 |
Anguish as houses demolished to pave way for Kibera link road
23 July 2018
Julius Otieno, Star
Human rights activists have accused Kenya Urban Roads Authority of violating the agreement that would have seen victim of Kibera evicted in a humane way.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights has in this regard called
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USA: 30K Older, Infirm Louisianans Face Eviction |
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By :Tina Burnside and Darran Simon, CNN |
| 10 May 2018 |
Tens of thousands of Louisiana residents could face eviction from nursing and group homes
More than 30,000 Medicaid recipients in Louisiana, many in nursing or group homes, could lose their benefits due to proposed state cuts -- a situation that could force thousands to move.
Louisiana Department of Health Deputy Secretary
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USA: Time for Change - Race & Homelessness |
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By :Jeffrey Olivet and Marc Dones, SPARC and National Alliance to End Homelessness |
| 11 April 2018 |
In recent years, an increasingly urgent dialogue has emerged around race and equity in [the United States of] America. But that dialogue has generally overlooked one of the most visible manifestations of racial inequity: homelessness.
Homelessness is not colorblind. People of color are dramatically more likely than their White counterparts to
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USA: Tenants Say Trump Budget "Dead on arrival" |
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By :NAHT |
| 13 February 2018 |
HUD Tenant Leaders Demand Congress Declare Trump’s 2019 Budget “Dead on Arrival”
Elected leaders of the national US tenant union today demanded immediate rejection by Congress of President Donald Trump’s 2019 budget request, released on February 12.
“Trump’s budget will push millions of people from their homes; starve seniors, children and
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Not Just a Condition, but Cause of Poverty |
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By :A U.S. Catholic interview |
| 13 February 2018 |
Being evicted isn’t just a condition of poverty, it’s a cause, says Matthew Desmond, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" (Crown Books).
While much research and conversation has been devoted to other poverty-related topics such as nutrition, education, and violence, the Princeton sociologist
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Pakistan: Lahore City Evicts Slum Dwellers |
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By :Zeena T. Hashmi, The Nation (Karachi) |
| 07 February 2018 |
LDA’s forced eviction of Model Town slum dwellers is shocking, but not surprising. No one with a shred of shame can imagine such a thing happening in any democracy; but this is how the Lahore Development Authority works.
For the dwellers at Sector M, Model Town Extension, there have been many
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Germany: Coalition Talks Focus on Housing Crisis |
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By :Michelle Martin, Andreas Rinke, Reuters |
| 04 February 2018 |
German coalition talks to continue on Monday and focus on health and labor
More than four months after a national election, Europe’s largest economy and pre-eminent power-broker is in political paralysis, causing concern among investors and partner countries that policymaking on issues such as Britain’s looming departure from the European Union
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Czechia: Roma Forcibly Evicted in Brno |
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By :Michaela Pa , Brno Daily |
| 17 January 2018 |
About a year ago, one hundred families living in houses owned by a private company on Bratislavská, Vlhká and Francouzská streets were informed that their rent leases will not be renewed. In response, the desperate tenants and citizens’ initiative “Chceme bydlet!” organized a street demonstration.
After intense negotiations between the firm
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South Africa: Another Abahlali Comrade Fallen |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA |
| 12 January 2018 |
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Another Comrade Has Fallen in the Struggle for Land
Our movement has been facing a lot of brutality in the last three months. On 19 November our chairperson in the Sisonke Village land occupation in Lamontville, Sibonelo Mpeku, was kidnapped and murdered. On 17 December 2017 Soyiso Nkqayini
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South Africa: Constitution-based Land Restitution? |
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By :Alet Janse van Rensburg, news24 |
| 20 December 2017 |
ANC`s land expropriation decision an admission of its own failures
The ANC’s decision at its national conference to go ahead with the expropriation of land without compensation is an admission of its own failure to pursue real land distribution, experts say.
The ruling party announced on Wednesday evening that its committee on
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China: Beijing House Demolitions Spark Rare Street Protests |
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By :Emily Feng and Charles Clover, Financial Times |
| 12 December 2017 |
Aggressive Chinese eviction methods fuel anger among residents forced from rented homes
Fear and cold stalk the streets of Feijia, a north-eastern suburb of Beijing that is to be largely demolished on Friday, leaving hundreds of migrant families potentially homeless in winter.
Leaflets scattered across Feijia’s main street depict photos of masked
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Canada: New 10-year $40B Housing Strategy |
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By :Peter Zimonjic, CBC News |
| 22 November 2017 |
Liberals detail $40B for 10-year national housing strategy, introduce Canada Housing Benefit. New strategy aims to build 100,000 new units, repair 300,000 and cut homelessness by 50%.
The federal government has announced the details of its ten-year national housing strategy, which includes the introduction of a housing benefit for families that
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South Africa: Three Murders in Sisonke Village |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA |
| 21 November 2017 |
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement
Three people were murdered in Sisonke Village, in Lamontville, on Sunday, including our chairperson in the area Sibonela Mpeku.
Our members gave Sisonke Village its new name on 13 July 2014 and our branch was launched there on 9 November 2014. During that year we issued statements noting
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Nigeria: 30K Evicted, Defying Court |
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By :Amnesty International |
| 14 November 2017 |
Deadly mass forced evictions make life misery for waterfront communities
Over 30,000 forcibly evicted from settlements in Lagos state in defiance of court orders
11 people unlawfully killed and at least 17 missing after violent evictions by security forces and unidentified armed men
300,000 others are under threat of further forced evictions
Evicted residents
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Germany: Merkel`s Housing Crisis |
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By :Rebecca Pinnington, Express (London) |
| 14 November 2017 |
Germany is facing a shocking housing crisis with 1.2 million people expected to be living in homeless shelters by 2018.
The Federal Homeless Association estimates the current number of homeless people in the country totals around 860,000.
That figure is expected to rise another 40 per cent to 1.2 million by the
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Out of Africa: Human Rights Habitat Struggles |
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By :Marie Huchzermeyer, CUBES/Wits Univ. and Joseph Schechla, HLRN |
| 07 November 2017 |
From Africa to the World: Struggling for Human Rights to Housing, Land and the City
Mid-October 2017, Nairobi was host to an intense engagement on housing rights, social justice and the right to the city. This was amid political turmoil in Kenyan towns and cities, and unrelated to this but largely
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South Africa: Residents Challenge Eviction |
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By :Mohammed Jameel Abdulla, The Daily Vox |
| 14 October 2017 |
Residents of Fattis Mansions on the corner of Jeppe and Harrison Street in the Johannesburg CBD were forcefully evicted by close to 200 Red Ants on Wednesday. The eviction, which affected dozens of people, started at 7am and proceeded well into the afternoon. Residents’ belongings were pulled from the building
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South Africa: Repression in Durban |
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By :Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA |
| 04 October 2017 |
Cato Manor residents say eThekwini Municipality carried out brutal and illegal evictions
Abahlali baseMjondolo Movement SA. Press Statement
The Movement of Abahlali baseMjondolo continues to face serious and unlawful repression by the ANC led municipality in Durban. Right now, the community in Cato Manor right now are trying to collect all the
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No SDGs without Major Progress on Land |
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By :Luca Chinotti, International Land Coalition |
| 28 July 2017 |
Land and the SDGs: Key takeaways from the 2017 HLPF and what we need to do next
This was the clear and strong message that was brought by the land community into the major global forum on the SDGs, the High Level Political Forum (HLPF), which is the central platform for
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Trump’s Beautiful (Real Estate Money) Launderette |
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By :Michael Zeldin, CNN and various others |
| 19 July 2017 |
Why Russia-probe investigators are looking at anti-money laundering database
It has been reported that the Senate and House Intelligence committees investigating possible ties between Trump campaign officials and the Russians have begun to receive access to financial data from the Treasury Department`s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
FinCEN`s mission is to
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Nigeria: Forced Evictions in Badia-East (Lagos) |
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By :Spaces for Youth Development and Social Change |
| 15 June 2017 |
Spaces for Change NGO Staff Arrested, Released
LAGOS—A Task Force squad comprising demolition agents of the Lagos State Government and scores of heavily-armed security operatives invaded Badia-East this morning, Thursday, June 15, 2017. With the aid of bulldozers, sledge hammers, iron bars, and earth-moving equipment, they levelled all the structures in
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England: Race, Class and Grenfell Tower Fire |
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By :Skylar Baker-Jordan, HuffPost |
| 15 June 2017 |
The flames hadn’t even been extinguished from Grenfell Tower before people started screaming that no one should “politicise” this tragedy. As I type this, though, at least 12 people are dead, and authorities expect that number to drastically climb. Most of those who perished, or who lost everything in the
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NUA Reporting in 2018 Crucial |
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By :Gregory Scruggs, Citiscope |
| 11 May 2017 |
2018 reporting period will prove critical for New Urban Agenda, advocates say
Labels
NAIROBI—Although 2017 is not yet halfway over, advocates for the New Urban Agenda on sustainable cities already are looking to next year as critical for embedding the agreement aims among national governments.
That’s because the recent Habitat III conference set
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Cambodia: Land Grabs, Defender Jailed |
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By :Prak Chan Thul and Alisa Tang, The Japan Times |
| 25 February 2017 |
Amid land grabs and evictions, Cambodia jails leading activist
PHNOM PENH—Even before a Cambodian judge sentenced land rights activist Tep Vanny to prison, her fellow campaigners said her fate had already been sealed.
Vanny, who fought the evictions of thousands of residents from lakeside land in Phnom Penh to make way for
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South Africa: Vengeful Burning of Migrant Homes |
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By :Lynsey Chutel, QZ.com |
| 21 February 2017 |
African migrants in South Africa are in fear for their lives—again
Once again, there are signs of growing xenophobia in South Africa. Despite the lives lost in previous waves of violence, the country has still not learned this painful lesson.
It’s a familiar escalating narrative: vigilante groups accuse foreign migrants of local
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USA: Tenants Mobilize for 2018 People`s Budget |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 20 February 2017 |
In the United States, the 2016 Democratic Party Platform featured stronger-than-ever language that seemed to embrace most of the substantive recommendations that the National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT) proposed that year: increased funding for vouchers, public housing repairs, fair housing, although without specific dollar recommendations. In preparing for the
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Brazil: Trump Tower Will Cause Forced Evictions |
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By :Clare Richardson, News.Vice |
| 13 February 2017 |
RIO DE JANIERO – José Paulo Simplicio de Souza was devastated when the government forced him out of his home near the commercial center of Rio to make way for a luxury waterfront property three years ago.
The 33-year-old food vendor’s sorrow later turned to disgust when he found out the
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USA: 1st Trump Act Violates Housing Rights |
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By :Tom Cahill, U.S.Uncut |
| 20 January 2017 |
In First Act as President, Trump Raises Mortgage Rates on Struggling Homeowners
After Donald Trump was sworn in as president, he delivered his inaugural address. Then he went to the White House, whereupon he stuck it to homeowners.
One of President Obama’s last acts as head of the executive branch was to
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USA: Will HUD Benefit Trump? |
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By :Allan Smith, businessinsider |
| 12 January 2017 |
At the Senate hearings vetting US President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet appointees, Sen. Elizabeth Warren questioned proposed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson over whether he could guarantee that money distributed by HUD will not enrich President-elect Donald Trump. He failed that fundamental ethical test, apparently unable to
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Kenya: Slum Violence & Housing Shortage |
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By :Katy Migiro, Reuters |
| 28 December 2016 |
ATHI RIVER, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Recently married with a one-year-old child, Joan Moraa Mbogo dreams of escaping Kenya`s noisy, dirty, crime-ridden capital and buying a home close to her mother`s newly-built apartment overlooking the Lukenya Hills.
Machakos County, which starts 20 kms (12 miles) south-east of Nairobi, is popular
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European Tenants vs. Wall Street Landlords |
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By :Liz Alderman, The New York Times |
| 18 December 2016 |
Wall Street is Europe’s landlord, and tenants are fighting back.
DUBLIN—The Tobun family never missed a rental payment on their modest brick rowhouse in eight years. But in February, the couple, who have two young children, received a letter warning that they would have to leave their home when the lease
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Portugal: Statement by the SRs on Water& Housing |
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By :UN news |
| 13 December 2016 |
As the United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the right to adequate housing and the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, we address you today at the conclusion of our joint official visit to Portugal, which we undertook at the invitation of the Government from 5 to 13 December
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Land Rights Defender Killings Tripled in 2016 |
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By :PANAP |
| 10 December 2016 |
2015 had been the worst year on record for killings of land and environmental defenders who are struggling to protect land, forests and rivers from privately interested takers. But, in 2016, roughly 16 land rights advocates have been killed each month from January through November.
PENANG, Malaysia—Advocacy group PAN Asia Pacific
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Resisting Reed: Atlanta’s Peoplestown v. Mayor |
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By :Atlanta Progressive News |
| 24 November 2016 |
This Thanksgiving Day, Mayor Kasim Reed is thankful for eminent domain. Meanwhile, Peoplestown residents fight back.
ATLANTA—On Monday, November 21, 2016, the Housing Justice League, along with twenty residents from Atlanta’s Peoplestown community, tried to hand deliver a petition with over 6,000 signatures to Mayor Kasim Reed, asking him to stop
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Vancouver Mayor’s “Intense” Housing Crisis |
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By :Ashifa Kassam, The Guardian |
| 21 November 2016 |
Vancouver mayor on housing crisis: “I never dreamed it would get this intense.”
Gregor Robertson’s platform in 2008 vowed affordable housing and an end to homelessness. Eight years and three terms later, the city’s housing market is in a perilous place – and has forced the mayor to get creative
His first
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Nigeria: UNSR Addresses “Brutal” Eviction of 30K |
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By :OHCHR |
| 17 November 2016 |
GENEVA—A United Nations human rights expert has asked the Government of Nigeria for an urgent explanation of the forced eviction of 30,000 people in Lagos State in the last week. Four people are reported to have died in the latest operation to clear irregular developments along the State’s
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USA: Oakland`s “Mega-evictor” |
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By :Sam Levin, The Guardian |
| 11 November 2016 |
The landlord who filed over 3,000 eviction notices. Pro-tenant group says a landlord who has a seat on Oakland’s housing cabinet is also the top evictor in the city, where a housing crunch has reached crisis levels
Leketha Williams was out of options. When the Oakland, California, mother was evicted and
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Implementing the Right to the City |
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By :Emilio Godoy, Citiscope |
| 20 October 2016 |
So how do we implement the ‘right to the city’, anyway? Many were surprised last month when negotiations on the New Urban Agenda kept the term in the final document. Now, efforts have been made at this week’s Habitat III conference to try to explain what this means on the
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Alternative Forums outside of Habitat III |
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By :Gregory Scruggs, Citiscope |
| 14 October 2016 |
Even as governments adopt the New Urban Agenda next week, multiple groups plan protests and contrary discussions.
A large crowd gathers at the Urban Social Forum in Rio de Janeiro, which took place as an alternative to the World Urban Forum in March 2010. More such events are expected at next
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UN: E. Aleppo `Totally Destroyed` by 2017 |
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By :Julia Zorthian, Time |
| 06 October 2016 |
Staffan de Mistura said Thursday that the thousands of civilians trapped could die
The United Nations envoy to Syria warned Thursday that rebel-held eastern Aleppo could undergo “total” destruction by the end of the year.
Staffan de Mistura, UN special envoy for Syria, told reporters that thousands of lives could be lost,
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England: Record Evictions by Private Landlords |
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By :Patrick Butler, The Guardian |
| 28 September 2016 |
End of an assured shorthold tenancy cited by nearly a third of newly homeless households, figures show
Record numbers of families are becoming homeless after being evicted by private landlords and finding themselves unable to afford a suitable alternative place to live, government figures show.
The end of an assured shorthold tenancy
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South African Court Halts Eviction |
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By :Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) Bulletin |
| 14 September 2016 |
South African Constitutional Court orders “meaningful engagement” in urgent forced eviction
The South African Constitutional Court has extended the Olivia Road case to urgent forced evictions, requiring meaningful engagement between the local authority and tenants—or occupiers in this case—before eviction can be deemed constitutional under the right to housing.
The applicants, amounting
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Boston USA: Campaigning to Save Public Housing |
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By :NAHT |
| 22 August 2016 |
Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants (MAHT) spearheads campaign for City Vouchers to save our homes!
In response to Boston’s growing housing and homelessness crisis, MAHT is spearheading a broad coalition of housing and community groups to propose a city-funded voucher program. The program would provide “Housing First” for people experiencing homelessness in
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USA`s Hidden Homeless: Life in the Starlight Motel |
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By :Carolyn Bick, Al Jazeera |
| 30 July 2016 |
Residents of a motel in Massachusetts share their stories to reveal the extent of the U.S. hidden homelessness problem.
Massachusetts, USA—It is the fourth time that Tiffany Drew has lived in the Starlight Motel, and the third time she has been pregnant here.
Today, like every time she is pregnant, she has
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HIC Addresses Habitat III PrepCom3 |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 27 July 2016 |
The “New Urban Agenda,” from its inception, is inconsistent with historic agreements, today’s global priorities and the “world we need.” Particular interests have narrowed the Habitat Agenda to urban priorities, subordinated rural areas and ignored issues of forced migration, presuming that urbanization is “inevitable” and beyond human will or policy
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Africa: Property Rights Still Wretchedly Insecure |
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By :The economist |
| 16 July 2016 |
COSMAS MURUNGA was always proud to show off his mud-walled home, set in a clearing on the wooded slopes of Mount Elgon; to explain how his people coexisted with, and cared for, the forest and its wildlife on the border with Uganda. But that home is no more, burnt to
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How Eviction Feeds Poverty |
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By :Nailah Morgan |
| 11 July 2016 |
Sociologist and Harvard Professor Matthew Desmond spent a year living in Milwaukee’s inner-city neighborhoods studying the implications of poverty. Staying in rooming houses and trailer parks, he spent his days with tenants being evicted and the landlords leading the evictions. He conducted surveys and analyzed thousands of eviction records. The conclusion? Eviction
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European Housing Rights Coalition Calls for Action |
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By :European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City |
| 07 May 2016 |
Defend the Right to Housing and to the City
Call for International Action
Amsterdam, 28–30 May
Join the international action and confront the meeting of the 23 EU housing ministers.
Don`t let them talk behind closed doors about the future of our cities!
On the last weekend of May, the housing ministers of all EU
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Kenya: Bldgs. Demolished, 100s Homeless |
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By :AP |
| 06 May 2016 |
Nairobi—As emergency workers retrieved four bodies from a building that collapsed a week ago, bringing the death toll to 41, hundreds of Nairobi residents were evicted on Friday from nearby buildings that are being torn down to prevent other deadly disasters.
The demolitions began even as the rescuers continued digging the
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Italy: Stop Roma Eviction |
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By :Enrico Guida & Nicole Garbin, open society foundations.org |
| 06 May 2016 |
Elena Petrache and her daughter Liliana have been living in Ex Cartiera, a dilapidated shelter for Roma in Rome’s industrial suburbs, since 2011. They share a small room, and Liliana’s daughter Denisa and her son share another.
Until recently, the kitchens were outside in a courtyard, but in February they were
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Indonesia: Military Conducts Forced Evictions |
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By :Jakarta Globe |
| 03 May 2016 |
Jakarta. Public lawyers have issued Indonesian military chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo with a written reprimand for what they deem unlawful involvement of soldiers in the forced eviction of Jakarta`s urban poor.
As many as 113 forced evictions took place in the capital last year, with the Indonesian Military (TNI) assisting in
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"Right to the City" Movement Goes Global |
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By :Francesca Perry, The Guardian |
| 19 April 2016 |
Right to the city: can this growing social movement win over city officials?
From the Taksim Square and Nuit Debout protests to bank takeovers in Barcelona and women’s workshops in Delhi, the pressure for more inclusive cities is mounting. As the UN gears up for Habitat III, will governments listen?
On
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African New Habitat Agenda Priorities |
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By :Ahmed Mansour Ismail and Dr. Daniel W. Ambaye |
| 23 February 2016 |
HABITAT III Africa Regional Meeting
“African Priorities for the New Urban Agenda”
Land and African Sustainable Urbanization, side event organized by GLTN
Abuja, Nigeria, 23 February 2016
Summary prepared by Ahmed Mansour Ismail (HIC-HLRN) and Dr. Daniel W. Ambaye (Institute of Land Administration)
Mr Ernest Aubee, ECOWAS (as moderator) introduced the panelists and further emphasized
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HLRN-India Launches Habitat III Status Report |
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By :HLRN-India |
| 05 February 2016 |
New Delhi—On Friday, Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) launched its first Habitat III country report titled, Housing and Land Rights in India: Status Report for Habitat III. The United Nations (UN) Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III)—the third bidecennial international conference on habitat issues—will be held
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HIC-critics on Habitat III Policy Papers |
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By :HIC |
| 05 February 2016 |
Since the very early stages of the Habitat III preparations, Habitat International Coalition (HIC) has called for the integrity of the Habitat II (1996) commitments and modalities; this demand has three related aspects:
• Processes must uphold the Habitat II-established principle to be as inclusive as possible;
• Maintain the Habitat Agenda,
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Nigeria: UNSR Urges Halt to Eviction Trend |
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By :OHCHR |
| 23 November 2015 |
GENEVA—The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, today urged the Nigerian Government to put an immediate end to the ongoing trend of evictions in the country. The human rights expert raised concerns with the government about the large-scale demolitions and evictions carried out
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The World`s Most-segregated Cities |
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By :Peter Geoghegan, The Guardian |
| 28 October 2015 |
“Reclaim your community,” declared the posters. “Hipsters beware.” Pinned around London’s East End last month, they announced Fuck Parade, an anti-gentrification demonstration that culminated in an attack on a café selling bowls of cereal. Long the first port of call for cash-strapped new arrivals in the city—Irish, Jews, Bangladeshis and
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Habitat III National Reporting Tool |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 21 September 2015 |
Habitat III National Reporting Guidelines (merged with State obligations)
This Excel file attempts to merge the national Habitat III report outline proffered by UN-Habitat with the already-standing commitments of states and UN bodies at Habitat II (1996). For those following UN-Habitat`s advice, the left column leads with the agency’s reduced six
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Human Rights & Local Government Report |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 18 September 2015 |
On 22 September 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council (Geneva) will consider the final report of its Advisory Committee on the Role of local government in the promotion and protection of human rights. The report is the outcome of a two-year study on the subject by the Human Rights Council
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CESCR: Spain Violated Debtor’s Housing Rights |
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By :ESCR-Net |
| 17 September 2015 |
New York—Today, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) published its first recommendations in response to an individual complaint, regarding a violation of the right to housing, under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR).
With its entry into force in
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Right to the City and Yerevan’s Construction “Doom” |
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By :Garin Boghossian, Armenia Weekly |
| 16 September 2015 |
The growth path of urbanization under capitalism is devouring the city of Yerevan. Luxurious high-rise hotels and residential towers, serving tourists and seasonal dwellers, are replacing Soviet social housing blocks that once lodged the ordinary Yerevantsis. The house where the president of the First Republic, Aram Manougian, lived and died—now
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UK: 141 Families Evicted to Make Way for Luxury Flats |
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By :Frances Ryan, the Guardian |
| 15 September 2015 |
The story of Mostafa Aliverdipour, a 50-year-old wheelchair user raising his family on an estate in north London, could tell politicians plenty about what has become of the principle of social housing in our capital.
Looking out on rows of boarded-up walls and metal grilles, Aliverdipour and his four children –
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Vision Critical in City Planning |
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By :David Dodwell, South China Morning Post |
| 09 September 2015 |
Cities: love them or hate them, they are likely to be the future for most of our children. Developed well, they can provide high quality of life and convenience – and huge environmental efficiencies. But developed poorly, they create a blight that will take decades to eradicate.
Today, 55 per cent
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German CSO Forum Addresses Habitat III |
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By :Forum on Environment & Development |
| 31 July 2015 |
The German Forum on Environment & Development was founded in 1992 after the UN conference in Rio on environment and development. Its purpose is to coordinate German NGOs in international political processes on sustainable development. It was strongly involved in the preparation and the civil society processes of the Habitat
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HIC Reviews Habitat III Issue Papers |
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By :HIC-HLRN |
| 31 July 2015 |
Habitat International Coalition has just issued its compilation of inputs from Members and officers following their review of the Habitat III Issue Papers. The 22 thematic contributions from technical experts selected by the UN-Habitat/Habitat III Secretariat have been drafted as a framework for the debate leading up to the Third
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Serbia’s Housing Crisis Demands Immediate Action |
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By :UN Human Rights |
| 26 May 2015 |
BELGRADE (26 May 2015) – Serbia has undergone enormous challenges in the last two decades and is currently facing structural adjustment, high unemployment and poverty. All of this has created a housing crisis that must be responded to immediately. “Serbia urgently needs a national law on housing that fosters non-discrimination
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Who Has the Right to Live in London? |
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By :Carlos Delclós and Rosie Walker, Open Democracy.net |
| 22 May 2015 |
Renters’ Rights London aims to provide the tools and knowledge renters need to defend themselves from unfair treatment and campaign for more rights. We speak with coordinator, Rosie Walker.
In a recent study, Brookings Institute economist Matthew Rognlie challenged Thomas Piketty’s now well-known assertion that inequality is being driven by the
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Cuba: World’s Oddest Property Market |
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By :John Arlidge, Financial Times |
| 18 June 2013 |
Cuba, home of the world’s oddest property market, is finally allowing its people to buy and sell homes but property lawyers and agents are still illegal
Havana—It’s only 9am but it’s already 33C on the Malecón, Havana’s corniche, and my brain feels like a conch fritter. I’ve come to meet a
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