Rights
Corner
Right
to adequate housing
Having
a secure place to live is one of the fundamental elements
for human dignity, physical and mental health and overall
quality of life, which enables one's development. As such,
the right to adequate housing has received a wide recognition
as a fundamental human right in a number of international
instruments and declarations, regional instruments and
national laws.
According
to the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat),
it is estimated that in the South, 600 million urban dwellers
live in overcrowded and poor quality housing with inadequate
provision of water and sanitation.
Against
this backdrop, the Commission on Human Rights, by its
resolution 2000/9, appointed a Special Rapporteur on adequate
housing, who will be reporting on the status of the realization
of housing rights and promoting cooperation among Governments,
UN and international organizations and the civil society
to secure these rights.
Over
the past decade, UN human rights mechanism as a whole
has been actively engaged in clarifying the content of
the right to adequate housing. In particular, the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights adopted General
Comment No. 4 on adequate housing in 1991, and General
Comment No. 7 on forced eviction in 1997. During 1991-1995,
the Special Rapporteur on the realization of the right
to adequate housing appointed under the Sub-Commission
on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights produced
four important papers, which significantly contributed
to clarifying the content of the right.
Corresponding
with the Law Desk
Please send your mails, queries, and opinions to: Law
Desk, The Daily Star 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215;
telephone 8124944,8124955,fax 8125155;email <dslawdesk@yahoo.co.uk,lawdesk@thedailystar.net
