UN expert calls for big ‘Shift’ in approach to housing

Oct 25, 2016 | News

“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.