Housing

Drawing lessons from past experiences on how to more effectively uphold housing rights in the COVID-19 aftermath

Yolande Hendler

HIC Secretary General

Sophia Torres

Habitat International Coalition

Puvendra Akkiah

Manager of integrated development plans of eThekwini Municipality

Paula Bejarano

Committee on Local Economic and Social Development

María Fernanda Espinosa

President of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly

Laura Healy

Policy and Advocacy Specialist of UNICEF

Jessie Post

Project Manager of VNG International

Vasu Gounden

Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD

Luz Amparo Medina

Director of International Affairs of Bogota

Octavi de la Varga

Secretary General of Metropolis

Emilia Saiz

Secretary-General of UCLG

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Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has both exacerbated housing struggles, which include massive evictions, displacements and dispossession, and created new ones. In our current context, this session highlights the ‘right to adequate housing’ as the ‘right to life’, bringing together various stakeholders in order to generate a collective dialogue on the current challenges to housing rights and how past and present responses can contribute to upholding housing rights as a matter of social justice.

The increase of the financialization of housing and the intersection between climate change and housing rights has derived precariousness, which is now more visible than ever. This has resulted, firstly, in the emergence of a new wave of housing movements in several European and US countries, as well as a new era for housing movements in the Latin America and Asian regions in particular. Secondly, the right to adequate housing has been included as a key element in both the human rights and the local and regional government’s agenda.

Likewise, the effects caused on the inhabitants of the cities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, beyond the health and economic challenges, have enormously exacerbated pre-existing inequalities in terms of rights and access to housing. This challenging situation has shown us that many are being left behind, which has resulted in the frustration of social movements due to superficial reforms and the absence of real change. Another visible effect has been a language shift from a focus on rights to a focus on justice.

Now more than ever, the right to adequate housing and ensuring all populations’ access to home-based public services constitute a critical element in how we are able to collectively respond to the unprecedented challenges facing our societies.

1 B

people still live in slums

20%

of the world’s population live in inadequate, crowded and unsafe housing

Challenges

  • Firstly, it is essential to include housing rights in national recovery agendas and revamp housing as an agenda priority at the global level. Even though a number of projects have been implemented so far, they have been mainly carried out at the local level, mostly without local and regional governments having the competencies and resources they need for triggering larger-scale change. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer these initiatives to the regional and global level by expanding partnerships to influence policymaking.
  • Furthermore, in order to implement measures to uphold housing rights, address homelessness, and prevent evictions, the lessons learned over the past years in various contexts will need to be taken into account.
  • In turn, as a mechanism for advancing the right to adequate housing, the recognition of diverse collective processes of housing production will be a key element in addressing these concerns.

Learn more about the challenges being faced by cities and regions

Learn more about other responses and initiatives in terms of Migration:

Towards the Pact

  • Government should work closer to the ground, in alliance with civil and community-led society organizations, in order to find effective solutions for upholding housing rights.
  • The governments’ approach has not moved far enough to contest housing unaffordability and advance a strategic, integrated vision that explores integral solutions to the diverse housing needs
  • In order to create impact, social movements require to be combined “with the mobilization of public opinion, awareness-raising and important training, even towards the institutions”.
  • The role of the public sector must be re-imagined and strengthened in a more participatory and inclusive manner.
  • For the future, the efforts of the past and the initiatives that policy and planning have brought are crucial for securing the right to housing.
  • It is of high importance to strengthen alliances as a critical aspect to move forward for the consolidation and emergence of multiple ways of upholding housing rights.

 

For further information on the topic of Public Service Delivery and its impact on cities and regions, please refer to the related resources included below.

Frontliners

Yolande Hendler

HIC Secretary General

Sophia Torres

Habitat International Coalition

Puvendra Akkiah

Manager of integrated development plans of eThekwini Municipality

Paula Bejarano

Committee on Local Economic and Social Development

María Fernanda Espinosa

President of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly

Laura Healy

Policy and Advocacy Specialist of UNICEF

Jessie Post

Project Manager of VNG International

Vasu Gounden

Founder and Executive Director of ACCORD

Luz Amparo Medina

Director of International Affairs of Bogota

Octavi de la Varga

Secretary General of Metropolis

Emilia Saiz

Secretary-General of UCLG