WUNRN
This WUNRN release on
HOUSING RIGHTS & RIGHT TO THE CITY+
focuses on Latin America and a
COHRE Document.
It could be considered, with
adaptation, in any country in the context of accessing international and
national human rights documents, and translating them into GENDER/HUMAN RIGHTS
ADVOCACY
Important would be to research if
one's country has signed on to the international law or other instruments, as
the UN Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights. In this case, the
Covenant is an enforceable UN document, and with country/UN Member States
reports reviewed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights.
Significant now is the (Adopted by the UN Human Rights Council and expected to
get Final Approval by the UN General Assembly) UN PROTOCOL for the Covenant on
ESCR, which also needs to be checked, when official by the General
Assembly, for the status of specific country ratification.
In order to demand implementation of
rights, as for the right to housing, right to the city, right to water and
right to sanitation, people need a legal base, as domestic and international
law, to present claims as to human rights organizations, governments, courts,
the UN, even media, when rights fulfillment is otherwise not obtainable.
COHRE - Centre on Housing Rights
& Evictions: "Within civil society, various organisations - including
COHRE - have been promoting the World Charter on the Right to the City for some
time. The objective of this Charter is to establish the legal basis of the
right to the city to be understood as an integral part of human rights.
The concept of Right to the City has
multiple legal anticedents, as indicated in the COHRE document offered in this
release, and as an example:
UN Covenant on Economic, Social
& Cultural Rights, General Comments # 4, 7, and 15 of the United Nations
Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights."
______________________________________________________________________
International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Adopted and opened for
signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A
(XXI)
of 16 December 1966
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Attached is the Report of the UN
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, to the UN Human Rights
Commission 2005:
WOMEN & ADEQUATE HOUSING
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COHRE - Centre on Housing Rights
& Evictions
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Bulletin "Housing
Rights and the Right to the City in Latin America" |
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12
August 2008: COHRE today released a new electronic Bulletin on housing
rights and the right to the city in Latin America. The bimonthly periodical
is published in English, Spanish and Portuguese. |
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The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) is the body of independent experts that monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by its States parties. The Committee was established under ECOSOC Resolution 1985/17 of 28 May 1985 to carry out the monitoring functions assigned to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Part IV of the Covenant.
All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented. States must report initially within two years of accepting the Covenant and thereafter every five years. The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of “concluding observations”.
The Committee also publishes its interpretation of the provisions of the Covenant, known as general comments.
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HUMAN
RIGHTS COUNCIL ACHIEVES MILESTONE, ADOPTING OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO COVENANT ON
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
18
June 2008
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour today
congratulated the Human Rights Council on its adoption of an important new
human rights instrument to strengthen the protection of economic, social and
cultural rights.
“This is a highly significant achievement”, she said. “The Protocol will
provide an important platform to expose abuses that are often linked to
poverty, discrimination and neglect, and that victims frequently endure in
silence and helplessness. It will provide a way for individuals, who may
otherwise be isolated and powerless, to make the international community aware
of their situation.”
The Optional Protocol will allow persons to petition an international human
rights body about violations of rights guaranteed in the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Adopted by the Human Rights Council on 18 June, the Protocol is expected to get the final approval by the United Nations General Assembly later this year.
Thereafter, the Protocol will enter into force once it has been ratified by 10 States.....
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