A/HRC/25/54
persons should possess a degree of security of tenure that guarantees legal protection
against forced eviction, harassment and other threats.
The plight of the urban poor presents one of the most pressing challenges to security
of tenure, especially in an increasingly urbanized world. These principles aim to
provide guidance to States and other actors to address this challenge in order to
ensure adequate housing for poor and vulnerable people in urban and peri-urban
areas.
Underlying these guiding principles is a presumption that individuals and
communities occupying land or property to fulfil their right to adequate housing, and
who have no other adequate option, have legitimate tenure rights that should be
secured and protected. The concept of legitimate tenure rights extends beyond
mainstream notions of private ownership and includes multiple tenure forms
deriving from a variety of tenure systems.
1.
Strengthening diverse tenure forms
States should promote, protect and strengthen a variety of tenure forms, including
those deriving from statutory, customary, religious and hybrid tenure systems. All
relevant laws, policies and programmes should be developed on the basis of human
rights impact assessments, which identify and prioritize the tenure arrangements of
the most vulnerable and marginalized. The following types of tenure, among others,
should be promoted, strengthened and protected, as appropriate in the given context:
2.
(a)
Possession rights;
(b)
Use rights;
(c)
Rental;
(d)
Freehold; and
(e)
Collective arrangements.
Improving security of tenure
In order to improve security of tenure, especially for vulnerable and marginalized
persons and groups living in urban poor settlements, States, including relevant
authorities, should take the following measures:
(a)
(b)
homeless;
Conduct citywide assessments of tenure arrangements;
Identify insecure settlements and population groups, including the
(c)
Develop citywide strategies for securing tenure and upgrading
settlements on different categories of land and with different tenure arrangements;
(d)
settlements;
Review and reform urban plans and regulations in order to integrate
(e)
Adopt and implement a human rights-compliant resettlement policy to
be applied where in situ solutions are not possible;
(f)
Facilitate participatory settlement mapping, enumerations and tenure
registration;
(g)
Establish fair and effective land dispute resolution mechanisms;
(h)
Allocate sufficient funds to ministries, municipalities and local
governments for the implementation of these measures; and
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