A/69/274
I. Introduction
1.
The present report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a
component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to
non-discrimination in this context, is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council
resolutions 15/8 and 25/17. Since the Special Rapporteur took up her mandate on
2 June 2014, the report is preliminary in nature, outlining some of the central
opportunities and priorities about which she wishes to consult with States, civil
society and other relevant stakeholders as she continues to prepare her plan of work.
2.
In this, her first report to the General Assembly, the newly appointed Special
Rapporteur shares preliminary observations and reflections on the right to adequate
housing globally and ideas on how she intends to address key issues through the
mandate. The Special Rapporteur will build upon the valuable work of her
predecessors as well as other relevant human rights mechanisms, and will follow up
on some key initiatives already under way. At the same time, the Special Rapporteur
intends to orient the mandate in new directions to further assist States, civil society
and other stakeholders, including private actors, in developing an understanding of
what it means to effectively implement the international human right to adequate
housing. She aims to emphasize ways in which to address ongoing and emerging
challenges, to identify new opportunities and to ensure concrete advances towards
the full realization of the right to adequate housing.
II. Brief history of the mandate
3.
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of
the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in
this context, was established by the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-sixth
session (see resolution 2000/9).
4.
At the creation of the mandate, the Commission underlined the cross-cutting
nature of the right to adequate housing, situating that right in the context of the
rights to an adequate standard of living and to non-discrimination and referring to a
range of international human rights instruments recognizing the right to adequate
housing. 1
5.
In December 2007, the Human Rights Council, in its resolution 6/27, reviewed
the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing and decided to extend it
for a period of three years. Since then, the mandate has been extended by the
Council two more times: in 2010, through resolution 15/8, and in 2014, through
resolution 25/17.
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Resolution 2000/9 referred to, inter alia, article 25.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,
article 27.3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 14.2 (h) of the Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and article 5 (e) of the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. An updated
list of international human rights treaties currently applicable would include articles 43.1 (d)
and 43.3 of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers
and Members of Their Families and articles 9.1 (a), 19 (a) and 28 of the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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