A/69/274 IV. Thematic and substantive priorities A. Supporting national-international interaction 20. In her collaborative work with other practitioners at the domestic and international levels, the Special Rapporteur has learned of the importance of sustaining a dynamic interconnection between activities at the national level and those at the international level. If international human rights norms and standards are to be made meaningful and effectively implemented at the national level, they must be developed and interpreted in the context of national experiences and benefit from advances made in domestic law and practice. Similarly, domestic human rights must be nurtured and strengthened by the substantive norms and universal principles developed at the international level. 21. Over the past two decades, the understanding of the right to adequate housing in international human rights has benefited significantly from activities carried out at the national level. National movements and campaigns have emerged to address fundamental issues related to housing, including: sustainable development, land rights, security of tenure, homelessness, large-scale development projects, mega-events, the erosion of social housing, the impact of the financial crisis, and the denial of services essential for the adequacy of housing. 22. More than ever, civil society organizations are applying international human rights principles to specific national circumstances and usi ng the United Nations human rights system, including treaty monitoring bodies and the universal periodic review, to promote the development of authoritative interpretations and applications of the right to adequate housing that address national and local c hallenges and clarify States’ human rights obligations in these contexts. 23. Civil society organizations have brought new and diverse housing issues before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and also before the Human Rights Committee, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. By doing so, they have encouraged various treaty monitoring bodies to consider State obligations with respect to the right to housing in diverse circumstances and to clarify the links between the right to housing and other human rights. 8 These dynamic interactions between national experiences and international human rights mechanisms benefit and strengthen both. 24. A crucial aspect of the national-international interaction that has occurred in recent years has been the challenge of ensuring access to justice for claimants of the right to adequate housing. The number of legal cases involving the right to adequate housing that have been brought before domestic courts and regional and international bodies has grown in recent years. And courts are increasingly relying on international human rights norms in the adjudication of housing rights cases. __________________ 8 14-58890 See, for example, E/C.12/PRY/CO/3, CRC/C/TLS/CO/1, CRC/C/DZA/CO/3-4 and CERD/C/AZE/CO/6. 7/20