[homeles_ot-l] FW: UN PRESS RELEASE: Markets alone cannot ensure housing for all, says UN expert

[Lynne Browne]

FYI…Lynne Browne

Coordinator, Alliance to End Homelessness (ATEH)
147 Besserer Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 6A7 
HYPERLINK "mailto:lbrowne at ysb.on.ca"lbrowne at ysb.on.ca,  613-241-7913 ext 205

www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca  

   _____  

From: Bahram Ghazi [mailto:bghazi at ohchr.org] 
Sent: October 23, 2008 5:33 AM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Markets alone cannot ensure housing for all, says UN
expert


Please feel free to share with any interested person and network. 

23 October 2008 


Markets alone cannot ensure housing for all, says UN expert

 

The following statement was issued today in New York by the United Nations
Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik:


The belief that markets will provide adequate housing for all has failed.
The current crisis is a stark reminder of this reality. A home is not a
commodity – four walls and a roof. It is a place to live in security, peace
and dignity, and a right for every human being. 

In the United States alone, the millions of homeowners and renters affected
by foreclosures means a sharp increase in the numbers of the homeless. With
the continuing housing and financial crisis spreading to many countries,
things are only going to get worse. Millions more may face eviction because
they cannot pay their mortgages. 

Most analysts blame the crisis on a shortage of liquidity or a failure of
regulation. Yet the subprime mortgage crisis reflects fundamental flaws in
our approach to housing and the inability of market mechanisms to provide
adequate and affordable housing for all. Excessive focus on homeownership as
the one and single solution to ensure access to housing is part of the
problem. 

Homelessness does not affect only those marginalized by society or the very
poor. Increasingly, it threatens also those who work but cannot afford
market prices and are forced to live in inadequate housing.  Homelessness,
or living in inadequate housing conditions, can cause not only material
deprivation but also the loss of enjoyment of a wide range of other human
rights, whether civil and political or economic, social and cultural. The
increase in foreclosures and homelessness also limits the ability of cities
and communities to fund social programs, and spreads urban blight. 

The current crisis should force us to think of a better system, one that
provides more housing options and avoids relying on a single solution.
Those countries that have not done so already should legally recognize the
right to adequate housing for all; some so-called “developing” countries are
more advanced in that regard than many wealthier ones. Housing legislation
and policies should be defined with the contribution of all relevant
stakeholders, not only by finance departments or the construction industry.
Increasing public assistance for housing and ensuring it is available to all
those in need is the way to prevent the current threat to our cities and
communities. 

We need to think out of the box. Homeownership may be the preferred option
for many. But adequate housing for all is a public goal whose achievement
requires a wide variety of arrangements, from tax advantages to buy a home
to better legal protection for tenants and rent control areas; from direct
subsidies to the poor to publicly owned housing and a range of tenure
arrangements. Markets, even with appropriate regulation, cannot provide
adequate housing for all: in any case an active public sector is needed. 

Ms. Raquel Rolnik was appointed in May 2008 as 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. Her mandate
involves reporting annually to the Human Rights Council on the status of the
realization of the right to adequate housing throughout the world, and
identifying practical solutions and good practices towards this end. An
architect and urban planner, Ms. Rolnik has extensive experience in the area
of housing and urban policies. 

For further information on the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur on
adequate housing, please consult the website of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights at:
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/index.htm 

       Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Media Unit
      Rupert Colville, Spokesperson, +41.22.917.9767
      Xabier Celaya, Information Officer, + 41 22.917.9383/ +41.79.444.7578
      For inquiries and media requests: press-info at ohchr.org 


ENDS 


Press Conference 

The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an
adequate standard of living, MS. RAQUEL ROLNIK, will hold a press conference
on Friday, 24 October 2008, at 3:00pm. Room S-226, UNITED NATIONS HQ New
York. 

Ms. ROLNIK’s press conferences will be webcast live at www.un.org/webcast 

Journalists without UN press accreditation wishing to attend the briefing
please refer to the website of the Media and Accreditation Liaison Unit for
details: http://www.un.org/media/accreditation/ or contact: +1 212 963 6934.


For media queries contact Renata Sivacolundhu, Department of Public
Information, tel: +1 212 963 2932, +1 917 216 3389, e-mail:
sivacolundhu at un.org or Charlotte Scaddan, Department of Public Information,
tel: +1 917 367 9378, +1 302 465 8284, email: scaddan at un.org 

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.8.2/1741 - Release Date: 23/10/2008
7:54 AM


No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG. 
Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.8.2/1741 - Release Date: 23/10/2008
7:54 AM
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://list.web.net/lists/private/homeles_ot-l/attachments/20081023/26143624/attachment.htm>