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..Press
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UNESCAP News Services
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Date 25
June 2004
Press Release No: N/19/2004
United Nations Meet to Make 'Right to Housing'
a Reality
BANGKOK (United Nations Information Services)---In
an effort to make the right to housing a reality for all Asia's
citizens, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the United Nations Human
Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) will jointly convene a
Regional Dialogue on Housing Rights starting on Sunday, 28 June
to 29 June 2004.
Thirty participants will attend the meeting, including
government representatives and civil society actors working
on low-income housing issues in nine countries in the region.
The meeting signifies an important attempt by UNESCAP to mainstream
human rights in their work, as mandated by the UN Secretary
General's Agenda for Reform.
Innovative attempts at solving the housing needs
of the region's poor, including ways to ensure synergy between
government and civil society actions for housing rights, will
be presented from India, Thailand, Pakistan and the Philippines,
amongst others.
Through the Dialogue, the organizers expect to
facilitate dialogue between different disciplines and actors
in operationalizing housing rights, and catalyze practical actions
to put legal concepts into practice at the national and local
levels.
Up to one-third of the world's urban population
lives in slums and more than 500 million people in the Asia-Pacific
region live in slums and squatter settlements. Goal 7, Target
11 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 7-11) aims at a
significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million
slum dwellers by 2020. By dealing with the people living in
the most difficult physical conditions of our cities, Target
11 is a direct recognition that slums are a development issue
that needs a response.
To intensify this response, the Dialogue will
aim to clarify the concept "right to adequate housing",
and to remove misconceptions and misinterpretations that hinder
efforts to mainstream the right into ongoing development efforts.
These include the notion that housing rights imply that governments
are required to build housing for an entire population, or provide
housing free of charge. Rather, governments need to be convinced
of their own advantage in applying a rights-based approach,
which also involves responsibilities by the public.
The beneficiaries of a rights-based approach will
be another important focus, including how to better empower
poor male and female slum dwellers to both effectively meet
their responsibilities and protect their rights to housing.
Note to Editors: You or your representatives are
cordially invited to attend the Opening of the meeting on Sunday
27 June at 0900 hours at the Royal Princess Hotel.
For further information, please contact:
Ms. Asa Jonsson, Poverty Reduction Section, UNESCAP
Tel: (2) 288-1389, Fax: (2) 288-1097, E-mail: jonsson.unescap@un.org
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