Objectives

There is multifold evidence that the right to adequate housing and other human rights are often violated due to eviction and displacement without adequate resettlement and resulting in inadequate housing and living conditions, including livelihoods. Frequently, such poor resettlement outcomes are very different from what has been promised on paper in laws, policies, development and resettlement plans.

In his first report to the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/47/43) the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, pointed to the urgent need to develop a set of guidelines at the international level to ensure that resettlement and relocation are carried out in compliance with the international human rights framework and are consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals. The Special Rapporteur noted that the “absence of such international guidelines leads to wildly varying approaches to eligibility criteria for project-affected people, compensation for loss of land and housing rights, due process requirements in evictions, consultation, participation and consent requirements for relocation and site selection, and benefit-sharing arrangements, among others”.

Through the current call for inputs, the Special Rapporteur aims to collect information to inform the preparation of his forthcoming reports for the Human Rights Council in March 2024 and the General Assembly in October 2024.

The reports

• will identify key human rights challenges posed by resettlement and take stock of international and national laws, regulations, policies and practices related to resettlement.
• review the laws, regulations and safeguard policies of States, international organizations, international financial institutions, multilateral, bilateral development agencies, and businesses related to resettlement.
• analyze what is needed to ensure that legal protections and safeguards related to resettlement are not only protected on paper, but also are respected in practice, and will look to compile good practices.

In 2024 the Special Rapporteur is planning to undertake further consultations with States, international organizations, human rights experts, institutions, civil society organizations, and business actors with the aim of developing international guiding principles for resettlement, that will be presented in March 2025 to the Human Rights Council.

In order to collect information, the Special Rapporteur has issued a questionnaire which is here available: English | Español | Français

Submissions received

States

Mexico

Mozambique (awaiting translation)

National Human Rights Institutions

People's Advocate, Albania

National Human Rights Commission, Nigeria

International Organizations

UNICEF – United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund: input-1 | input-2

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

International Financial Institutions

African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

Civil Society Organizations

Association of Reintegration of Crimea

CEE Bankwatch Network and Couter Balance

Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem

Eurasian Coalition on Health, Rights, Gender and Sexual Diversity (ECOM)

Karachi Bachao Tehreek

Karachi Bachao Tehreek [Legal], Sindh Indigenous Rights [Legal]

ODVV - Organization for Defending Victims of Violence

Plaideurs des Enfants et des Personnes Agées à risque

Rerooted Archive

Academic

Aanchal Gupta

Asia Pacific Academic Network on Disaster Displacement (APANDD)

Professor David Cantor, PhD