COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS EXCHANGES VIEWS WITH SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON RIGHT TO ADEQUATE HOUSING

CESCR
30th session
23 May 2003
Morning




The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights exchanged views today with the Commission on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Miloon Kothari.
Mr. Kothari told the Committee that since his appointment in 2000, the right to adequate housing had received increased attention in national laws and policies, by courts and judges, and in the work of the United Nations bodies and civil society.
The Special Rapporteur said that he had undertaken a visit to the occupied Palestinian territories as well as missions to Romania and Mexico, and had submitted his reports to the Commission during its fifty-ninth session.
Reacting to the Special Rapporteur's intervention, some Committee Experts noted that in developing countries, some houses were left empty and closed; and there was a lack of legislation concerning housing, especially to define the relation between tenants and landlords.
Also during its meeting, the Committee approved a letter addressed to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello in which it rejected the idea of States parties being allowed to present a single consolidated report to all the human rights treaty bodies. The Committee said that although the idea of a single report was not supported by the Experts, it would merit consideration in the long-term, were the United Nations to consider moving towards a mechanism consisting of one single committee to monitor States compliance with respect to all human rights instruments, which would meet on a permanent basis.
The Committee will conclude its three-week session today after issuing its conclusions and recommendations on the reports of Luxembourg, Brazil, New Zealand, Iceland and Israel, which are among the 146 States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Discussion
MILOON KOTHARI, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the right to adequate housing, said that he had presented his report to the Commission on Human Rights on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination. Since his appointment in 2000, the right to adequate housing had received increased attention in national laws and policies, by courts and judges, and in the work of the United Nations bodies and civil society. He pointed out the need to continue to collect jurisprudence and good practices to further the progressive implementation of the right to adequate housing.
Mr. Kothari said that since the establishment of his mandate, he had been highlighting several emerging issues such as water and sanitation as essential elements for the realization of the right to adequate housing; the need to undertake further research on local responses to globalization in urban and rural development; the need for rights-based indicators and assessment tools for monitoring Millennium Development Goals and other relevant outcomes of major UN conferences and summits that would contribute towards the realization of rights relevant to his mandate; and the right of persons with disabilities to adequate housing.
The Special Rapporteur said that he had undertaken a visit to the occupied Palestinian territories and missions to Romania and Mexico and had submitted his reports to the Commission on Human Rights during its fifty-ninth session. In Mexico, the present Government had established housing as a national priority and in 2001 had appointed a national commissioner on housing. The Government of Mexico was very committed to implementing the rights set forth in international human rights instruments, including the right to adequate housing. However, it needed a more comprehensive national programme on housing, with focus on the poorest segments of the population.
Concerning Romania, Mr. Kothari said that the country had been focusing its attention on creating a functioning market for the housing sector. He was able to observe the situation of the poor and the vulnerable, often living in neglected parts of the city without adequate civic services. He commended the Government for the adoption of a national strategy for the Roma.
On women and adequate housing, the Special Rapporteur said that he had carried out a study on the issue following the Commission's recommendation on women's equal ownership of, access to and control over land and the equal rights to own property and to adequate housing. This issue which affected the lives of women worldwide had been neglected for far too long. Women were facing de facto discrimination in access to housing, land and civic services.
Reacting to the Special Rapporteur's intervention, some Committee Experts said that in some developing countries one could observe that some houses were left empty and closed and there was a lack of legislation concerning housing. There was also a lack of legal provisions that could define the relation between tenants and landlords. With regard to indigenous peoples, the right to housing was linked to the right to land. The Government could not adopt a general rule that could resolve housing problems without taking into consideration the particular situation of indigenous people. The issue of natural disasters and housing rights should also be given special attention.
Responding, Mr. Kothari said that his experience from his missions had taught him that some State authorities were aware of the Committee's conclusions and General Comments only when he talked about them. He said that in all countries of the world, there was a lack of policies on equal distribution of properties. In some countries, however, the process of land distribution had already started. The feminization of poverty had been connected with the deprivation of women of their rights to property and land ownership.

Committee's Response to High Commissioner
In its letter addressed to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Committee said that it had come to a consensus that the Secretary-General's proposal of having a single consolidated report on all human rights treaties would not be the appropriate manner of addressing the problems faced by the treaty system and the States parties to the various human rights instruments currently. Some of the Committee's objections were, among other things, that a single report could result in the absorption or marginalization of a number of treaty-specific issues, and that such a report would fail to comprise the level of detail encountered at present in reports received by specific committees.
The Committee also said that the adoption of a single report might further give rise to legal difficulties regarding the individual treaties, which were not easily overcome. The Committee was concerned that the length of such a single report, were it to cover adequately all substantive issues under all human rights treaties, would be unmanageable for treaty bodies and posed challenges to the Secretariat, including with respect to processing and translation. Although the idea of a single report was not supported by the Committee, it would merit consideration in the long-term, were the United Nations to consider moving towards a mechanism consisting of one single committee monitoring State compliance with respect to all human right instruments, which would meet on a permanent basis.



* *** *