Indonesia: UN expert on the right to adequate housing launches first visit

GENEVA / JAKARTA (27 May 2013) – United Nations Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik will conduct her first official visit to Indonesia from 30 May to 11 June 2013 to collect first-hand information on the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing in the country, particularly with regard to the poor and other marginalized groups.

“Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, faces a unique combination of challenges in promoting and protecting the right to adequate housing, such as rapid urbanization, a high proportion of households living in informal settlements and acute vulnerability to climate change,” said the independent expert charged by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the right to adequate housing worldwide.

“I see this visit as a great opportunity to assess the various policies and programmes the Indonesian Government has been developing to address these compound challenges,” Ms. Rolnik said.

The Special Rapporteur will devote specific attention to Government’s efforts to promote access to affordable housing for low income households, and to programmes to increase tenure security.

The independent human rights expert, who goes to Indonesia at the invitation of the Government, will visit communities in Jakarta as well as in other provinces during her two-week mission.

Ms. Rolnik will hold meetings with senior Government representatives, including officials from various ministries working on housing issues. She will also meet with representatives of the UN system, the donor community, non-governmental organizations, individuals and communities.

At the end of her visit, on Tuesday 11 June 2013 at 10:30 am, the Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference at the UN Menara Thamrin Building, Papua Room (7th floor), Jakarta, to present the preliminary findings of her mission.

A comprehensive report with her findings and recommendations will be presented in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2014.

Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed 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 by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2008. Her mandate was renewed in 2011. Learn more, log on to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx

OHCHR – Country Page: Indonesia: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/IDIndex.aspx

For further information and media requests, please contact:
In Jakarta: Marita (Tata) Kurniasari, UNIC (+62 856 9133 7617, +62 21 3983 1011 / marita.kurniasari@unic.org), Lidia Rabinovich, OHCHR (+41 79 201 0124
/ lrabinovich@ohchr.org) or write to srhousing@ohchr.org
In Geneva: Juana Sotomayor (+41 22 917 9445 / jsotomayor@ohchr.org)

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)

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