HLRD Issues

The issues of the Housing and Land Rights Day Campaign are:

• Evictions and any deprivation of housing and land rights
• Financial speculation and the corruption
• Negative effects of the privatization of land, housing, water and public services
• The inclusive city
• The housing in dignity and in affordability
• The security of tenure
• The sustainability of our environment
• Women and habitat

Evictions:
War, occupation, discrimination, development projects, privatization and economic reform, declining social services and the vagaries of "free" markets have conspired to bring about the eviction of millions from their rightful homes and lands. They all need your solidarity. Most of all, they need to feel that solidarity in practical and tangible ways.
Further, "forced eviction" is defined in international law as “the permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land [that] they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection."

Privatization:
Privatization of public goods and services is the act or policy of selling or transferring control of publicly owned goods and services, such as water, electricity, and utilities, to persons or privately owned enterprises. Such privatizations often are instituted without public input and can result in land and housing dispossession, increased living costs, and evictions. The exclusion, inequality, poverty, devastation of nature, and environmental deterioration profoundly affecting human habitat today, all originate in the same causes, related to these global processes of accumulation of financial resources that place power in fewer and fewer hands.

Right to the City:
Cities are potentially territories with plenty of economical, environmental, political, and cultural diversity and wealthiness. They represent much more than physical space distinguished by a higher density of people. The urban life style influences the way we connect with others and the city around us. Cities are far from offering equal conditions and opportunities to its inhabitants. The majority of the urban population is prevented from or limited to fulfilling their elementary needs because of their economic, social, cultural, ethnic, gender, and age. This situation leads us to the challenge of building a sustainable model of society and urban life, which would be based on the principles of solidarity, freedom, equity, dignity and social justice.

Social Production of Habitat:
Social production is a people-centered process, through several self-management modalities, ranging from spontaneous individual self-production, to collective production with high organizational levels and complexity of production, negotiation, broad participation and management. It often involves a joint venture between communities and local governments, sometime also with the private sector. Its purposes are not lucrative, but practical problem solving and, thus, realize human rights consistent with principles human dignity, State responsibility and fairness.

Women and Housing Rights:
National and international legislations widely recognize the right to adequate housing for all women. However, women both in the South and in the North are more likely to suffer from housing vulnerability.

Based on the following background:
-The multiple discriminations that women face regarding the enjoyment of housing rights
-Broad interpretation of the right to adequate housing
-The increasing violation of housing rights at local level for global reasons

We propose to follow three main lines of work for this theme:

1. Women and access to housing resources: strategies for equitable access to housing and land. This thematic area will address the impact of the multiple discriminations that women face regarding access to resources, water and an adequate environment, land and housing.

2. Violence against women and the right to adequate to housing: strategies to face evictions, armed conflicts, urban reforms, mega-projects and domestic violence against women. This thematic area will discuss the many forms of violence against women regarding their housing rights and their right to not be arbitrarily evicted, both in the domestic and urban sphere.

3. Women and management of the territory: strategies for democratic management of housing and resources. This thematic area addresses the issues related to housing rights and the gender perspective regarding women’s access to justice, women’s participation in politics and women’s participation in urban planning and city management.

Participate in the campaign
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What you should know:
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Housing Violation Maps