Top UN Housing Expert Concludes National Tour of U.S., Presents Preliminary Findings

Press Type: Press Release   Associated Program: Human Rights

Released: 11/2009

WASHINGTON, November 6, 2009 - The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, will conclude the office's first official housing mission to the U.S. at the National Forum on the Human Right to Housing, Sunday, November 8^th, at Georgetown University Law Center. The Forum is being convened by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP). 

In advance of the Forum, Ms. Rolnik will attend an 11a.m. press conference at the Community for Creative Non-Violence at 425 2^nd Street, NW, Washington, DC, to discuss her preliminary findings.

Maria Foscarinis, executive director of NLCHP said: "The National Forum and the Special Rapporteur's visit help lay the groundwork for a movement that can work to make the right to housing a reality here in the U.S.

Ms. Rolnik's visit began on October 22^nd in New York City, the first leg of a national tour investigating the foreclosure crisis, growing homelessness, and the severe lack of affordable housing, including the demolition of public housing, that affects many low-income people. In addition to New York City, Ms. Rolnik visited Chicago, New Orleans, the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing travels internationally to observe whether governments are protecting the globally recognized human right to housing. Ms. Rolnik's national visit, which included participation from directly impacted communities, was jointly organized by the NLCHP and the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI). 

"As poor communities experience displacement and dislocation, our rallying cry is housing is a human right," said Deborah Fraser, of Friends and Residents of Arthur Cappers and Carrollsburg, one of the communities that organized Ms. Rolnik's Washington DC site visit.

"Having the Special Rapporteur here is a great opportunity for subsidized housing residents, homeless persons, and all who experience housing rights violations to speak against these policies that disproportionately affect our communities and are increasingly having an impact on everyone."

During her U.S. mission, approved by the U.S. State Department, Ms. Rolnik has attended town hall meetings, participated in site visits, and met local and national government officials. Ms. Rolnik will present the complete findings of her mission to the UN Human Rights Council in March in a public report on the human right to housing in the U.S.

On Monday, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., the Forum will continue with reports from cities that Ms. Rolnik visited, as well as workshops by experts on the right to housing and its implications for the U.S. NLCHP will announce and launch a campaign for the human right to housing in the U.S.

"Skyrocketing homelessness makes the need for a right to housing here in the U.S. crystal clear," said Eric Tars, human rights program director for NLCHP. "We're calling on Congress to take action by passing legislation recognizing that right."

For more information on the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing's first official U.S. mission, please visit http://restorehousingrights.org.

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