1 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), adopted by United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution 2200A (XXI), 16 December 1966, entered into force on 3 January 1976, 133 States Parties as of 10 December 1995.


2 These included the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (art. 25 (1)), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art. 5 (e)(iii)), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 27); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination against Women (art. 14 (2)), ILO Recommendation No. 115 on Workers' Housing, the UN Declaration on Social Progress and Development, the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child, the Vancouver Declaration on Human Settlements, the UNESCO Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice, the Declaration on the Right to Development, the UNESCO Declaration on Race and Racial Prejudice, the Declaration on the Right to Development and others. For a comprehensive listing of all sources of international law recognizing the right to housing, see annex 6 and COHRE (Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions) (November 1994), Sources #4: Legal Provisions on Housing Rights: International and National Perspectives, COHRE, Utrecht.


3 Paras. 6 & 7 of General Comment No. 4 assert:

　6. The right to adequate housing applies to everyone. While reference to "himself and his family" reflects assumptions as to gender roles and economic activity patterns commonly accepted in 1966 when the Covenant was adopted, the phrase cannot be read today as implying any limitation upon the applicability of the right to individuals or to female-headed households, or other such groups. Thus, the concept of "family" must be understood in a wide sense. Further, individuals, as well as families, are entitled to adequate housing regardless of age, economic status, group or other affiliation or status and other such factors. In particular, enjoyment of this right must, in accordance with article 2 (2) of the Covenant, not be subject to any form of discrimination.

　7. In the Committee's vies the right to housing should not be interpreted in a narrow or restrictive sense which equates it with, for example, the shelter provided by merely having a roof over one's head or views shelter exclusively as a commodity. Rather it should be seen as the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity. This is appropriate for at least two reasons. In the first place, the right to housing is integrally linked to other human rights and to the fundamental principles upon which the Covenant is premised. Thus, "inherent dignity of the human person" from which the rights in the Covenant are said to derive requires that the term "housing" be interpreted so as to take account of a variety of other considerations, most importantly that housing rights should be ensured to all persons irrespective of income or access to economic resources.


4 Article 2 (1) reads: "Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures."


5 GeneraI Comment No. 3 (1990): the nature of States parties' obigations (art. 2, para. 1 of the Covenant), UN doc. E/C/12/1990/8, pp. 83-87.


6 id.


7 General Comment No. 4, para. 10.


8 The obligation to respect, thus, includes: (1) The right to popular participation throughout the housing sphere, including the right of citizens to influence and decide upon any housing laws or policies affecting them; (2) The rights to organize, assemble and association, particularly with respect to tenants organizations, community-based organizations and housing cooperatives; (3) Legal protection from forced or threatened eviction or house demolitions; (4) The right to equality of treatment, particularly in terms of the allocation of housing resources, access to housing finance and residence permits; (5) The right to privacy, including the protection from arbitrary searches of residences; (6) The right to be free from racial discrimination, particularly in the housing allocation process; (7) Tolerance and promotion of housing-related freedoms, including the right to self-help housing initiatives; (8) Cultural attributes of traditional housing construction methods and the protection of housing of historical significance; and (9) The principle of refraining from coercive measures forcing another State to violate housing rights.


9 On the need for more intensive action on developing housing rights indicators, see: M Kothari, "The Human Right to Housing: ProbIems and Perspectives of DeveIoping ideal Indicators", (paper prepared for the UN Expert Seminar on "Appropriate Indcators to Measure Achievements in the Progressive Realizaton of Economic Social and CulturaI Rights", held in Geneva from 25-29 1993). Also, among other developments geared toward more accurateIy measuring the degree to which the right to housing is n place, the UN Centre on Human SettIements (Habitat) has deveIoped a set of key indicators designed to capture the essentaI elements of the shelter sector performance in alI coun:tries (UN doc. HS/C/13/INF.7 [Housing Indecators Programme], 27 April 1991).


10 General Comment No. 4 (pana.II).


11 The obligation to promote housing rights involves the following measures: (1) Comprehensive legislative and policy review of all laws, regulations or other directives having any negative bearing on the fulfillment of housing rights should be undertaken without delay upon acquiring housing rights obligations; (2) Legislative and policy recognition of the rights to adequate housing; (3) Targeted policies towards ensuring the full realization of housing rights in the shortest possible time frame for all sectors of society; (4) Establishing benchmarks designed to monitor societal housing needs, including the use of appropriate indicators towards this end; (5) The development and implementation of a national housing strategy; (6) High-level attention and targeted strategies toward satisfying the housing needs of disadvantaged groups, including the elderly, children , the physically disabled, the terminally ill, HIC-positive individuals, persons with persistent medical problems, the mentally ill,, victims of natural disasters and people living in disaster-prone areas; and (7) Ensuring the full accessibility to housing resources by all ethnic, racial, national, minority or other social groups.


12 Generally categorized, the key features of the obligation to protect the right to housing include; (1) Immediate steps must be taken by States to ensure that violations of housing rights standards by the State and its agents are, to the maximum extent, prevented from occurring; (2) Additional immediate steps must be taken to ensue that violations of housing tights by third parties, including protection from abuse by landlords are prevented; (3) The availability of impartial legal remedies in cases of alleged violations of housing rights; (4) The comprehensive provision of security of tenure throughout all housing sectors, applicable to all citizens; (5) Active measures designed to protect all persons against racial or other forms of discrimination, harassment and the withdrawal of services; (6) The affordability of housing for all income groups in society. In this regard, housing costs should never be allowed to rise to levels preventing dwellers from accessing and satisfying other basic need; (7) The regulation of rent levels and provision of housing subsidies should be undertaken in an appropriate manner, with a view to ensuring compliance with the affordability principle; (8) The overall habitability and physical safety of dwellers should be actively protected and adequately stimulated, with particular regard to protecting dwellers from cold, damp, hear, rain, wind or other threats to health, structural hazards and disease vectors; (9) Housing should be built at locations in near proximity to employment options, schools, health care centres and open spaces. Conversely, housing should not be built in dangerous areas where threats to environmental health and hygiene exist; and (10) States must respond constructively to housing rights violations, wherever they occur, both domestically and in other countries.


13 The obligation to fulfill housing rights demands the following steps: (1) The devotion of a reasonable proportion of public expenditure on housing, consistent with social housing requirements; (2) Housing subsidies for tenants and first-time home buyers, as well as the establishment of effective housing finance measures for low-income groups from a crucial aspect of this obligation; (3) The financing, construction and maintenance of social housing resources by public agencies where appropriate, as well as the financing by the State of such activities; (4) The provision by the State of public services, including infrastructure, water, electricity, sanitation, heating ,sewage, draining, reads, health care facilities and emergency services; (5) Active measures should be undertaken by the State in support of those persons, families and groups unable to satisfy their housing needs by individual efforts; (6) The promotion of natural and/or indigenous building materials for use in the housing process; (7) A proportion of overseas developmental assistance by donor countries to other States should be provided towards assisting developing counties in satisfying housing rights obligations; and (8) The provision of adequate housing accommodation for all refugees and asylum seekers within a State's borders.


14 See the four reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on Promoting the Realizaton of the right to Adequate Housing (UN docs. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/15; E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/l5; E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/20 and E/CN.4/Sub.2/1995/12).


15 UN doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1993/15, para. 144.


16 id, para. 145