International Advocacy

The United Nations can be a powerful tool for the promotion and protection of economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights), including housing rights.

COHRE plays a key role in encouraging relevant UN institutions to act forcefully in support of housing rights through the adoption of new international standards and the issuance of decisions urging governments to comply with their human rights obligations. COHRE’s consultative status at the UN also allows it to act as a pathway for grassroots groups to directly participate in and influence the work of UN human rights bodies.

COHRE’s work at the UN is directed and inspired by its different activities, as well as by the needs and situations facing its partners in the field. The UN is not an end in itself but one of many tools to guarantee better protection for housing rights and ESC rights in general. As such, using the UN should constitute just one of many strategies to promote and protect housing rights and ESC rights in your country.

Link to OHCHR Handbook for Civil Society.