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© Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions

Nairobi, Kenya

Housing Rights
An introduction to Housing Rights

… the right to housing goes further than the right not to be subjected to arbitrary or forced eviction. It also involves a duty on the State to take effective action to enable its people to meet their need for a safe and secure home where they can live with dignity. That is not achieved easily or overnight, but … it is now internationally recognised that States must take appropriate steps to ensure the realisation of this right.

Nelson Mandela Former President of South Africa

The right to housing is one of the most widely violated human rights. Over one billion people are inadequately housed. The United Nations estimates that a further 100 million people worldwide are without a place to live. One third of humanity (more than two billion people) live without security of tenure, adequate legal safeguards against forced eviction and without access to clean and affordable drinking water in the home.

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What's in this section?

In this section you can find a wide range of information on the fundamental right to adequate housing particularly for the poor and displaced, and how and why the right to housing constitutes an important human right. You will also find out the following: why housing rights are important; the definition of adequate housing under international human rights law; the legal standing of housing rights; what it means to lack security of tenure and women and housing rights. You can also read some of the common myths about housing rights.

What are Housing Rights?

Legal Resources on Housing Rights

Key Housing Rights Issues

Litigating for Housing Rights Housing Rights Links

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Resources on Housing Rights

Sources 4: Legal Resources for Housing Rights (2nd edition, 2000)

This COHRE publication provides information about the relevant international human rights instruments as well as references to fifty national constitutions containing housing rights provisions.

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