2009-10-23 10:11:36

UNITED NATIONS Press release
22 October 2009

GENEVA -- The Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Ms. Raquel Rolnik, will visit the United States of America from 22 October to 8 November 2009 at the invitation of the Government.

"I will collect first-hand information on the status of realization of the right to adequate housing in the US, with particular emphasis on social housing, the foreclosure crisis and homelessness," said Ms Rolnik. “The United States has been implementing a variety of programs and policies towards providing adequate housing for everyone. I want to look at their functioning and impact from a human rights perspective."

The Special Rapporteur will hold meetings with senior Government officials including at the Department of State and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She will also meet NGO representatives.

Ms Rolnik will visit Washington DC, New York, Wilkes-Barre, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference on Sunday 8 November 2009 at 11:00 a.m. at a centre for homeless people in Washington DC (the Center for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), 425 2nd St NW). A report on the visit will be submitted to the Human Rights Council in 2010.
Raquel Rolnik (Brazil) was appointed as Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context by the United Nations Human Rights Council, in May 2008. As Special Rapporteur, she is independent from any government or organization and serves in her individual capacity. An architect and urban planner, Rolnik has extensive experience in the area of the right to housing and urban policies.

Learn more about the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/housing/index.htm  

For inquiries and media requests, please contact Denise Hauser (Tel: +41 79 444 3707).

--> Learn more about this topic in HREA's study guide on the human right to Housing.