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	Overhaul discriminatory laws and practices enabling economic violence against women by UN Human Rights Council, agencies Interactive Dialogue with Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls   Mar. 2025   Women and girls are demanding change – and they deserve nothing less. (UN News)   The basic rights of women and girls are facing unprecedented growing threats worldwide, from higher levels of discrimination to weaker legal protections -and less funding for programmes and institutions which support and protect women.   UN Women’s latest report Women's Rights in Review 30 Years After Beijing, published on the UN 50th International Women’s Day on 8 March, shows that in 2024, nearly a quarter of governments worldwide reported a backlash on women’s rights.   Despite decades of advocacy, economic instability, the climate crisis, rising conflicts and political pushback have contributed to a worsening landscape for gender equality.   While 87 countries have been led by a woman at some point in history, true parity is still a long way off. Alarmingly, UN Women reports that a woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by a family member or intimate partner.   The digital space is also exacerbating gender disparities, the UN agency argues, with artificial intelligence and some social media platforms amplifying harmful stereotypes. Meanwhile, women and girls remain underrepresented in digital and tech-related fields.   Without robust and gender-responsive social protections, vulnerable people can fall through the cracks. Women and girls are more likely to be at risk for poverty or to experience it, as evidenced in 2023, where 2 billion women and girls had no social protection coverage. In 2024, 393 million women and girls were living in extreme poverty.   In the past decade, there has been a disturbing 50 per cent increase in the number of women and girls directly exposed to conflict, and women’s rights defenders confront daily harassment, personal attacks and even death, UN Women said.   These findings underscore that crises such as COVID-19, soaring food and fuel prices, and the undermining of democratic institutions are not just slowing progress – but actively reversing gains.   “When women and girls can rise, we all thrive,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his message for the day. Yet, “instead of mainstreaming equal rights, we are seeing the mainstreaming of misogyny.”   “Together, we must stand firm in making human rights, equality and empowerment a reality for all women and girls, for everyone, everywhere,” he emphasised.   UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous echoed this urgency: “Complex challenges stand in the way of gender equality and women’s empowerment, but we remain steadfast. Women and girls are demanding change – and they deserve nothing less.”   As the world marks the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration in 2025, the most visionary roadmap for furthering women’s rights, UN Women's latest report shows progress that must be acknowledged.   Since 1995, countries have enacted 1,531 legal reforms advancing gender equality, maternal mortality has dropped by a third and women’s representation in parliaments has more than doubled.   Yet, as the report makes clear, significant work remains to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The newly introduced Beijing+30 Action Agenda outlines priority areas to accelerate progress.   While countries may signal their commitments to gender equality through adopting gender-responsive and inclusive policies, without follow-through and proper funding, they may have little impact in the long term.   Equal access to technology and online safety must be ensured for all women and girls, while investments in social protection, universal health care and education are all deemed essential for women’s economic independence.   Women-led organizations must receive dedicated funding to build lasting peace and women’s leadership in environmental policies must be prioritised, ensuring equal access to green jobs.   Meanwhile, countries must adopt and implement legislation to end violence against women and girls, in all its forms, with well-resourced plans that include support for community-based organizations on the front lines of response and prevention.   Turning words into action   As gender equality faces one of its most challenging periods in decades, UN Women is calling on governments, businesses and civil society to reinforce their commitments to women’s rights, to ensure that all women and girls, everywhere, can fully enjoy their rights and freedoms.   http://www.unwomen.org/en/get-involved/international-womens-day http://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/womens-rights-in-review-30-years-after-beijing-en.pdf http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/feature-story/2025/02/womens-rights-in-2025-hope-resilience-and-the-fight-against-backlash http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/timeline/never-backing-down-women-march-forward-for-equal-rights http://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/the-beijing-declaration-and-platform-for-action-at-30-and-why-that-matters-for-gender-equality http://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories http://equalitynow.org/resource/words-deeds-beijing30-report/   June 2024   Economic violence as a form of gender-based violence against women and girls, by Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:   "We owe the women’s rights movement some of the most extraordinary progress in human rights of our generation. And it is important to honour and celebrate this progress.   Yet the persistent scourge of gender-based violence in one of its insidious forms, shows that progress is both hard won, and fragile.   At its simplest, violence against women and girls is an egregious expression of power domination and patriarchy indeed. It is a blunt roadblock to gender equality and the ultimate benefits that this can bring everyone, including greater development and peace.   Gender-based violence persists because of pervasive cultures of toxic masculinity and misogyny. It is not specific to cultures, or regions, or religions. It is widespread, fuelled by centuries-old mindsets and practices that are still dangerously prevalent, almost everywhere.   Any form of gender-based violence is a form of overt control over women and girls. To perpetuate their subordination. To stereotype, degrade, coerce, and humiliate. To deny them freedom, and strip them of agency to make decisions.   Today, regardless of income or background, all women and girls live with the threat of gender-based violence. Almost one in three women have been subjected to some form of it at least once in their life, be that physical, sexual, psychological or economic.   One in three. If one in three men globally were subject to such devastating and pervasive harm, we would be convening an emergency summit.   Economic violence against women and girls is one of the forms of gender-based violence that even today too often goes unseen, and unregulated. But while it may not manifest in bruises and wounds, it can be just as harmful as physical violence, trapping women and girls in cycles of denigration and inequality.   Economic control. Economic sabotage. Economic exploitation. These are the three forms of economic violence playing out all around the world.   Restricting a woman’s access to money and assets. Tracking her spending. Ensuring she cannot open a bank account, or make financial decisions. Preventing her from seeking employment, or going to school. Taking her wages, or her pension. Accruing debt under her name.   In all its forms, economic violence is facilitated by archaic gender norms that consider men the financial decision makers. In all its forms, women are stifled, and blocked from living a life of autonomy.   We know that economic violence most commonly occurs in the home, and often interconnects with physical or sexual violence. But it can also be enabled, even perpetrated by the State through discriminatory legal frameworks which restrict women’s access to credit, employment, social protection, or property and land rights.   The world is failing to deliver on the promise of gender equality. Failing to put in place the measures needed to ensure half of humanity enjoy their fundamental rights and freedoms.   The numbers paint a startling picture. Some 3.9 billion women worldwide face legal barriers affecting their economic participation. Women earn just 77 cents for every dollar paid to men. Ninety-two countries lack provisions mandating equal pay for work of equal value. The wealth gap between women and men globally stands at a staggering 100 trillion USD.   Women’s equality lies at the core of all human rights, of human dignity and of our collective future.   To put a stop to economic violence, and proactively to ensure economic equity, we need a complete overhaul of discriminatory laws and practices. Gender equality needs to be positively fostered through laws governing all areas of life – economic, public and political. And we need policy measures to ensure that these laws are actually applied in practice.   Policy measures that protect and empower women’s economic, social and cultural rights. Access to decent work, including equal pay for work of equal value. Quality education that promotes human rights, gender equality and respect. The full realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Equal property ownership. Equal access to and control over financial resources. Shared childcare responsibilities and adequate childcare options. And above all, choice and opportunity to define one’s own life.   Where economic violence occurs, we must make stronger efforts to ensure survivors can seek justice and remedy. We need better complaint mechanisms. Better economic and social support systems. Better and more widely available assistance. And, importantly, perpetrators must be brought to justice.   Violence against women and girls – in all its forms – is abhorrent and inexcusable. It prevents their full and equal participation in society, suffocating their potential, and stealing choice and opportunity. We must take tangible actions to put a stop to it.   Nada Al-Nashif, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, said global inequality and poverty were growing. Around 4.8 billion people, more likely to be women, were poorer than they were pre-COVID19 pandemic. Currently, more than 10 per cent of women globally were trapped in a cycle of extreme poverty, and as many as 342 million women (8 per cent) would still be living in extreme poverty by 2030. Current economic, legal and policy frameworks hindered the achievement of gender equality.   The existence of gender discriminatory laws and practices had a severe impact on women’s and girls’ enjoyment of economic rights, including the right to work and the right to social protection. A study showed that in 102 countries, women’s rights to inherit their husband’s property were denied under customary, religious, or traditional laws and practices. Even when laws granted women equal economic rights as men, these were often not implemented.   Women and girls were still perceived as the primary caregivers, meaning globally on average, they spent 2.4 hours a day more on such work than men. The lack of the recognition and the unequal distribution of care and support work deprived women and girls of equal opportunities to education, work, and participation in public life.   Furthermore, unsustainable and unprecedented levels of global public debt, combined with conditionalities of foreign financial assistance, were constraining the fiscal space of States and leading to drastic cuts in public services and denials of economic, social and cultural rights. Women would likely disproportionately face the brunt of such cuts, as they were over-represented in the public services’ workforce.   It was time to re-evaluate the concepts of unlimited economic growth, based on deeply embedded gender and other inequalities within and across countries, unsustainable exploitation of the environment, and the disregard for States’ obligations to realise economic, social, and cultural rights. There needed to be an economic paradigm shift towards a human rights economy which dismantled structural barriers and prioritised investments in human rights.   Hyshyama Hamin, Campaign Manager of the Global Campaign for Equality in Family Law, said no country worldwide had achieved full legal equality between women and men, according to the World Bank.   Inequality often started in the family. Women and girls globally were affected by discriminatory family laws and practices, which consequently had multiple intersecting impacts in all other areas of their lives. Inequality in family law limited women’s and girls’ right to education, employment, economic independence, and full participation in society.   It further increased their risk of facing gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices, such as child and forced marriage. The Global Campaign had noted from multiple contexts that unequal family laws and practices impacted the financial rights of women.   According to the World Bank, Women, Business and the Law 2024 report, of 190 economies, 76 countries restricted women's property rights; 19 countries had laws that allowed husbands to legally prevent their wives from working; 43 countries did not grant widows the same inheritance rights as widowers, and 41 countries prevented daughters from inheriting the same proportion of assets as sons. Women performed 2.5 times more unpaid care work than men, which was largely invisible and unaccounted for in national economies.   The positive impacts of equal family laws and practices on women’s economic rights were far-reaching. Accelerated progress toward gender equality could result in huge economic gains for a country.   To accelerate progress, the international community needed to prioritise and promote egalitarian family laws and practices; and all States needed to ensure their family laws and practices were aligned with article 16 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. All actors needed to support family law reform as a priority.   Emanuela Pozzan, Senior Gender Specialist at the International Labour Organization, said care needed to be part of a just transition. The recently concluded International Labour Conference in Geneva adopted a resolution which focused on decent work and the care economy, and affirmed that care work was fundamental to human, social, economic and environmental well-being, as well as to sustainable development. This care work, paid and unpaid, was essential to all other work.   For the first time, the international community shared a common understanding of the care economy and acknowledged that a well-functioning and robust care economy was critical for building resilience to crises, and for achieving gender equality and inclusion while addressing other inequalities.   The current social organization of care placed a disproportionate share of unpaid care work on women, which hindered women’s economic inclusion and effective labour market participation, widening gender gaps in the world of work, and leaving many without adequate access to social protection.   The distribution of unpaid care work was highly feminised. Women performed 76.2 per cent of the total amount of unpaid care work: 16 billion hours per day – 3.2 times more than men. While such care could be rewarding, its excessive intensity and arduousness could undermine the economic opportunities, well-being, and enjoyment of rights for unpaid care providers.   Over 600 million women remained outside the labour force because of family responsibilities. Over 380 million care workers, two thirds of whom were women, made up the global paid care workforce, where they were less well paid and less protected.   Recent years had brought a worldwide improvement in maternity protection policies, leave and care services, thanks to social dialogue. However, the existing challenges and gaps in care leave policies and services could not be ignored. The resolution was clear: action needed to be taken. Investing in the care economy was an added value for all countries, societies and people.   Savitri Bisnath, Senior Director of Global Policy, the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School, said that the role of the economy was in part to facilitate human flourishing. The material realities of women and girls were linked to many sectors and policies: from health care, education, employment, sovereign debt burdens, taxation, and climate change.   Economic policies could help ensure that the root causes of, and structural barriers to, poverty and inequalities experienced by women and girls were intentionally addressed and redressed for equitable and inclusive economies and societies.   There was consensus that the current economic model was failing to deliver economic prosperity for all. For example, it was common knowledge that women were often paid less than men for the same work and that within countries women were also discriminated against based on race, age and geographic location.   The United Nations Secretary-General had pointed to the many challenges facing the world community, including geopolitical and economic fragmentation with growing inequalities mostly affecting women and girls, the cost-of-living crisis, and the poorest countries on debt row facing insolvency and default, all of which led down the path of deepening instability.   There was an urgent need for reform of the global debt architecture. The ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want could only be achieved if conditions were created whereby everyone could enjoy their economic, social and cultural rights, as well as their civil and political rights.   Economic policies needed to be aligned with human rights and environmental justice goals. An economy grounded in human rights principles and standards would facilitate transparency and accountability, as well as space for social dialogue, scrutiny and participation. It was essential for increasing trust, cohesion and inclusion within societies.   http://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/meeting-summary/2024/06/le-conseil-des-droits-de-lhomme-se-penche-sur-le-probleme-de-la http://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/meeting-summary/2024/06/le-conseil-des-droits-de-lhomme-entend-une-mise-en-garde-contre http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2024/06/high-commissioner-economic-violence-against-women-gender-based http://news.un.org/en/story/2024/06/1151616 http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-women-and-girls Visit the related web page
	Urban Housing Crisis Deepens by IIED, IPS, International Union of Tenants   29 May 2025 (UN News)   The United Nations Habitat Assembly opened today at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, bringing together around 1,200 delegates to address one of the most urgent and interconnected challenges of our time: the global housing crisis.   In a speech marking the start of the Assembly, UN-Habitat Executive Director Anaclaudia Rossbach underscored the scale and urgency of the housing crisis – affecting nearly 3 billion people worldwide – and called for coordinated global action anchored in human rights, dignity, and multilateral solidarity.   “This Assembly represents the highest global platform for discussions on sustainable urbanization and human settlements. It is a moment of collective reflection, renewed political will and forging consensus for the future we seek for our cities and communities,” she said.   “Today, more than 2.8 billion people are inadequately housed. Over 1.1 billion live in informal settlements or slums, and more than 300 million are homeless. Without action, this crisis will continue to undermine efforts to reduce poverty, advance equality, and deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals.”   Central to the Assembly is the proposed adoption of UN-Habitat’s new Strategic Plan for 2026–2029. At the heart of the plan is a clear and focused agenda: advancing adequate housing, secure land tenure, and access to basic services – particularly in informal settlements and underserved communities – as a pathway towards peace, climate resilience, and inclusive prosperity.   “We now turn to the future. The Strategic Plan positions housing, land, and basic services at the centre of our mandate. It is a plan to deliver impact where it matters most and to do so in partnership, with urgency, and at scale. This approach is especially critical at a time when our cities are bearing the brunt of multiple, overlapping crises: from conflict and displacement to the escalating impacts of climate change,” the UN-Habitat Executive Director emphasized.   According to UN-Habitat estimates, over 1.1 billion people globally live in slums or informal settlements, and over 300 million experience absolute homelessness. In rapidly urbanizing regions like Africa and Asia-Pacific, the gap between housing demand and infrastructure is widening dramatically. In Africa, 62 per cent of urban dwellings are informal; in Asia-Pacific, over 500 million people lack access to basic water supply, and over 1 billion to adequate sanitation.   Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, pointed out: “As climate change intensifies, more urban dwellers are being exposed to extreme heat, water scarcity and rising sea levels. We must act with urgency to support cities to become more liveable, more sustainable, the centres of action to meet the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, rising pollution and waste.”   http://unhabitat.org/news/29-may-2025/un-habitat-assembly-opens-with-urgent-global-call-to-action-on-housing http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1163851   May 2025   Extreme Housing Inequalities - Pathfinders   Right now, 2.8 billion people are experiencing some form of housing inadequacy across the world. Housing should be a basic human right, and we know that access to adequate housing has enormous social value, boosts economic growth, and improves well-being. Yet, too often, it’s reduced to one thing: money.   In many cities, there’s a stark tension between the responsibility of political actors to provide housing for the public and the relentless drive to extract wealth. The global real estate market is valued at USD 379.7 trillion, as housing is increasingly treated as a privilege, an asset, and a lucrative investment.   These financial forces distort priorities, favoring wealth accumulation and speculative investments over the basic human right to housing, and broadening the gap between those benefiting from housing systems and those who cannot afford a place to live in.   Rather than an accident or an inevitability, housing inequalities are a result of deliberate public policy decisions. Housing policies are often captured by wealthy elites and powerful interest groups, prioritizing profit over equity. Zoning laws that favor luxury developments, tax benefits for property investors, and weak enforcement of tenant rights are just a few examples of how policy shapes and perpetuates inequality.   Young Africans priced out of Cities as Urban Housing Crisis Deepens, by Promise Eze. (IPS UN Bureau Report)   After graduating in 2019, Jeremiah Achimugu left Sokoto State in northwestern Nigeria for Abuja, the nation’s capital, in search of better opportunities. But life in the city brought unexpected challenges, especially the high cost of housing.   At first, Achimugu stayed with his uncle and worked as a marketer, earning 120,000 naira (USD 73) a month. However, his salary barely covered his basic needs.   “The cost of living in Nigeria’s rapidly developing capital soon ate deep into my salary,” he said. “By the end of the month, I was always broke. Transportation, food, and other expenses were just too much.”   When he began searching for a place of his own, he was shocked by the prices. Even a small one-room apartment in a remote area costs about 500,000 naira (USD 307) a year.   “There was no way I could afford that kind of rent even though the apartment was nothing to write home about,” he said.   Few months later, Achimugu resigned from his job and returned to Sokoto. His dream of building a life in the city was cut short by the soaring cost of living.   “The cost of living and rent in Nigerian cities is too high for young people,” he said. “But these are the places where the opportunities are. Some landlords are taking advantage of young people coming into the cities by raising the rent.”   A Continental Rental Crisis   Achimugu’s experience reflects a larger problem faced by young people across Nigeria. About 63 percent of the country’s population is under the age of 24, and cities are growing rapidly. The United Nations has warned that Nigeria’s urban population is increasing almost twice as fast as the national average. However, housing hasn’t kept up with this growth. As a result, the few available homes are now overpriced. The World Bank estimates the country has a housing shortage of over 17 million homes.   In major cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt, rent prices can range from around 400,000 naira (USD 246) to as much as 25 million naira (USD 16,000) per annum, depending on the location and kind of apartment.   With a monthly minimum wage of 70,000 naira (USD 43), which is often unpaid or delayed, and high unemployment, many young people cannot afford decent housing. This makes it harder for them to settle down, build strong social connections, or feel financially secure.   Nigeria is not alone. Across Africa, young people are being priced out of the rental market, with the lack of affordable housing a pressing concern. In interviews with young people in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria, IPS confirmed that the same challenges exist across the continent.   Formal housing remains beyond the reach of most Africans, with only the top 5 to 10 percent of the population able to afford it. The majority are left to live in informal settlements, many of which lack essential services such as clean water, electricity, and proper sanitation.   Experts have warned that without increased investment in affordable housing, a growing number of young people will struggle to find a place to live.   Kwantami Kwame in Kumasi, Ghana, blames capitalism and the greed of real estate owners for the high cost of rent. He told IPS that the rush for quick profits in the cities is affecting the welfare of young people, most of whom are low-income earners.   “A few weeks ago, I was looking for a one-bedroom apartment in Accra, the capital of Ghana, and I was asked to pay an upfront two-year rent fee of 38,275 Ghanaian Cedis (USD 2,500). The apartment wasn’t even up to standard. The fee didn’t cover water, electricity, or waste bills. It’s really unfair,” said Kwame, who noted that in a country where the monthly minimum wage is just 539.19 Ghanaian cedis (USD 45), there should be provisions for young people to access affordable housing in cities where opportunities exist.   Kwame believes governments should regulate rents and check the excesses of landlords. But Olaitan Olaoye, a Lagos-based real estate expert, sees it differently. He points to limited land availability as a major factor driving up rent and argues that price controls won’t solve the problem..   “For instance, in a country like Nigeria, the removal of the fuel subsidy caused prices to skyrocket. This had a ripple effect on everything else, including construction. It led to an increase in the cost of building materials,” Olaoye argued.   While he does not excuse the greed of some landlords and estate developers, Olaoye worries that if young people already struggle to rent homes, the dream of owning one may become increasingly unrealistic.   Inadequate Social Housing Programs   Olaoye’s concerns are echoed by Phoebe Atieno Ochieng in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. After securing a teaching job in the capital, she left her family home in the countryside of Busia. However, with a monthly salary of only 18,000 Kenya Shillings (USD 140), renting a place in the city was out of her reach.   “I had no choice but to live in a small space provided by the school management within the school premises,” she told IPS. “The houses here are not affordable. A basic one-bedroom apartment costs 120,000 Kenyan shillings per month. I can’t balance my income because I still have to pay taxes, buy food, and take care of other daily needs. Unless I get a better-paying job, I can’t manage.”   Ochieng criticizes the Kenyan government for its failure to provide adequate social housing and ensure access to affordable mortgages.   While the Kenyan government has launched a social housing scheme like the Affordable Housing Programme to help low- and middle-income earners secure decent homes, the initiative has faced growing criticism. Many argue that the houses being built are still unaffordable. Also, the introduction of a mandatory housing tax has sparked outrage, with many questioning why they are being compelled to fund homes they may never qualify for or benefit from.   Similarly, the Nigerian government has made several attempts to address the housing crisis through various national housing programs designed to provide affordable homes in cities. However, these programs have often failed due to poor implementation, inadequate funding, and corruption. Many housing projects have been abandoned, leaving the promise of affordable housing unfulfilled for the majority of Nigerians.   South Africa’s housing crisis is worsening due to rapid urbanization, economic challenges, and the legacy of apartheid. Cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban are seeing an increasing number of people move from rural areas in search of better job opportunities, putting pressure on housing infrastructure.   During apartheid, many Black South Africans were confined to overcrowded townships on the outskirts of cities, areas that still lack proper infrastructure and services. As young people flock to cities for better prospects, they face the challenge of unaffordable rent, which, according to Ntando Mji, a receptionist in Cape Town, is limiting their potential.   Although the government has attempted to provide subsidized housing for those with a limited income, the scale of the problem is overwhelming, and millions are still waiting for homes.   “In Cape Town, getting a house is so difficult. The agents require a three-month rent deposit, and they scrutinize your income, but even getting approved for a space is really hard,” Mji said.   “Because it is mainly commercial entities that build houses, they are so expensive. This is why the South African government should intervene by providing accommodation at lower prices and engaging the private sector in building lower-cost housing in safer areas,” said Bhufura Majola, who told IPS that he waited a year before he could even get a small apartment in a student area far from where he works.   He added, “The high cost of rental prices in South Africa is a big deterrent to young professionals in particular because it takes away their choices of where to stay, especially near places where there is employment. This has forced many to abandon their dreams.”   Peace Abiola, who lives in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria, spent all her savings—600,000 naira (USD 369)—on an apartment last year. She works as a content creator for brands, earning an irregular income. Now, with her rent due, she is considering returning to her village because she can no longer afford to keep up.   “I think one solution to this problem is the proper implementation of laws to control the irregular hike in rental prices,” she said, echoing the frustration of many Nigerians who have started protesting and calling on the government to act.   The Nigerian government has repeatedly promised to enforce policies that protect tenants, but none of those pledges have materialized.   “Here, we are just focused on survival or how to pay the next rent or how to get the next meal. This is not how life should be,” Abiola said.   http://www.ipsnews.net/2025/05/young-africans-priced-out-of-cities-as-urban-housing-crisis-deepens/ http://cic.nyu.edu/resources/soaring-housing-inequality-in-kinshasa/ http://www.sdg16.plus/resources/who-will-cities-be-for-inequality-housing-and-the-future-of-african-urbanization/   Slum Upgrading is Climate Action - Slum Dwellers International   Over one billion people live on the frontlines of climate change in informal settlements. This number is projected to double by 2050.   The urban poor are forced to live in climate-vulnerable settlements, using inadequate building materials and construction methods highly susceptible to climate shocks.   We are not statistics. We are people.   For over 30 years, Slum Dwellers International (SDI) has practised locally-led climate adaptation in informal settlements in over 22 countries. Despite limited institutionalisation or policy support, urban poor communities are imagining their own futures through precedent setting pilots. We upgrade our communities because we cannot afford to wait.   Despite the growing crisis, world leaders and global institutions are not treating climate action—let alone climate justice—with the urgency it demands. SDG 11, which aims for inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities, remains far from reality for our communities.   Governments and all stakeholders must urgently honour and fast-track the implementation of the Global Action Plan (GAP) for transforming informal settlements and slums by 2030, using more appropriate and inclusive approaches. We live with the problems. We must lead the solutions.   Housing is our first line of defense against climate change, but it’s more than just about four walls. Housing inequalities and injustices are driving climate vulnerability.   Basic rights, such as land tenure security, have not been widely secured. Forced evictions, driven by the commodification of land, are accelerating under climate pressure.   Over the past 20 years, only 3.5% of global climate finance was allocated to the urban poor. This gap is likely to widen. While informal settlements lack essential infrastructure and basic services, households are forced to spend a significant portion of their already limited income on climate adaptation.   Governments, donors, climate finance agencies, and all stakeholders must move beyond top-down funding mechanisms and support climate action aligned with the principles of Locally Led Adaptation (LLA).   Direct investment in community-led adaptation is a high-impact, cost-effective strategy that delivers better value for money in building resilient and inclusive cities.   Community participation in urban planning must be inclusive to be effective. Community-collected data for evidence-based policy approaches makes the invisible visible, and fills the gaps in official data to ensure that local knowledge informs decision-making.   http://sdinet.org/2025/05/cba19/   * Community led co-design climate adaption in informal settlements. IIED/World Bank report (Apr. 2025): http://tinyurl.com/3dy3p39f   Apr. 2025   Advancing housing rights across Europe - International Union of Tenants   Housing is a fundamental human right, not a privilege. A decent and affordable home is the foundation upon which people and families build their lives, participate in society, and contribute to economic stability.   Yet, across the world, tenants face increasing challenges: skyrocketing rents, inadequate legal protections, and an ever-growing housing market often prioritising profit over people.   It is our duty, as decision-makers, policymakers, and advocates, to ensure that tenants’ rights are upheld, and their voices heard.   As representatives of the International Union of Tenants (IUT), we strongly urge governments, legislators, and stakeholders at all levels to take the needs of tenants seriously and let these needs be reflected in concrete policy. Secure and affordable housing is not merely an economic issue — it is a matter of dignity, social cohesion, and justice. In short it is an important building block of our societies. Therefore, housing policies must prioritise long-term stability, affordability, and fairness to protect tenants from exploitation, displacement, and uncertainty.   In preparation for the 2024 European Parliament elections, the International Union of Tenants developed the Delft Declaration in 2023. This declaration outlines ten key principles affirming the fundamental right to affordable housing across Europe. Building on this foundation, we have now produced a series of position papers that further explore and clarify the main housing policy challenges identified in the lead-up to the elections.   They highlight the pressing issues faced by tenants today and providing concrete policy recommendations to safeguard and strengthen their rights. It also highlights the urgent need for robust rent regulations and other measures, increased public and affordable   housing, tenant protections against financialisation, and fair access to   sustainable and energy-efficient homes. These are not radical demands but essential measures to ensure a just and equitable housing market serving our society as a whole.   The papers offer detailed analysis and recommendations, reinforcing the IUT’s commitment to advancing housing rights across Europe during the coming years. But, also to serve as an inspiration for other continents as the housing crisis is a truly global challenge.   http://www.iut.nu/news-events/new-iut-position-papers-expand-on-the-delft-declaration/ http://endhomelessness.org/expanding-the-affordable-housing-supply/ http://www.openglobalrights.org/cities-and-the-human-right-to-housing/ http://www.anglicare.asn.au/publications/2025-rental-affordability-snapshot/ http://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/rents-in-the-uk-are-rising-at-the-highest-rate-for-14-years-will-they-keep-going-up/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/06/repeal-uk-vagrancy-act-marks-major-step-toward-ending-criminalisation http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/ahrc5661add3-breaking-cycle-ending-criminalization-homelessness-and   Defining housing justice: an audiovisual exchange of struggle and action. (IIED)   The lived experiences of those on the front line of housing injustice are exposed in a series of videos which collectively shows what housing justice would look like for them.   Addressing the current global housing requires a justice lens. According to UN figures, 2.8 billion people experience some form of housing inadequacy, and of these over one billion live in informal settlements.   This is a ‘crisis’: not in the sense of being the product of exceptional circumstances – on the contrary, it is a permanent reality for most people. This is a human rights crisis sustained by housing systems that are failing to respond to the needs and aspirations of the world’s majority.   http://www.iied.org/defining-housing-justice-audiovisual-exchange-struggle-action http://www.iied.org/collection/housing-justice http://www.hubforhousingjustice.org/news/understanding-housing-justice http://www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2023/call-inputs-place-live-dignity-all-make-housing-affordable http://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-housing/annual-thematic-reports http://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2023/07/sdg_11_synthesis_report_2023_executive_summary_final.pdf http://www.right2city.org/themes/fulfilled-social-functions/ http://www.habitat.org/home-equals
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