Past Initiatives
The UN Housing Mission to the United States
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Raquel Rolnik, made an official visit to the United States between October 23rd and November 6th, 2009. It was the first official mission to the United States by a United Nations Special Rapporteur on housing. The Special Rapporteur focused primarily on concerns around public housing and Section 8 (social housing), homelessness, and the foreclosure crisis. She made official visits to Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and Washington, DC. The New Orleans visit was a follow-up to the recent International Advisory Group on Forced Evictions fact-finding mission to the city. During her time in Washington, D.C. she met with federal officials, including individuals from the Obama Administration and congressional members. She released the report of her findings in March 2010. Find it here.
The Special Rapporteur is appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on the housing situation of a given country. The general objectives of this visit were
- to examine and report on the status of the realization of housing rights in the United States, with particular attention to aspects of gender equality, non-discrimination and the protection of the poor, the vulnerable and minorities
- to engage in dialogues with the U.S. government, United Nations and intergovernmental agencies and civil society in their efforts to secure these rights
- to identify practical solutions and best practices in the realization of rights relevant to the mandate
- to follow up on relevant concluding observations made by treaty bodies and other international bodies and assess their impacts on policies adopted by the U.S.
The Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights worked in partnership with the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative to organize the city visits and collaborate nationally, which included site visits, town halls, and the participation of over 70 community-based organizations in six cities across the country. One year after the Rapporteur’s historic visit, the Campaign published its grassroots report on the mission: Our Voices Must Be Heard.
This report celebrates and acknowledges the growing human right to housing movement in the United Sates and acknowledges the fundamental links between the long-standing struggle for affordable housing and the crisis facing the newly impacted in the financial and housing crisis that emerged in 2007-2008.
For more information on the U.S. mission, please select from one of the following:
Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Mission Objectives
Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights Mission Objectives
National Itinerary
National Policy Position Paper
Primer on National Housing Issues
The Special Rapporteur’s Preliminary Findings
NESRI Press Statement on Conclusion of UN Special Rapporteur Mission
“Next Steps” Video on Vimeo
