Poverty Reduction, Development Programming and the Right to Housing

Poverty Reduction, Development Programming and the Right to Housing Public Seminar at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, Tuesday 28th August 2007 at 13.30 Planned as part of the DFC Training Course on Integrating Human Rights in Development Programming organised by HLM Consult and the Danish Institute for Human Rights. Poverty Reduction, Development Programming and the Right to Housing HOW DO HUMAN RIGHTS FACTOR IN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES? Many actors - Donors, NGOs and Governments alike - are now actively integrating human rights in development planning. The Danish Development Policy states that support to human rights and democratisation is vital to development and poverty reduction. Moreover, human rights are a crosscutting consideration that is to be incorporated in all assistance programmes - including sector programmes within agriculture, health, education, infrastructure development, etc. The UN Human Rights System has for long recognised the right to housing as a human right. Governments are obliged to provide periodic reporting on the respect, protection and fulfilment of the right to housing under the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. For several years a UN Special Rapportuer on Adequate Housing has been appointed. UN-HABITAT and other key donors actively pursue the right to housing and the linkages between poverty reduction, development programmes and the right to housing are now well documented. Closely linked to housing rights is the right to water. But just how in practice is this reflected in development programming? SEMINAR PROGRAMME This public seminar is organised as part of the Danida Fellowship Training Course on Integrating Human Rights in Development Programming (see www.dfc.com ) The organisers are pleased that it has been possible to make public a very interesting session of the course on Poverty Reduction and the Right to Housing, which is bringing together a strong panel of experts, activists, and planners for broad discussion and exploration of the theme. 13.30 Opening by Course Facilitator: Hanne Lund Madsen 13.45 Panel debate with contributions from * Bret Thiele, Senior Adviser, Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, COHRE * Representative from Ministry of Foreign Affairs * Paul Erik Bidinger, Steering Committee Chairman, Danish International Human Settlement Service. * Ida Elisabeth Koch, Senior Research Fellow, Danish Institute for Human Rights. 14.45 -16.00 Open plenary debate Participation and Registration: We hope to see a broad engagement from the Ministry, NGOs, Consultants and Researchers, Politicians and the Nairobi Club. Prior registration: Danish Institute for Human Rights, Vibeke Hemmel, Email: [email protected] ,Tel: 32 69 88 39 Venue: Tuesday 28th August 2007, Danish Center for International Studies and Human Rights, Strandgade 71, Copenhagen K. 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. (www.cohre.org)