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Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing

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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

Purpose of the mandate

The right to adequate housing is more than having a roof over one’s head, it is the right to live in safety and dignity in a decent home.

Not all people are able to enjoy this right. Over one billion people live in substandard housing and informal settlements. Every year, several million people lose their home and are displaced as a consequence of development projects, conflicts, natural disasters or the climate crisis. Many of them are subjected to forced evictions. Housing has increasingly been treated as an opportunity for investment, not as a social good and fundamental human right.

This mandate was created to:

  • promote the full realization of adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living;
  • identify practical solutions, best practices, challenges, obstacles and protection gaps in relation to the right to adequate housing; and
  • identify gender-specific vulnerabilities in relation to the right to adequate housing and land.

Read more about the human right to adequate housing

About the mandate

The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing was established in the year 2000 by the former Commission on Human Rights (resolution 2000/9). It was most recently renewed in 2023 by Human Rights Council resolution 52/10. Learn more about the mandate.

Current mandate holder

Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal

Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, assumed his function as Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing on 1 May 2020. He is Professor of Law and Development at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A lawyer by training, he is an expert on many areas of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, the UN system, and the human rights challenges posed by development activities.

Read Mr. Rajagopal’s full biography

Contact Information

Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal
UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Special Procedures Branch, Palais Wilson
CH – 1211 Geneve, Switzerland

Email: hrc-sr-housing@un.org
Special Rapporteur on Twitter: @adequatehousing

Former Special Rapporteurs


Ms. Leilani Farha (Canada)
2014-2020

Ms. Raquel Rolnik (Brazil)
2008-2014

Mr. Miloon Kothari (India)
2000-2008

Activities

Ending criminalization of homelessness and poverty 
Virtual HRC side event 
25 June 2024, 15:00-16:30 CET 
More info | Meeting link

Submission to the US Supreme Court concerning the criminalization of persons experiencing homelessness
Amicus brief, 3 April 2024  

Ensuring housing affordability, ending homelessness
Side-event 55th HRC session, Room XXV
5 March 2024, 13:00 CET
Meeting link

Ending homelessness – Side event – Commission for Social Development
5 February 2024, New York, 13:15 EST
More information
Follow the event on UN TV

Domicide: The Mass Destruction of Homes should be a Crime Against Humanity Opinion of the Special Rapporteur
29 January 2024, New York Times

Replies from the ICC Prosecutor regarding the Situation in the State of Palestine
26 April 2023 and 12 May 2023

32 UN experts issue a joint letter to the ICC Prosecutor regarding the Situation in the State of Palestine and Annex
23 March 2023

Realizing the right to housing in the climate crisis
Hybrid side-event, 9 March 2023, 14:00 CET
Registration

Enshrining the right to housing in a Constitution: The case of California
12 January 2023

See all

Videos

5 March 2024
Ensuring housing affordability, ending homelessness: A global challenge - Hybrid side event – 55th session of the HRC
Watch on the UN Human Rights channel

9 March 2023
Realizing the right to housing in the climate crisis - Hybrid side event - 52nd session of the HRC
Watch on the UN Human Rights channel

18 October 2022
Stop bombing and destroying our homes: Recognize domicide as an international crime.
Watch on the UN Human Rights channel

14 December 2020
Campaign: Everyone deserves a safe and loving home, LGBTIQ+ included
Watch on Free & Equal United Nations

19 November 2020
Special Rapporteur speaks out against domestic violence during COVID-19
Watch on the UN Human Rights channel