Leilani Farha may no longer be the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Housing,1 but she’s still very committed to ending homelessness around the world. Her UN role has put her in a good position to lead an international campaign on a web site called The Shift.
COVID-19 has demonstrated that homes are safe harbours from the pandemic — essential places to preserve human health. Farha sees COVID as an opportunity for governments to change their housing policies. She is calling on them to commit to a view that housing is a human necessity and as well, a human right. It is a commitment that requires shifting away from a view of housing as an investment. She is sharing her ideas through The Shift to encourage people around the world to speak up on social media and encourage governments to commit to housing as a human right.
The site’s resources include:
- weekly podcasts of Farha, and Fredrick Gertin, a documentary filmmaker, in conversation with other people who are participating in the campaign,
- Gertin’s award winning film Push, which looks into the impacts of housing as investment,
- video interviews with people who support a rights-based approach to housing,
- guidance on rights-based policies and programs for decision makers and policy makers, and
- an invitation to advocates to participate in the social media campaign.
You can check it all out here: THE SHIFT
Footnotes
- To check out the Special Rapporteur’s mandate, see the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights: Special Rapporteur On The Right To Adequate Housing
