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264Towards safer and more secure citiesBox 11.2 The right to housing in international lawThe right to housing is recognized in a range of international legal instruments,including inter alia:• 1948: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 25(1));• 1961: International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation No 115 on Workers’Housing;• 1965: International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination(Article 5(e)(iii));• 1976: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 11(1));• 1979: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(Article 14(2));• 1989: Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 27(3));• 1990: International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workersand Members of Their Families (Article 43(1)(d));• 2007: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 28).Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakesto take steps … to the maximum of itsavailable resources, with a view to achievingprogressively the full realization of the rightsrecognized in the present Covenant by allappropriate means, including particularly theadoption of legislative measures. 8■ The right to be protected against forcedevictionsBuilding on the legal foundations of the right to adequatehousing (and other related rights), many internationallynegotiated documents assert that forced evictions constitutea gross violation of human rights. As a result, in 1993, thethen United Nations Commission on Human Rights urged allstates to confer security of tenure on those currentlywithout these protections. 9 This was followed up in 2004with an even more unequivocal resolution on the prohibitionof forced evictions, 10 which reaffirmed:The practice offorced eviction …constitutes a grossviolation of a broadrange of humanrightsEvery human being… have the right tobe protected againstbeing arbitrarilydisplaced from hisor her home or placeof habitualresidenceAs noted above, many states have incorporated references tothe right to housing in their national constitutions.Moreover, all states have domestic legislation in placerecognizing at least some of the requirements associatedwith the right to adequate housing. Laws governing propertyrelations, landlord and tenant arrangements, nondiscriminationrights in the housing sector, access toservices, land administration and a range of other legal areascan be found in all states. Among other things, those entitledto this right are legally assured to housing that is adequate.Adequacy has specifically been defined to include security oftenure; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure;affordability; habitability; accessibility; location;and cultural adequacy. 5Governmental obligations derived from this rightinclude duties to take measures to confer security of tenure(and consequent protection against arbitrary or forcedeviction and/or arbitrary confiscation or expropriation ofhousing); to prevent discrimination in the housing sphere; toensure equality of treatment and access vis-à-vis housing; toprotect against racial discrimination; to guarantee housingaffordability; and many others. 6 Moreover, there is a dutyincumbent upon those exercising powers of governance topromote access to, and provision of, housing resourcessuited to the needs of the disabled, the chronically ill,migrant workers, the elderly, and refugees and internallydisplaced persons (IDPs).States parties must give due priority to thosesocial groups living in unfavourable conditionsby giving them particular consideration. Policiesand legislation should correspondingly not bedesigned to benefit already advantaged socialgroups at the expense of others. 7Finally, and perhaps most importantly, international lawrequires governments to take steps to progressively realizehousing (and other) rights:… that the practice of forced eviction that iscontrary to laws that are in conformity withinternational human rights standards constitutesa gross violation of a broad range ofhuman rights, in particular the right toadequate housing.This resolution also urged governments:… to undertake immediately measures, at alllevels, aimed at eliminating the practice offorced eviction by, inter alia, repealing existingplans involving forced evictions as well as anylegislation allowing for forced evictions, and byadopting and implementing legislation ensuringthe right to security of tenure for all residents,[and to] protect all persons who are currentlythreatened with forced eviction and to adopt allnecessary measures giving full protectionagainst forced eviction, based upon effectiveparticipation, consultation and negotiation withaffected persons or groups.The United Nations Guiding Principles on InternalDisplacement adopt a similar perspective and state clearlythat ‘Every human being shall have the right to be protectedagainst being arbitrarily displaced from his or her home orplace of habitual residence’. 11 The United NationsCommittee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’(CESCR’s) General Comment No 7, examined earlier, isperhaps the most detailed statement interpreting the view ofinternational law in this area, stating that ‘forced evictionsare prima facie incompatible with the requirements of theCovenant and can only be justified in the most exceptionalcircumstances, and in accordance with the relevant principlesof international law’. 12 In addition, rights such as theright to freedom of movement and the corresponding rightto choose one’s residence, the right to be free from degradingor inhuman treatment and others are being increasinglyinterpreted to protect people against forced evictions. 13