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Enhancing tenure security and ending forced evictions275Box 11.12 The Fukuoka DeclarationThe Fukuoka Declaration was adopted in 2001 at a seminar onsecuring land for the urban poor. The declaration asserted that:1 Secure tenure is a major contribution to the alleviationof poverty, to advancing sustainablelivelihoods, to improving choices and opportunitiesfor men and women; for accessing services; and forthe recognition of the citizenship of the urban poorand the rights that go with such citizenship.2 The fundamental principle of secure tenureendorsed by all Governments at the City Summit isa culture of governance and a legal and administrativesystem that prevents forced and arbitraryevictions from land and homes; provides effectiveredress for those who are so evicted whether bypublic agencies or private interests; and a fairhearing before, and alternative accommodation inthe event of, any eviction or relocation that isadjudged to be necessary in the public interest.3 Governments must adopt policies and wherenecessary reform legal and administrative systemsto enable women to have access to land and creditthrough market processes; to inherit land; and toachieve secure tenure of land in ways which are noless favourable than those which apply to men.Policies must address historical imbalances whichhave disadvantaged women in relation to theiraccess to land.4 Secure tenure embraces a range of relationshipsbetween humankind and land. Governments mustadopt policies and adapt administrative and legalsystems to give recognition and endorsement torelationships based on customary tenure; practicesand tenurial relationships developed by the urbanpoor themselves; communal forms of tenure; intermediate,flexible and innovative forms of tenurewhich are less than freehold tenure.5 The participation of the urban poor is central toany proposed solutions to the challenges of developingpolicies and programmes to ensure securetenure; governance systems must be adapted tofacilitate and actively assist the urban poor tocontribute to the development and the implementationof policies and programmes to that end.Source: UN-Habitat and ESCAP, 2002rights is one such way of unifying the various approaches toproviding security of tenure.Clearly, much more needs to be accomplished in thequest for secure tenure for all. And, as discussed above,there are, in fact, hundreds of measures that can be instigatedtoday to strengthen ongoing processes in support ofsecurity of tenure and against forced eviction. Withhundreds of millions of people still living without security oftenure, clearly renewed action is required. The followingsub-sections thus outline some areas for priority action forwhat will obviously be a long and arduous journeyHousing, land and property (HLP) rightsbasedhousing and urban policiesFor a start, there is a need for housing policies that are moreconsciously pro-poor and pro-human rights. Such a policycan be developed in its generic dimensions at the internationallevel and subsequently applied within nationseverywhere. A framework for such policies is outlined inTable 11.1. This comprehensive framework includes relevantelements from international law, including prohibition of anyforms of discrimination, with provisions recommended byhuman settlements practitioners, all of which have directimplications for enhancing security of tenure or endingforced evictions. It should be noted that the steps indicatedmay not be applicable in all locations.Support the awareness-raising work of localinstitutions and organizationsExperience from all over the world highlights the importanceof local institutions and actors when it comes to protectingthe housing rights of the poor. NGOs and CBOs in particularplay essential roles in awareness-raising about HLP rights atnational and local levels. Without their efforts, the numberof people evicted during the last decades would have beenconsiderably higher. In many instances such organizationsare the only support mechanism available to slum dwellerswhen they are threatened by forced eviction. Even if thereare laws protecting the housing rights of slum dwellers, thisis not much help to people who are unaware of their rights,or unable to make use of appeals mechanisms where such doexist. International cooperation activities should thusincreasingly encourage the formation of, enhance the capacitiesof and/or support the activities of such localorganizations or institutions.Promoting residential justiceEvery year, millions of people end up as refugees, IDPs andevictees, whether due to development projects, city beautificationschemes, armed conflict, natural and human-madedisasters, or other factors. Virtually all of these individualsare entirely innocent victims of circumstances beyond theircontrol, and for many their wish to return to their originalhomes is never achieved. And, yet, every legal system onEarth – especially international law – clearly gives all humanrights victims the right to an effective remedy – a means ofEven if there arelaws protecting thehousing rights ofslum dwellers, thisis not much help topeople who areunaware of theirrights, or unable tomake use of appealsmechanisms wheresuch do exist