Testemunhos

The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR) is an international treaty that allows victims of violation of economic, social and cultural rights, to present complaints at the international level. When people cannot access justice in the courts of their country for violations of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), they can bring a complaint to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). However, their country must first become a party to the OP-ICESCR treaty through ratification or accession.

How can people stay home when they do not have a home?

How can people pay their rent – and thereby secure their homes – when many have suddenly lost their incomes, because they have been fired or because they are not earning when they are not working? In this webinar, we will deal with these situations, drawing on recent urban experiences of housing activism in the context of Covid-19 in different cities around the world (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Lebanon, Brazil and United States). We are aware that events are still new and ongoing, so it is difficult to draw out any tendency or generalizations. For this reason, our aim will be more to report and witness what is happening around the ‘right to housing’ at this crucial time ‘in the heat of the moment’, and to try to understand what room there is for maneuver – in terms of constraints and opportunities – in this specific situation, with an eye on the future.

Leilana Farha,

Relatora Especial das Nações Unidas para o Direito à Habitação, faz um apelo para o fim das ações de despejos durante a crise provocada pela pandemia COVID-19.