Comparative Analyses of the Human Right to Adequate Housing: International and Regional Perspectives
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Date
2013-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The human right to Adequate Housing is an evolving and at the same time controversial issue in
global and regional human rights systems. Tllis right was recognized as one of economic, social
and cultural rights which is the component of the right to an adequate standard of living under
international human rights law. Despite the central place of this right within the global legal
system, scholarly researches reveal that, over a billion people are not adequately housed;
millions live in health threatetling conditions or in other conditions which do not uphold their
human rights and their human dignity at different parts of the globe. These facts are attributable
to the non-compliance of States with internationally set standards of adequate housing and the
disparities that exist among regional human rights system in giving emphasis on the key aspects
o of the human right to adequate housing. The sum totality of these regional disparities led to
disparities in definition, interpretation, realization and a lack of adequate housing for the
majority of urban population at different corners of the world.
This paper will focus on assessing the key aspects of the human right to adequate housing under
universal human rights system in comparison with major regional human rights systems. For the
purpose of this thesis the key aspects of the human right to adequate housing include: normative
contents; duties of States; the constituents of violations; remedies upon the materialization of
violations; and monitoring the implementation of the housing rights. The paper argues that there
o are great disparities in formulating the key aspects of the human right to adequate housing. The
paper concludes that the African human rights system does not properly set the aspects of the
human right to adequate housing even though it adopted the three in one approach, when
compared to both international human rights law and the two major regional human rights
system which do not adopt the same approach. The paper also concludes such defective
formulation of the key aspects is not unique to African and that the three human rights systemsthe
Universal; the Inter-American; and the European share the same. The paper also argues the
o act of reading housing rights into general property right is not desirable.
Key Words: key aspects of human rights, adequate housing, housing rights, human rights,
adequate standard of living, human rights law, human rights system.
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Keywords
key aspects of human rights, adequate housing, housing rights, human rights, adequate standard of living, human rights law, human rights system