Want to post an article?

Background
Forced eviction is defined in international law as “the permanent or temporary removal against their will of individuals, families and/or communities from the homes and/or land [that] they occupy, without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection.” Governments, multinational corporations and investors too often ignore the international legislation affirming the Right to Adequate Housing. Extensive forced evictions for 'slum clearance' are on the rise, from Harare (Zimbabwe) to New Orleans, from Mumbai and Manila to Lima and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Furthermore, massive projects such as the constructions of dams are displacing hundreds of thousands especially in rural areas across the world. As a result, far from meeting the UN's Millenium Development Goal of improving the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by 2020, the number of people living in slums under poor conditions is expected to double to more than two billion families by 2030.

Main issues:

• The privatization of social housing and services

Through the worldwide trend of economic liberalization, the enlargement of private funds and investment trusts are accelerating the massive conversion of rental housing to speculative ownership beyond the affordability of poor people, contributing to displacement, rent increases and the destruction of social investment in habitat.

• Vulnerability of certain groups

Certain groups tend to be more vulnerable to evictions than others, either through greater risks of being evicted, the likelihood of getting hurt or abused by the actions involved in the evictions themselves, or the difficulties in creating new livelihoods for themselves after their displacement. These groups include ethnic, religious and cultural minorities, poor, people living in rural areas or informal settlements, women and children. This special vulnerability must be recognized in the work against forced evictions.

• Evictions due to large-scale construction projects

Many people are forced to leave their homes as an effect of large infrastructural or commercial projects, for example the construction of dams. Often, this means that they lose their houses, livelihoods and socio-cultural networks without any compensation. Pressure must be put on governments and other actors responsible for the constructing projects to as far as possible avoid the displacement of people, and in the cases where it is necessary, provide the affected persons with adequate information, compensation and alternative housing.

Governments and UN bodies need to implement a rights-based, people-centered housing agenda as an alternative to the market-driven models promoted by many governments, global business interests and financial institutions.

POSTING ARTICLES

How to post an article:
To post an article or document email it to gs@hic-net.org.
We will upload the site on a daily basis.

What you should know:
We will not be able to translate all articles. We will post according to idiom. If you want it posted in the English, Spanish and French sections of the site, we ask you to send it in all three languages. We will also be happy to post articles in any other language.

WANT to HELP WITH TRANSLATION? Contact us!

Let us know the issue section you want it to be posted in- evictions, women and shelter, right to the city, etc. If you wish it to be posted in more than one section, tell us!

Finally, to post events - go here and to post media contacts, go here.

Thank you!