A/HRC/28/62 II) in Istanbul in 1996, affirmed that “Governments should strive to decentralize shelter policies and their administration to subnational and local levels within the national framework, whenever possible and as appropriate”.14 Proponents of decentralization in housing related programmes have argued that it enables local participation in housing management and decision-making, avoids excessive bureaucracy, allows sensitivity to local needs, draws on local capacities, increases transparency and local control and allows for more creative and innovative programming. 20. The experiences of decentralization in relation to human rights and the right to adequate housing, however, have been mixed. As Paul Lundberg noted, “the issue of human rights has not figured prominently in the ongoing discussion on decentralization”.15 Reference to human rights obligations or the right to adequate housing is conspicuously absent, even from the International Guidelines on Decentralisation and Access to Basic Services for all16 and the European Charter of Local Self-Government.17 Decentralization and local governance initiatives from international or regional financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund18 and the Inter-American Development Bank,19 United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme,20 as well as from associations of local governments,21 have focused on economic and political dimensions and participatory rights linked to decentralization. However, they have largely ignored the question of how States’ human rights obligations in relation to the right to adequate housing are to be applied to local governments that have taken on key responsibilities for programmes and policies. IV. Challenges to the implementation of the right to adequate housing by local and other subnational level governments 21. The Special Rapporteur has identified a number of common challenges experienced at the local level with respect to the implementation of the right to adequate housing: (a) Inadequate resources: The scarcity of financial resources, or the limited ability to tap into other funding sources besides national budget allocations, is a primary concern for local authorities with respect to the implementation of the right to adequate housing. While the responsibility for housing has been put in the hands of local or other subnational governments, resources to meet their housing rights obligations have not similarly flowed. Moreover, funding from national governments for local programmes is often not responsive to changing needs or crisis situations at the local level. Lack of 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 A/CONF/165.14, Annex II, para. 66. Paul Lundberg, Decentralized Governance and a Human Rights-based Approach to Development, (United Nations Development Programme, 2004), p. 1. Available from www.un.org.kg/index2.php?option=com_resource&task=show_file&id=3769. See note 12 above. European Charter of Local Self-Government (1985) and the Additional Protocol thereto (2009). Available from www.ccre.org/en/papiers/index_chart, and http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/treaties/html/207.htm, respectively. Annalisa Fedelino and Teresa Ter-Minassian, Making Fiscal Decentralization Work: Cross-Country Experiences (Washington, D.C., International Monetary Fund, 2010). Inter-American Development Bank, Evaluation of the IDB’s Non-Sovereign Operations with SubNational Entities: 2007–2010 (Washington, D.C., 2012). United Nations Development Programme, A Users’ Guide to Measuring Local Governance (UNDP Oslo Governance Centre, 2008). See UN-Habitat, International guidelines on decentralisation and access to basic services for all (see note 12 above) and the European Charter of Local Self-Government (see note 17 above). 7