A/HRC/7/16 page 21 74. The conceptual and practical linkage between land and other human rights is particularly evident with respect to indigenous peoples. Despite the often sacred relationship with their territories and deep-rooted and historical ties, the land and territories of indigenous populations have frequently been appropriated by others. The failure of States to recognize indigenous and other local communities as rightful stewards or owners of the natural resources they cultivate and manage is symptomatic of the neglect of rights of the rural poor. The systematic denial of ownership and collective land rights makes such communities more vulnerable to forced displacement, thereby threatening their livelihoods. The slow progress in demarcation of indigenous land is an obstacle to the legal recognition of community-based property rights for indigenous peoples. 75. Land is also of great importance to certain groups that have suffered historic discrimination, whether on grounds of descent, race or colour. For instance, descent and work-based communities, such as the Dalits in India, continue to face extreme human rights violations, including with regard to land and housing rights. In Brazil, the Afro-Brazilian communities of quilombos (former slave colonies) face discrimination that severely impacts their ability to enjoy the human right to land and adequate housing and force them to the fringes of mainstream society.44 76. Lack of access to housing, land and property also impact refugees who are forced to flee their home countries or those who have been internally displaced due to internal conflict or large development projects. 77. Urban and peri-urban areas across the world today are scenes of violations of the right to adequate housing, due to the inability or unwillingness of the authorities to adequately control land and housing speculation and to reverse the concentration of land ownership and hoarding of property. This phenomenon is also spreading to rural areas. The privatization of land often leads to land becoming less affordable, which has particularly affected women-headed households. Unaffordability, as a result of inadequate regulation of housing and land markets by States was identified in numerous mission reports as an important issue. 78. Although there are few international human rights legal provisions on the right to land,45 the outcomes of various international conferences, including the Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements, recognize the relation between land and housing.46 The UN-Habitat Agenda commits Governments to providing legal security of tenure and equal access to land to all 44 See E/CN.4/2005/48/Add.3. 45 Reference can be made to article 14 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. 46 Available at http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/2072_61331_ist-dec.pdf.