A/HRC/7/16 page 2 Summary The present report constitutes a review of the work and activities of the first Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, Miloon Kothari, since his appointment in 2000. It aims to provide a number of recommendations to the Council and the next mandate holder in relation to the main obstacles to the realization of the human right to adequate housing (lack of legislation and implementation of the right to adequate housing, homelessness, forced evictions, discrimination, access to water and basic services and affordability) and on the development of the mandate. The Special Rapporteur confirms his broad interpretation of the right to adequate housing based on the indivisibility and universality of human rights and in this context he underlines the utmost importance that the struggle against discrimination plays in the realization of the right to adequate housing. He recalls the tools elaborated during his term (the Basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement, the questionnaire on women and adequate housing, the questionnaire on the right to adequate housing, and the development of indicators to monitor progressive realization of the right to adequate housing) and encourages relevant actors to employ them, as well as to further develop and adapt them to national and local situations. The Special Rapporteur strongly advocates a combination of a humanitarian and human rights approach to address the situation of millions of people living in grossly inadequate housing conditions and those facing homelessness and landlessness. To develop the mandate, he calls for stronger support and response from States and proposes the issues for further consideration, including the recognition of the link between access to land and the human right to adequate housing; rural areas; natural disasters and humanitarian emergencies; climate change; and the role of civil society. He finally addresses and reiterates a set of recommendations elaborated during his term and presented in his reports, including on women’s rights to housing, land, property and inheritance.