A/HRC/22/46
and regularize IDP settlements;89 and to support the most vulnerable through legal aid on
housing, land and property issues, both in statutory and customary law contexts. 90
96.
Humanitarian actors and Governments addressing conflicts and natural disasters
play an important role with respect to ensuring (or not) security of tenure. Temporary
arrangements initiated or supported by humanitarian actors often have long-term impacts;
the challenge is to ensure that these reinforce, rather than undermine, tenure security.
Coordination between humanitarian and development actors is also essential to guarantee a
coherent approach. The Special Rapporteur made recommendations in this regard in a
previous report to the General Assembly (A/66/270). She believes those recommendations,
together with work done by individual agencies,91 could serve as basis for further
operational and strategic guidance.
V. Conclusion and recommendations
97.
Recognition and protection of security of tenure is one of the most compelling
challenges of today’s world and is fundamental to preventing the most egregious
forms of eviction, displacement and homelessness. Furthermore, security of tenure, as
the cornerstone of the right to adequate housing, is essential for human dignity and to
sustain an adequate standard of living.
98.
The Special Rapporteur has highlighted the complexity and multifaceted
nature of security of tenure, both in practice and in law. While human rights
mechanisms and courts at national, regional and international levels have primarily
focused on forced evictions, policies and practices pertaining to land tenure have
taken a fully different approach, with an emphasis at the start on securing tenure
through land titling programmes, based on the granting of property rights. The past
decade has seen some developments towards more flexible and encompassing
approaches to recognize and protect various forms of tenure.
99.
This evolution, from a narrow focus on property rights towards a more
expansive recognition of diverse forms of tenure and rights—while still uneven and
incomplete—is significant. There is a risk in relying on property rights as the means
by which to best secure tenure. Rather, security of tenure should be clearly articulated
and grounded in the international human rights framework and expressed in a variety
of tenure forms.
100. An obvious need, confirmed by consultations with a wide range of stakeholders,
is for more specific and comprehensive human rights guidance on security of tenure.
As shown in section III above, existing legal and policy guidance is incomplete and
sparse. Many questions remain as to the precise State obligations with respect to
conferring legal security of tenure, and the scope and content of security of tenure
under international human rights law. In this regard it must be emphasized, however,
that people already have a right to security of tenure, as part of their human right to
89
90
91
See Filiep Decorte and Ombretta Tempra, ―Improving living conditions in Bossaso, Somalia‖, Forced
Migration Review, No. 34 (2010).
See, for example, Norwegian Refugee Council, Housing, Land and Property Training Manual (2011)
and Housing, Land and Property Handbook on Design and Implementation of Collaborative Dispute
Resolution (2011).
For example, resolution 31IC/11/R7 on strengthening normative frameworks and addressing
regulatory barriers concerning disaster mitigation, response and recover, adopted at the 31st
International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
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