A/HRC/4/18 page 10 24. The Special Rapporteur is encouraged by the many positive comments he has received on these guidelines from States during the interactive dialogue at the second session of the Human Rights Council. The Special Rapporteur is also encouraged by the use of these guidelines by national and international civil society organizations. Several delegations and civil society organizations have asked for the translation of these guidelines into the United Nations languages. The Special Rapporteur has also found these guidelines useful in his missions. The guidelines are also now routinely mentioned in communications (both of his own and those written jointly with other mandate holders). The Special Rapporteur is of the view that these guidelines need to be endorsed by the Human Rights Council. For all these reasons he is attaching the guidelines as an annex to this report. III. IDENTIFYING NORMATIVE GAPS: THE HUMAN RIGHT TO LAND 25. Throughout his work, the Special Rapporteur has tried to identify elements that positively or negatively affect the realization of the right to adequate housing. Land as an entitlement is often an essential element necessary to understand the degree of violation and the extent of realization of the right to adequate housing. 26. In several previous reports and statements, the Special Rapporteur has stressed that land is a critical element of the human right to housing. Inadequate housing is often the consequence of being barred access to land and common property resources. Inequitable land ownership patterns and the phenomenon of landlessness give rise to interrelated problems that range from inadequate housing, lack of livelihood options, poor health, hunger and food insecurity, to acute poverty. 27. In country visits, the Special Rapporteur is very often confronted with the problem of adequate housing in relation to land and land rights.10 28. The question of land has particular effects on groups such as indigenous peoples, communities that have historically been discriminated against, minorities, internally displaced persons and returning refugees. It is of crucial importance to women when it comes to the question of inheritance and issues of access, tenure and livelihood. 29. Without the adequate legal recognition of individual as well as collective land rights, the right to adequate housing, in many instances, cannot be effectively realized. The right to land, however, is not just linked to the right to adequate housing but is integrally related to the human rights to food, livelihood, work, self-determination, and security of the person and home and the sustenance of common property resources. The guarantee of the right to land is thus critical for the majority of the world’s population who depend on land and land-based resources for their lives and livelihoods. In the urban context legal recognition of land rights is often critical to protecting the right to adequate housing, including access to essential services and livelihoods, especially for the urban poor. 10 See for instance the Special Rapporteur’s country mission reports to Afghanistan, Australia, Brazil, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kenya, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Peru.