A/HRC/37/53 In practice 56. Many national housing strategies have adopted a rights-based framework in some respects but have lacked comprehensiveness and, on that account, have been less effective. 57. In France, for example, the national law enacted in 2007 on the enforceable right to housing (“Droit au Logement Opposable” or “DALO”) entitles any French citizen or an individual with a right of residence/residence permit who lacks adequate housing to appeal for priority housing.23 Some 100,000 households have been granted housing in the 10 years since the law came into force.24 Although the “DALO” law affirms the right to housing, it has failed to address key systemic issues and causes of homelessness, such as inadequate housing supply in cities and exclusion of migrants, and has failed to ensure that the most vulnerable benefit from the “DALO” law. France has indicated it will be introducing a new housing strategy aimed at increasing housing supply, focusing on the most vulnerable and improving living conditions.25 58. In Argentina a multi-stakeholder initiative (“Habitar Argentina”), has been developed, including a comprehensive “National Consensus for Decent Habitat”, with 10 components that include: land policies, redistribution of real estate revenues, universal access to mortgages, participation, due process and access to justice, prevention of forced evictions, rental market regulation and access to social infrastructure.26 59. In Ireland, a cross-Government plan entitled “Rebuilding Ireland” has been developed to engage local governments and voluntary sectors. A cabinet committee on housing, chaired by the Prime Minister, has been charged with overseeing the implementation of the plan.27 60. Rwanda has the world’s fastest urbanization rate and large discrepancies between income levels and the cost of living, with 90 per cent of the population unable to afford a formal housing unit. To address those conditions, the National Housing Policy (2015) and Informal Urban Settlement Upgrading Strategy (2017) recognize housing as a basic human right, assign clear areas of responsibility to a range of authorities and levels of government with “cross-sectoral and cross-hierarchy coordination” and consider different frameworks for the “integration of civil concerns”.28 D. Principle 4: rights-based participation 61. Rights-based housing strategies must firmly commit to ensuring meaningful participation of affected persons at every stage, from design to implementation to monitoring. Participation is central to human rights-based housing strategies because it challenges exclusion and silencing. Strategies must recognize that violations of the right to housing and other human rights emanate from failures of democratic accountability to people. 62. Rights-based participation should be distinguished from consultation. In consultations, governments may solicit input, but decision-making continues to rest with 23 24 25 26 27 28 10 See Julie Clauzier, “The DALO law: a step towards making the right to housing a reality”, 6 July 2017. Available from www.housingrightswatch.org/content/dalo-law-step-towards-making-righthousing-reality. See Jean Michel David, “The DALO law is 10 years old”, 26 June 2017. Available from www.housingrightswatch.org/content/dalo-law-10-years-old. See Government of France, “The Government’s Housing Strategy”. Available from www.gouvernement.fr/en/the-government-s-housing-strategy. Available in Spanish only from www.consensohabitar.org.ar/ and www.cels.org.ar/web/publicaciones/consenso-nacional-para-un-habitat-digno-diez-propuestas-depoliticas-publicas. Rebuilding Ireland, Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, July 2016. Available from http://rebuildingireland.ie/Rebuilding%20Ireland_Action%20Plan.pdf. See Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa, 2017 Yearbook (Johannesburg, 2017), p. 213. Available from http://housingfinanceafrica.org/app/uploads/2017_CAHF_YEARBOOK_14.10copy.compressed.pdf.