A/HRC/37/53 I. Introduction 1. We are at a critical moment. Globally, housing conditions are fraught. Homelessness is on the rise, including in affluent countries; forced evictions continue unabated; in the absence of affordable housing options, increasing numbers of individuals and families resort to living in informal settlements without secure tenure or basic services; climate change-related disasters and responses are displacing poor communities; resource extraction is forcing indigenous peoples from their culturally significant or historic lands; and housing in many cities is simply unaffordable even for the middle class. What is perhaps most worrying of all is that these assaults on dignity and life are being accepted as fixed features of a new global economic order. 2. States have recognized these conditions as unsustainable and tantamount to violations of multiple human rights, and have responded appropriately. Through the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development they have, en masse, committed to ensuring access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services by 2030. Furthermore, through the New Urban Agenda, States have committed to housing policies that support the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing for all; that address all forms of discrimination and violence and prevent arbitrary forced evictions; and that focus on the needs of the homeless, persons in vulnerable situations, low-income groups and persons with disabilities, while enabling the participation and engagement of communities and relevant stakeholders.1 In the New Urban Agenda, States have united around an inclusive vision of human settlements, affirmed the need to recognize the social function of land and housing and committed themselves to promoting diverse tenure types, a wide range of housing production options and people-centred approaches. 3. This begs the question: how will States translate these lofty commitments into something practical that can transform housing systems so that they ensure access for all to safe, affordable and adequate housing? The answer lies in the statement by the SecretaryGeneral that these commitments are “unequivocally anchored in human rights”.2 4. If the historic commitments made through the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda are to be taken seriously, each State must design and implement a human rights-based housing strategy. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has made it clear that this is a central obligation with respect to the right to adequate housing,3 because it is through the development and implementation of human rights-based strategies that the right to housing can be achieved. II. What is a housing strategy? 5. In the present report, the term “housing strategy” (or “action plan”) is distinguished from “housing policies”. 6. Generally, a housing policy is composed of a number of programmes that address current housing issues, including homelessness, social housing supply or access to housing in the private market. Housing programmes are often operated by a single authority, a statutory agency or different levels of government. 7. Housing strategies operate at a higher level than housing policy and programmes and are based on a vision of structural change that is required over time. A strategy coordinates a wide range of laws, programmes, policies and decisions to address housing needs that, when taken together, create a housing system. The aim of a housing strategy is not only to provide housing, but also to address gaps and inequalities in existing systems. It provides opportunities to review and change policies and programmes to ensure their 1 2 3 See General Assembly resolution 71/256, annex, para. 31. See A/HRC/34/25, para. 4. See Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 4 (1991) on the right to adequate housing, para. 12. 3