A/HRC/43/43 Special Rapporteur. They have been developed in consultation with States and other stakeholders throughout the length of the mandate. 5 They do not attempt to cover all State obligations related to the right to housing. Rather, they describe the key elements needed for the effective implementation of the right to housing as it has been elaborated under international human rights law. II. Guidelines for the Implementation of the Right to Adequate Housing Preamble 10. The present Guidelines focus on the obligations of States as the primary duty bearers under international human rights law. The term “State” refers to all public authorities and all levels and branches of government, from the local to the national, including legislative, judicial and quasi-judicial bodies. “States’ obligations” are understood to include all aspects of the relationship of States with businesses, financial institutions, investors and other private actors that play important roles in the realization of the right to housing. In the present Guidelines, the “right to housing” refers to “the right to adequate housing” as guaranteed under international human rights law. 11. The present Guidelines shall not be interpreted as limiting, altering or otherwise prejudicing any rights recognized under international human rights or humanitarian law and should, where applicable, be read together with other human rights standards and guidelines related to displacement, evictions, security of tenure, public participation, business and human rights and with the jurisprudence and comments of United Nations human rights treaty-monitoring bodies and special procedures. The Guidelines themselves should be read as interrelated and interdependent. Guideline No. 1. Guarantee the right to housing as a fundamental human right linked to dignity and the right to life 12. The right to adequate housing has been recognized as a fundamental human right because it is integral to core human rights values such as dignity, equality, inclusion, wellbeing, security of the person and public participation. 13. Every year, millions of lives are lost and many more damaged by homelessness and inadequate housing. Yet these massive violations of human rights, in particular of the rights to housing and the right to life, as well as other rights, such as the rights to health, physical integrity, privacy and water and sanitation, are rarely addressed as such by Governments, human rights institutions or justice systems. 6 14. States often misunderstand the right to housing as merely a commitment to housing programmes, a matter of socioeconomic policy insulated from human rights values and imperatives and without meaningful accountability or access to justice. 7 15. As clarified by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the right to adequate housing should not be interpreted narrowly, as a right to mere physical shelter or to housing conceived as a commodity. Rather, the right to housing must be understood in relation to the inherent dignity of the human person. 5 6 7 4 In addition, consultations on an earlier draft of the guidelines were held in Geneva, Kampala and Durban with representatives of States, civil society and local governments. Written comments received are available from www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/GuidelinesImplementation.aspx. A/71/310, para. 31. A/69/274, para.18, and A/71/310, para. 5.