A/HRC/22/46 I. Introduction: setting the context A. A global tenure insecurity crisis 1. We are in the grip of a global tenure insecurity crisis. Access to secure housing and land is a prerequisite for human dignity and an adequate standard of living, yet many millions of people live under the daily threat of eviction, or in an ambiguous situation where their tenure status can be challenged by authorities or private actors at any time. 2. The crisis manifests itself in many forms and contexts. Forced evictions are its most visible and egregious sign. Displacement resulting from development, natural disasters and conflicts, land grabbing, and the growing number of urban dwellers living under insecure tenure arrangements worldwide are further manifestations of the crisis. 3. In the absence of comprehensive global statistics on forced evictions, estimates by organizations of reported cases, as well as communications received by the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, confirm that forced evictions take place everywhere and affect millions of people annually. For instance, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions has estimated that between 1998 and 2008 forced evictions affected over 18 million people. 1 The adverse impacts of forced eviction are massive, increasing poverty and destroying communities, leaving millions in extremely vulnerable situations. 4. Many others are displaced due to development projects. According to one estimate, in the 2000s, such development projects affected 15 million people annually.2 Preparations for mega-events are further sources of insecurity and forced evictions. 3 5. Conflicts and natural disasters, including those exacerbated by climate change, also trigger displacement and can undermine security of tenure. Over 26 million people were internally displaced at the end of 2011 due to armed conflicts, violence or human rights violations, while nearly 15 million were displaced due to natural hazards. 4 6. The political economy of land deeply influences processes of development, urbanization and housing. Land speculation, as well as large-scale acquisition of land in rural areas—often non-transparent and managed poorly—undermine tenure rights and local livelihoods.5 Coupled with drought and other climate-related changes, such activities are major drivers of migration to cities, where adequate land and housing is often not available to newcomers, especially the poor. As a result, people settle in housing and settlements with 1 2 3 4 5 Cited in United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Losing Your Home: Assessing the Impact of Eviction (2011), p. 1. For other data and reported cases, see, for example, Habitat International Coalition– Housing and Land Rights Network, Struggling against Impunity: The Annual Report of Findings from the HIC-HLRN Violation Database (2012). M. Cernea, ―IRR: an operational risks reduction model for population resettlement‖, Hydro Nepal: Journal of Water, Energy and Environment, vol. 1, No. 1 (2007), p. 36. See A/HRC/13/20. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), Global Overview 2011: People Internally Displaced by Conflict and Violence (Geneva, 2012), p. 8; IDMC, Global Estimates 2011: People Displaced by Natural Hazard-induced Disasters (Geneva, 2012), p. 4. See K. Deininger et al., Rising Global Interest in Farmland: Can it Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits? (World Bank, 2011). 3