UN expert on the right to adequate housing launches official
visit to Serbia, including Kosovo*
GENEVA (13 May 2015) – United Nations Special Rapporteur
Leilani Farha will visit Serbia, including Kosovo*, from 18 to 28 May 2015 to
examine the overall achievements and challenges in realizing the right to
adequate housing and non-discrimination at the national and local levels.
“During the visit, I will pay especial attention to the
situation of the most vulnerable and marginalized, including internally displaced
persons, Roma and other minorities, women, persons with disabilities and people
living in informal settlements or without adequate access to housing,” she
said.
The independent expert is charged by the UN Human Rights Council to
monitor, report and advise on the realization of the right to adequate housing
worldwide.
“I look forward to engaging with authorities and civil
society and to assess how the right to housing is implemented and what
policies, programmes and decisions have either helped or hampered the
realization of this human right, and what still needs to be undertaken to
ensure the right to adequate housing is enjoyed by all,” Ms. Farha noted.
The human rights expert, who visits the country at the
invitation of the Serbian Government, will meet with government representatives
as well as with local authorities, civil society and community organizations
and residents.
She will also meet with UN officials and other representatives
of the international community.
During her 11-day mission, the Special Rapporteur will visit
Belgrade, Novi Pazar, Pristina and Mitrovica.
Ms. Farha will share with the media her preliminary
observations at a press conference in Belgrade on 25 May at 12:30 at the Media
Center (Address: Terazije 3).
Access to the press conference is strictly
limited to journalists. She will also issue a press release from Pristina on 27
May.
The Special Rapporteur will submit a comprehensive report,
including her findings and recommendations, on the right to adequate housing
and non-discrimination in this context, to the 31st session of the UN Human
Rights Council in March 2016.
(*) All references to Kosovo should be understood in full
compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244, of 10 June
1999: http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/1244(1999)
ENDS
Leilani Farha (Canada) is the UN Special Rapporteur on
adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living,
and on the right to non-discrimination in this context.
She took her function
in June 2014. Ms. Farha is the Executive Director of the NGO Canada without
Poverty, based in Ottawa, Canada.
A lawyer by training, for the past 20 years
Ms. Farha has worked both internationally and domestically on the
implementation of the right to adequate housing for the most marginalized
groups and on the situation of people living in poverty. Learn more, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Housing/Pages/HousingIndex.aspx
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world.
Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
For more
information check: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/Welcomepage.aspx
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Belgrade and Pristina (during the visit):
Juana Sotomayor, OHCHR (+41 79 444 4917 / + 381 11 62 853
4253 / jsotomayor@ohchr.org)
In Belgrade and Pristina for attention for local media in
local language:
Aleksandra Stamenkoviæ, UNCT Communications Expert, UN
Resident Coordinator Office in Belgrade (+381 11 2040 406 / +381 63 813 8609,
aleksandra.stamenkovic@one.un.org)
Sarah Crozier, Spokesperson, UNMIK in Pristina (+318 38 504
604 ext. 5475 / +377 44 500 107, croziers@un.org)
In Geneva (before and after the visit):
Juana Sotomayor (+41 22 917 9445 / jsotomayor@ohchr.org) or
write to srhousing@ohchr.org
For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts
in Geneva:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917
9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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