Inclusive Policies and Programmes to Address Homelessness, Including in the Aftermath of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19)

A/RES/76/133View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 28 Social development, published in 2021.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report · 2023

Year	Symbol	Title		Mandate resolution
2023	A/78/236	Inclusive policies and programmes to address homelessness report of the Secretary-General		A/RES/76/133

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Covid-19 Development Indicators Homeless Persons Housing Policy Social Security

What’s in this document?

22 operative paragraphs

Notes with concern that homelessness is a global problem, affecting people of different ages and with diverse economic, social and cultural backgrounds, in both developed and developing countries, while acknowledging the lack of up-to-date data on the number of persons suffering from homelessness, with the last estimation carried out by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in 2005, in which it estimated that 100 million persons were experiencing homelessness, and that 1.6 billion people lived in inadequate housing conditions, with about 15 million persons forcefully evicted every year;

Calls upon Member States to ensure the promotion and protection of all human rights, in accordance with their obligations under international human rights law, while recognizing that homelessness constitutes an affront to human dignity and may be an obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights and that urgent national and international action is therefore required to address it;

Reiterates that the eradication of poverty, hunger and malnutrition, in particular as they affect people experiencing and at risk of homelessness and other people in vulnerable situations, is crucial for the advancement of global sustainable development;

Urges Member States to consider people experiencing homelessness in designing, implementing, creating and evaluating policies, programmes and strategies for full, equal, meaningful, effective, constructive and sustainable participation in society and access to affordable, stable, safe and adequate housing, as part of the human right to an adequate standard of living, and that those efforts are compliant with their applicable international human rights obligations as well as oriented towards achieving sustainable development goals and fulfilling the commitment of leaving no one behind;

Stresses that the responsibility for developing integrated, holistic, inclusive and effective policies and programmes affecting people experiencing homelessness, as well as coherent multisectoral efforts globally and evaluating this issue regularly as part of follow-up action lies foremost with Member States and local governments, in consultation, as appropriate, with individuals and families with a lived experience, civil society organizations, especially those currently serving the identified demographic, and other relevant stakeholders;

Welcomes the implementation of inclusive, social and public housing programmes, and encourages Member States to continue to enable all persons in vulnerable situations to access adequate housing by constructing, maintaining and managing housing programmes at affordable prices and costs, as well as providing income subsidies, as a means to prevent homelessness and informal housing, and to share the best practices;

Calls upon Member States to collect disaggregated data on demographics related to homelessness and establish categories of homelessness, accompanying the existing measurement tools, and encourages Member States to harmonize the measurement and collection of data on homelessness to enable national and global policymaking;

Encourages national and local governments to improve access to affordable housing through integrated housing policies and social protection measures, including social protection on both the demand and the supply sides, including by addressing legal and policy barriers to equal and non-discriminatory access to adequate housing, including for women of all ages and women-headed households, and providing access to credit facilities, as well as through protection against unlawful eviction, the provision of adequate emergency and temporary shelter and services and security of tenancy and support for the development of affordable housing, which is especially important for low-income households;

Emphasizes that poverty eradication requires that Member States implement and strengthen nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, ensuring access thereto for the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including women, children, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and those in informal employment, in an effort to prevent and address homelessness;

Recognizes that the international community faces increasing challenges posed by the negative impact of climate change, natural disasters and environmental degradation, which have exacerbated vulnerabilities and inequalities for people experiencing homelessness, particularly in developing countries and small island developing States, and stresses the need to anticipate, plan for and reduce disaster risk, including through the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, and to ensure the right to an adequate standard of living is promoted and respected;

Urges Member States to effectively address the structural and circumstantial drivers of homelessness, including inequalities, poverty, a loss of housing and livelihood, a lack of decent job opportunities, lack of access to affordable housing, lack of social protection, lack of access to land, credit or financing, and high costs of energy or health care, as well as lack of financial and legal literacy, through appropriate means;

Emphasizes the need for accessible, publicly available and affordable health-care services in order to address specific medical needs of people experiencing homelessness, who are often at risk of contracting communicable diseases such as COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS;

Recognizes the need to implement measures to promote and improve the mental health and well-being of all, specifically people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including scaling up of comprehensive and integrated psychosocial support services for the prevention and treatment of mental disorders and other mental health conditions, through psychosocial support, raising awareness and tackling stigma, promoting well-being, addressing social determinants of health and fully respecting their human rights;

Urges Member States to address all forms of violence including gender-based violence against women of all ages, children, and persons with disabilities especially the challenges faced by those experiencing or at risk of homelessness, as well as negative social norms and gender stereotypes that perpetuate all forms of discrimination, violence and harmful practices;

Recognizes the importance of strengthening intergenerational programmes, partnerships and solidarity among generations, and in this regard the importance of targeted programmes throughout the life course to mitigate and address homelessness including through the provision of supportive services, assistance in locating housing, health-care services and mental health services, quality education and training, employment counselling, childcare, food, and trauma services, as well as basic material necessities such as food and hygienic equipment, to people experiencing and at risk of homelessness, giving special attention to interventions with families, women and children who are at risk of violence, in order to break the cycle of intergenerational homelessness and poverty;

Urges Member States and other stakeholders to close digital divides and promote digital inclusion, particularly of people experiencing homelessness, by taking into account national and regional contexts and addressing the challenges associated with access, affordability, digital literacy and digital skills, including media and information literacy, and by ensuring that the benefits of new technologies, including information and communications technologies, are available to all, taking into account the needs of those who are in vulnerable situations;

Urges Member States to take concerted action, in accordance with their obligations under international law, to remove obstacles to the enjoyment of human rights, including the right to an adequate standard of living, including housing, through increased availability of adequate housing, resources and basic services in order to promote the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;¹⁶

¹⁶Resolution 70/1.

Also urges Member States to address legal, administrative, social, economic, digital and cultural barriers, irrespective of geographic location, that limit people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, in all its forms, from full, equal and meaningful participation, representation and input at all levels, while enabling the capacities, resources, information, technology, support, space and skills needed to empower and ensure the full, equal and meaningful participation of the poor, female-headed households and others in vulnerable situations;

Encourages Member States to increase the pool of affordable housing with social supports, particularly in urban areas, upgrade slums and take steps to end arbitrary evictions and the commodification of housing, through such actions as taxing empty units, requiring a certain percentage of new housing construction to include affordable housing, providing access to legal remedies, promoting housing cooperatives, promoting caps on rental costs and moderating housing costs;

Also encourages Member States to ensure, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and similar situations, that people experiencing homelessness have access to personal protective equipment, health-care services, medical supplies, medicines, vaccines and testing, the provision of sufficient safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and access to easily comprehended information about the situation, enabling people experiencing homelessness to follow mandated health recommendations without fear of persecution or personal risk;

Encourages close collaboration, broad-based partnership at all levels and the sharing of good practices between Member States as well as other relevant stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, to educate, to raise awareness, to prevent people from falling into homelessness, to support those experiencing homelessness, to develop long-term sustainable solutions to end homelessness, and to support the empowerment of all persons in vulnerable situations, including those experiencing homelessness;

Requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with relevant United Nations entities, to submit a report to the General Assembly, at its seventy-eighth session, on the progress that has been achieved and challenges that remain in the implementation of inclusive social development policies and programmes to address homelessness, including through recommendations for possible indicators on social protection and access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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