The Housing Rights Index (HRI) is a decision-support tool developed specifically for the use of housing practitioners and policy makers who are involved in the Housing Practitioners Labs and tailor-made training developed and conducted by UN-Habitat. It is based on the right to adequate housing1 as enshrined in international human rights instruments2 and included in the Habitat Agenda (1996)3 and the New Urban Agenda (2016)4. It is understood as the right of every individual and community to gain and sustain a safe and secure home in which to live in peace and dignity.

The tool has both pedagogic and policy development roles. On the one hand, the deployment of the index will enhance the user’s understanding of the practical meaning of adequate housing rights and enable a better understanding of the policy and practical implications of the seven elements of adequacy that defines the right to adequate housing. On the other hand, the tool supports the user’s assessment of the housing sector with a specific look at the extent to which adequate housing rights are recognized, respected, realized and protected in his/her city.

Este Perfil del sector vivienda en El Salvador se centra en el tema habitacional, principalmente en zonas urbanas. Es un análisis amplio con el propósito de arrojar luz sobre el funcionamiento de los sistemas de oferta y de demanda de la vivienda en el país, tal como funcionan actualmente. Este análisis identifica las limitaciones del sector para lograr el objetivo de una vivienda adecuada para todos y todas. También tiene el propósito de producir un mejor conocimiento y comprensión del sector, que permitirá al Gobierno de El Salvador (GOES) y en particular al Vice Ministerio de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano (VMVDU) formular estrategias e instrumentos para mejorar el funcionamiento del sector y elaborar una política de vivienda. En ese sentido, el perfil identifica posibles acciones que podrían tomarse para mejorar el funcionamiento del sector habitacional.

Ten principles can be followed to produce the sort of equal post-conflict settlement planning that can help to build communities that have a better basis of becoming peaceful and sustainable. These are:

1. Gender factors should be integrated in post-conflict settlement planning.
2. Post-conflict settlement planning should increase the safety and security of all groups.
3. Women grassroots organizations should be involved in post-conflict settlement planning.
4. A spatial framework should be used to facilitate the improvement of gender-sensitive coordination of post-crisis settlement planning.
5. The planning process should be people-centred and include both women and men.
6. Planning should be about building back better and increasing crisis resilience, peace and the inclusiveness of all groups.
7. Spatial planning should frame interventions as first steps towards socially, politically and economically equal neighborhoods and cities.
8. Planning should be integrated, linking infrastructure, services and livelihoods in a way that recognizes both women and men needs.
9. Planning should generate economic recovery and growth if addressed equally.
10. Planning should be monitored and evaluated.

The lack of recognition of the right of self-determination and the large-scale dispossession and degradation of their lands, resources and territories has had a devastating effect on indigenous peoples’ livelihoods, cultures and overall socio-economic conditions. Widespread poverty and destitution flowing from this has had a significant impact on their housing. Indigenous peoples often lack security of tenure and live constantly with the threat of forced eviction from their homes and/or lands. In some countries, indigenous peoples are often found in over-crowded houses that are in poor condition and that often have neither schools nor hospitals nearby. Indigenous women and men face discrimination in most aspects of housing. Housing and development policies and programmes either discriminate against indigenous peoples directly or have discriminatory effects. The loss of traditional lands andhousing contributes to the increased migration of indigenous peoples to urban centres, where barriers to adequate housing (such as unemployment/poverty, discrimination, and lack of affordable and adequate housing) are particularly acute.

Indigenous women in particular often bear the brunt of these inadequate conditions. At the same time, they experience gender-specific problems, such as domestic violence, together with discrimination and inequality as a result of institutional and cultural factors. These often curtail or prohibit women’s access to, control over and the right to inherit land, property and housing. Indigenous peoples with disabilities, youth and children, elders and sexual minorities also experience greater adverse conditions in housing.

This training course from the Global Land Tool Network is part of the Network’s activities on Islamic dimensions of land. In most Muslim countries Islamic law, principles and practices make an important contribution to shaping access to land.

GLTN therefore has as one of its objectives the identification and development of Islamic land tools and case studies through a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary and global process, owned by Muslims, but also including other civil society and development partners. The training course, designed as an introduction to the field, is divided into eight stand-alone Modules, intended for use across Muslim societies. It is generic in nature, encouraging local adaptations where applicable.

In addition to the Modules, the package includes a Guide for Facilitators and a set of annexes to drawn from during the training course. The target groups for the course are policy makers or an audience at beginners or undergraduate level without prerequisite knowledge of Islamic land law but having basic experience with land issues in the Muslim world.

The report provides us with an in-depth analysis of the various dimensions of housing and highlights some constraints that require the attention of public policy.

The Housing Profile report of Viet Nam will certainly contribute to the effort of the government of Viet Nam to review and advance the urban agenda in the context of the sustainable urbanisation paradigm and to provide wider accessibility to adequate housing, as outlined in the Habitat Agenda (1996).

The achievement of this goal in Viet Nam is part and parcel of the country’s current urbanisation strategies and the urban policies currently being designed and implemented by the government of Viet Nam. The Housing Profile report reveals that Viet Nam has achieved significant improvements in these fields.

Le profil du secteur du logement au Sénégal est une analyse complète du secteur du logement urbain, avec un regard concentre sur l'identification de ses points forts et faiblesses. Le profil contribue à la création d'un cadre devant permettre la provision d'un logement convenable pour tous. Il apporte une compréhension globale du fonctionnement du secteur du logement urbain, référence pouvant faire autorité pour l'ensemble des acteurs du secteur. Il fournit une série de recommandations pour l'élaboration des politiques et adressées aux acteurs clé intervenant dans les mécanismes de provision de logement, et notamment des actions prioritaires nécessaires à leur amélioration.  

This profile is a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of the structure and functioning of Uganda's urban housing sector.It discloses its strenghts and weakneses and at the same time makes suggestions on directions for policy intervention.

A practical guide to conducting comprehensive national housing profiles with a direct objective of understanding the housing sector, while offering evidence-based data to inform policy reform. The housing profile process also aims to be highly participatory and engage multi-stakeholder groups that influence and are influenced by the housing sector.

This is a guide that has global relevance to a world that is rapidly urbanizing and where populations growth continues to create unprecedented housing demand, particularly in developing countries.