News for April, 2009

Feature: United Nations Reports Highlight Housing as Human Right

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, presented a report recently to the Human Rights Council on the worldwide financial crisis, its causes and its relation to the right to adequate housing. According to the expert, the provision of housing was too often left only to the private market and financial capital. But she believes that markets alone cannot provide adequate housing for all.

Replacing Miloon Kothari, Rolnik was appointed at the 7th session of the Human Rights Council as the second 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 began her work in May 2008.
In her report, Rolnik stated that in order to provide adequate housing for all, there is a need for various housing options: homeownership cannot be the single way to achieve security of tenure.

“This option led countries to rely heavily on private loans and mortgages to facilitate access to housing,” she said. “Credits were attributed by the private sector to households that – in normal circumstances – would not be eligible for loans,” explaining the subprime crisis.
“That means that not only the risk for private companies increased but also low-income households were made even more vulnerable to economic and financial changes.”

The Special Rapporteur also argued that the reduction of the role of the state in housing resulted in a decrease in public housing stocks and a reduction of housing options, impacting people in need of affordable housing – especially those who cannot afford market prices and mortgages.

“The current crisis has resulted in housing becoming even less affordable for many people around the world. It is a blunt reminder that it is not just the poor, but also low-income and increasingly middle-income groups, who find it difficult to raise enough money to buy or rent adequate housing,” Rolnik said. “The discrepancy in the rise in incomes and in housing and rental prices leads households to constantly live in fear of losing their homes through default in payments of their rents or mortgages."

The Special Rapporteur expressed her concern that human rights have been largely ignored in major international meetings and events related to the financial crisis.

Final Kothari Report to Canada

Although Miloon Kothari completed his term, he recently filed an addendum to his reports on his mission to Canada in 2007. The visit focused on four areas: homelessness; women and their right to adequate housing; Aboriginal populations; adequate housing and the possible impact of the 2010 Olympic Games on the right to adequate housing in Vancouver.

In his latest report, Kothari strongly recommends that the right to adequate housing be recognized in federal and provincial legislations as an inherent part of the Canadian legal system. He calls for Canada to adopt a comprehensive and coordinated national housing policy based on indivisibility of human rights and the protection of the most vulnerable. This national strategy should include measurable goals and timetables, consultation and collaboration with affected communities, complaints procedures, and transparent accountability mechanisms.

Kothari urges the federal government to adopt an official definition of homelessness and to gather reliable statistics in order to develop a coherent and concerted approach to this issue. This should be “fully inclusive of women’s, youth and children’s experiences of and responses to homelessness…Canada may need to embark again on large scale building of social housing,” he said.

Community Spotlight: Homeless Youth Connect in the Cyber World

Through public libraries, Internet cafes, shelters and borrowed computers, homeless and at-risk youth are building a community of support in the cyber world. And all the new online technologies have also created an opportunity for advocates to use social networking sites to solve youth homelessness.
The Youth Outlook 360 and Resource Centre Society received $375,906 in federal funding to help 40 at risk youth in Dawson Creek in British Columbia gain employment skills through developmental skills training. A big part of their training will be building on their already well developed ‘cyber’ skills and familiarity with ever expanding online technologies. These new technologies, including social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, have created innovative opportunities for young people to connect locally, nationally and internationally for social action.
A new survey of more than 1,000 Canadian youth aged 9-17, Internet Safety Survey by Microsoft Canada Co. and Youthography, shows that while the Internet is an overwhelmingly positive force in the lives of Canadian youth and most of them are aware of potential dangers, too many children and teens still engage in risky behaviour while online.

“It is important to educate youth about the positives and the pitfalls of the cyberworld,” said Dr. Bruce Ballon, Head of the Adolescent Clinical Education Service for Problem Gambling, Gaming and Internet Use at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
The study also confirmed that over 60% of youth use their time online to connect with family and friends on social networking sites. The Internet can be a way for homeless youth to feel like they belong and an avenue to draw attention to homelessness. For example:
TakingITGlobal.org is an online community that connects youth to find inspiration and information, get involved and take action in their local and global communities. KidsHelpline.ca responds to questions and concerns safely and confidentially online and many other services dedicated to homeless youth are providing services and information online. As interest builds in Canada, homeless advocates in the U.S. are also busy sending ‘tweets’ on Twitter.

Five Days for the Homeless is a highly successful Canada-wide campus event run by students to raise awareness of homelessness. Students almost exclusively did their organizing through the web, including launching Facebook groups and fan pages. The events received a great deal of media attention across the country. Hunger Strike 4 the Homeless—a global network of youth working to end homelessness—is an active Facebook group with hundreds of members. In Toronto, York University students launched the Spring Cleaning Clothing Drive for Homeless Youth and Ryerson launched the students the Smiling Buddha supporting Horizon for Youth homeless shelter on Facebook.

News Briefs: New on Raising the Roof’s Shared Learnings on Homelessness Website

Second Story Women's Centre in Lunenburg, New Brunswick, works to enhance women's lives by providing services and education designed to promote personal growth, community awareness, and social change. They work towards equality and respect within a women-centred environment and support the rights of women to make their own decisions.

Central Interior Native Health Society in Prince George, British Columbia, recognizes the equality in health status between Aboriginal Peoples and mainstream society. They strive to restore balance through a holistic approach to health care that promotes physical, spiritual, emotional and cultural harmony with all Aboriginal people who reside in north central British Columbia.

Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation Winners Announced

In this fourth year of Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation, three winners are being recognized for their outstanding work with homeless youth. Eva’s Initiatives received 40 applications from organizations working with homeless youth in ten provinces and territories. A six member panel, knowledgeable about services for homeless youth across Canada, reviewed all applications and selected three winners from among the many applicants with impressive and innovative projects underway in communities across the county. The Eva’s Initiatives Award for Innovation is generously sponsored by CIBC. Each winning organization receives a prize of $5,000, presented at an awards ceremony in their community.

The three winners for 2009, recognized for their models of integrated supports for homeless youth, are:

• Groupe communautaire l’itinéraire for the initiative Le magDVD le 3e Œil (Montréal, QC)

• The Laing House Association for the program Youth Speak : Breaking Down Stigma One Classroom at a Time (Halifax, NS)

• Parkland Youth Homes Society for Street Ties Youth Outreach (Red Deer, AB)

Update Available on Youth Homelessness Conference

In November 2008, Raising the Roof hosted a three–day national conference on youth homelessness. Partners Solving Youth Homelessness brought together key stakeholders as presenters and participants – service providers, leading researchers on youth homelessness, private sector representatives, government representatives and youth. Conference podcasts, presentations and reports, as well as an update on Youth Homelessness in Canada: The Road to Solutions can be found on Raising the Roof’s website.

Where’s Home?

The eighth annual edition of Where’s Home? A Picture of Housing Needs in Ontario (2008) authored by the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association (ONPHA) and Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada (CHF Canada) Ontario Region was released recently. The report found that the income gap between Ontario renters and homeowners continues to increase. This trend, combined with low vacancy rates in many areas and long waiting lists for social housing, highlights the need for increased investment in affordable housing.