News

Homeless Tour Gives Glimpse of Berlin’s Underbelly

Published in Thursday August 8th, 2013 In In the media

This tour was developed by Carsten Voss in collaboration with the association querstadtein. Its goal is to bring people who live on the margins of society into contact with the mainstream public by offering homeless people an opportunity to give guided tours of their neighborhoods — the parks and streets where they meet their friends, and the organizations and outreach centers that provide them with support.

Tags , ,

Unequal Cities and the Political Economy of Housing – XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology

Published in Monday July 29th, 2013 In News

ISA Congress: Facing an Unequal World July 13-19, 2014, Yokohama (Japan) Unequal Cities and the Political Economy of Housing Inequality in the housing market is not necessarily a result of inequality in other markets, e.g. the labour market, but forms of inequality are often related and have an important territorial expression. Inequality in cities is […]

Special Rapporteur discusses right to housing with the European Investment Bank

Published in Monday July 29th, 2013 In News

Read about the Special Rapporteur’s visit to the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg.

Tags

Special Rapporteur participates in debates on social housing in Belgium

Published in Saturday July 27th, 2013 In News

The Special Rapporteur attended events on social housing in Europe on June. Find out more about it here.

Tags , ,

World Bank Board approves investigation into allegations of bankrolling human rights abuses in Ethiopia

Published in Friday July 19th, 2013 In Social movement news

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a full investigation into whether the Bank has breached its policies in Ethiopia and contributed to a government program of forced population transfers known as ‘villagization.’

Tags , ,

Ethiopians Demand Accountability from World Bank for Contributing to Grave Human Rights Abuses

Published in Friday July 19th, 2013 In Social movement news

IDI has assisted Anuak indigenous people from Ethiopia’s Gambella region to submit a complaint to the World Bank Inspection Panel implicating the Bank in grave human rights abuses perpetrated by the Ethiopian Government.

Tags , , ,

FIFA : Make the World Cup a Fair Game for Workers

Published in Wednesday July 17th, 2013 In Social movement news

Workers employed on construction projects to prepare for the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, most of whom are migrant workers, face numerous human rights violations, according to FIDH. In a letter sent today to the President of FIFA, Mr. Joseph Sepp Blatter, FIDH recalled the sports organisation’s responsibility to investigate and remedy reports that workers are being subject to unfair payment practices, excessive work hours, racist violence, and work conditions that can amount to forced labour.

Tags ,

Centuries-Old Gardens Are the Latest Battleground in Istanbul

Published in Tuesday July 16th, 2013 In In the media

Many in Istanbul see the destruction of the traditional market gardens (known in Turkish as bostan) as the latest in a series of assaults on the city’s historic character and unique identity. Frustrations with the pace and process of change boiled over at the end of May, erupting into mass protests after police repeatedly tear-gassed people peacefully demonstrating to protect Gezi Park, a rare green space in the center of the city, from being turned into the site of a shopping mall. The ongoing debate raises bigger questions about who benefits from the city’s changing landscape.

Tags , , ,

Land rights and secure tenure fundamental to humanitarian shelter operations

Published in Monday July 15th, 2013 In News on the Rapporteurs

Shelter is one of the first priorities in any humanitarian intervention. Yet humanitarian organizations often struggle to provide shelter to communities affected by conflict or disasters without secure land tenure. Raquel Rolnik, the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, is developing guidelines on security of tenure for the urban poor, which will be presented to the Human Rights Council in March 2014.

Tags ,

Spain Top Court Freezes Andalusia Anti-Eviction Decree

Published in Friday July 12th, 2013 In In the media

Spain’s constitutional court has suspended a regional decree that makes it harder for banks to conduct evictions and penalizes lenders and real-estate firms for holding vacant properties, a spokeswoman for the government of Andalusia said Thursday.

Tags , ,