On 1st July 2013 and upon the invitation of the Environment, Climate and Social Office (ECSO) of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the UN Special Rapporteur Raquel Rolnik visited the Bank’s headquarters, in Luxembourg, to deliver a seminar to EIB staff titled “Human Rights Mainstreaming in EIB safeguards – The right to adequate housing in EIB lending: how to do resettlement properly”.
In focusing on the EIB’s Standard on project-induced Involuntary Resettlement, the Rapporteur elaborated on the process of adopting adequate steps to minimise and mitigate related adverse impacts from an early stage, aiming at assisting those displaced to replace their housing, assets, livelihoods, land, access to resources and services and to improve or at least restore their socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Therein, upholding the right to adequate housing and promoting security of tenure at resettlement sites for those affected is a critical component and the session aimed at improving Bank’s staff awareness when carrying out due diligence.
With the opportunity of her visit, the Rapporteur also conducted a series of high-level meetings across the Bank. She had a fruitful exchange with the EIB’s Vice President, Philippe Curtaz, where she called for the Bank to apply social safeguards in order to ensure that the EIB lending does not result in a regressive impact on the right to adequate housing, particularly of vulnerable groups, and to use its lending operations to promote security of tenure.
Ms. Rolnik also met with the Bank’s Regional and Urban Development team to discuss the EIB’s Urban Development lending in relation to the SR mandate, in particular addressing the impact of the financial crisis and subsequent austerity measures on the right to adequate housing in various EU regions. With this opportunity, she brought to the awareness of the EIB staff the study on security of tenure undertaken by the Special Rapporteur mandate, expected to provide specific guidance on promoting security of tenure for the urban poor, including informal settlers.
In her session with the EIB’s Environment, Climate and Social Office, the discussion focused on her inputs to the revised Bank social standards, in particular the one addressing the impacts arising out of involuntary resettlement. Finally, the Rapporteur discussed specific projects in Belgrade, Serbia, addressing the right to adequate housing for Roma population in EIB operations in the region, in the presence of the project team members from the Slovenia, Croatia & Western Balkans Division and the Bank’s E&S safeguards division.
These meetings were part of the Special Rapporteur’s strategy to address finance institutions promoting the right to housing. On this regards, check the Rapporteur’s report about the World Bank safeguards review process.
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