UN special rapporteur on right to housing to visit the Asser Institute
Published 18 December 2023
Homeless person in The Hague. @Eveline van Egdom - Straatconsulaat
The United Nations’ special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, will conduct a visit to the Netherlands this week. On Thursday 21 December, the special rapporteur will hold a press conference at the Asser Institute. Access is strictly limited to journalists.
Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal will visit the Netherlands to examine issues relating to housing availability, affordability and accessibility, homelessness, and to learn what measures the Netherlands undertakes to ensure that the right to adequate housing is enjoyed by all population groups in the country.
The special rapporteur will visit the Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Groningen, as well as reception centres for asylum seekers and persons under international protection. He will hold meetings with national and local officials, civil society representatives and housing providers. In March 2024, the special rapporteur will present his report to the UN Human Rights Council.
Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal will hold a press conference on Thursday 21 December 2023 at the Asser Institute. Access will be limited to journalists. For registration to the press conference and requests for media interviews immediately after the press conference, please contact chiara.menghetti@un.org.
Read the full press release.
About the special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing
Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal (United States), assumed his function as special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing on 1 May 2020. He is professor of law and development at the department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A lawyer by training, he is an expert on many areas of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights, the UN system, and the human rights challenges posed by development activities.
The UN Independent Experts are part of what is known as the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.
