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Campaigns, solidarity and justice for secure housing and land rights

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A further 70 million inhabitants will soon be forced to join the existing one billion people who are homeless or living in bad housing conditions, according to a census taken by the UN. This constitutes a serious violation of the security of human settlements because:

  • it violates the serenity of people, families and communities constrained to the continual and precarious search for refuge instead of peacefully dedicating their time to the construction of secure, dignified and free cities and settlements;
  • it demonstrates not only that the violations of established international rights go unpunished, but that these violations are often encouraged in the name of neoliberal progress;
  • it breaks every social pact for civil cohabitation founded upon the respect for rights, justice, sustainability and the construction of a common future;
  • it determines the failure of Objective No. 7-11 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), thus undermining the hope and credibility of the public institutions and of the United Nations.

Fortunately at this time there are numerous campaigns by inhabitants across the globe for the right to secure housing, fighting against evictions and mass evacuations due to financial and property investments for the creation of infrastructures and mega projects, social, economic, racial, and gender discrimination, privatisation, wars, natural disasters and corruption.
The Zero Evictions Campaign, launched during the WSF 2004 has effectively contributed to giving a voice to the inhabitants and their cultures, thus giving rise to resistance and achieving important results in various countries.
However, this is not enough: it is necessary to create a united space of social urban movements in which to share experiences and feedback, common strategies and joint initiatives which take into account different cultures and paces, and that are capable of reinforcing resistance and alternative proposals.

For this reason we are launching an appeal to organise World Zero Evictions Days 2007 throughout the month of October 2007, thus initiating the 2007-2008 Global Campaign: Act together for housing for all!, a resolution decided by the IAI, FAL and HIC during the WSF in Nairobi, which will end with a Global Day of Mobilization of the World Social Forum on January 26, 2008.

>>>We hereby invite: inhabitants’, tenants’, homeless, landless, immigrants’ associations; co-operatives, committees and social centres as well as urban social movements all across the world to increase their own initiatives (i.e. marches, press conferences, sit-ins, solidarity days, blocks, meetings, etc) by planning them within the framework of the “World Zero Eviction Days for secure housing rights”, in order to: Zero Evictions Campaign,

  • Denounce the threat of forced evictions, demolitions and housing apartheid;
  • Block property and land evictions and auction sales of the homes of victims of mortgage fraud;
  • Campaign against privatisation, liberalisation and corruption within housing and land sectors;
  • Support campaigns for land reforms and the requisition of vacant lodgings used for speculation;
  • Support the cancellation of foreign debt through the constitution of the People’s Fund for Housing and Land which should be controlled by inhabitants’ organisations;
  • Support the active reconstruction of settlements destroyed by natural disasters and wars;
  • Request that local administrations and national governments declare their territories “eviction free” by applying adequate policies;
  • Relaunch ongoing Zero Eviction Campaigns and propose new campaigns.

>>>We strongly invite local authorities, national and regional governments, the United Nations, in particular UN-Habitat and the Advisory Group on Forced Evictions (AGFE) to support these initiatives which adhere to article 11 of ICESCR, so as to attain the objectives of the MDG, particularly No. 7-11.

No more isolated campaigns!

Because only joint efforts, solidarity and justice can secure the right to housing!

INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF INHABITANTS

September 2007

Appeal:
portuguese
arabian
bangla
chinese
japanese
russian
tagalog
indonesian
macedonian
german
romanian