Sonia Olea Ferreras.
Advocacy Team – Cáritas Española
1.Real figures to date:
In Spain, human rights-based public policy about housing does not exist and housing is seen as an economic investment. Current data gives us an idea of the hundreds of thousands of people who are struggling to access and maintain a house:
The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR) published on 24th January 2019 its findings 2018 on the follow-up given by 8 States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal) to decisions in the collective complaints procedure.
Over the years there has been a shift in focus from the medical model of disability that used to focus on an individual’s impairments to the social model of disability, which includes an understanding of systemic barriers, negative attitudes and exclusion by society that persons with disabilities encounter. According to this model, it is society that is the contributory factor in disabling people.
On 28th November, FEANTSA took part in the 7th meeting of the Collaborative Platform on Social and Economic Rights.The platform brings together the Council of Europe, FRA, the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and the European network of Equality Bodies (EQUINET).
Right to housing
Date of the decision: 24 of May 2018
Jurisdiction: European Court of Human rights
Country: France
Subject: The case concerned the accommodation arrangements for a family – comprising a mother and her three young children – while they were waiting to submit their asylum application.
The UN Committee on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has published its findings on the countries it examined during its March 2018 session in Geneva. The findings cover how Spain is doing with regard to implementing the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, detailing positive developments, main areas of concern, and recommendations for action.
The Committee considered the sixth periodic report of Spain and at its 28th meeting, held on March 29, 2018, and adopted the concluding observations that follow:
A new Briefing by CESR addresses fiscal austerity and its impact on Human rights. Governments have enacted drastic austerity measures like severe public expenditure cuts, regressive tax changes, and labor market and pension reforms, effectively disinvesting in human rights.
