U.S. plays spoilsport at U.N. meet

By Kalpana Sharma

NEW YORK, JUNE 8. At every international conference, one country is the bad boy. At the special session of the United Nations General Assembly Istanbul Plus Five focussing on the Urban Millennium, that role is being played out to the hilt by the United States.

The U.S., under its new dispensation, has developed an allergy to the term rights. As a result, even though five years ago at Istanbul, all countries, including Washington had committed themselves to a full and progressive realisation of the right to adequate housing as provided in international instruments, it now considers the emphasis on the right an irritant.

U.S. objection

As a result, the draft of the declaration on cities and other human settlements, scheduled to be adopted by the General Assembly, had a weak reference to it. The non- governmental organisations (NGOs) closely monitoring the whole process, pointed an accusing finger at the U.S. delegation. And the latter openly acknowledged its part. ``We don't like the term rights,'' an American official said. ``It tends to mean entitlement but that doesn't create housing. We need a good economy, good urban governance and other factors to increase housing.'' The U.S. Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Mel Martinez, said the solution to the housing problem in his country was a home-ownership programme which his Government called the American Dream - the freedom to pursue success and prosperity. However, the individual defines it for him or herself. Nowhere in his statement did Mr. Martinez acknowledge the extent of homelessness in the U.S. or how people without regular incomes could enter a loan-based home-ownership programme. Mr. Miloon Kothari, special rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), said the U.S. was evading the real issue.

He had presented his report to the commission earlier this year.

Increasing urban poverty

Mr. Kothari said the situation of the urban poor around the world had become much worse since the Habitat Conference in Istanbul in 1996. There was more poverty and inequality. States must acknowledge this reality and reaffirm their commitments to human rights obligations.

But, the developments at the U.N. during the session were completely out of touch with reality. The U.S.-based NGOs working on housing rights also stressed the grave situation with housing amongst the urban poor.

The provision of affordable, rental housing was the only solution, they said. Yet, the emphasis in the U.S. had shifted from low-cost public housing to home ownership which led many poor families into debt traps.

Gender dimension

The rights framework, emphasised by Mr. Kothari and others and rejected by the Americans, also had a gender dimension. In Istanbul, the rights of women to own property and to inheritance were a contentious issue.

Yet, earlier this year, the U.N. Human Rights Commission adopted two resolutions that had a bearing on right to housing. One of these was on the right of women to equal ownership of, access to, and control over land and equal right to own property.

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Section  : International
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