HOUSING AS A HUMAN RIGHT: ANALYSING LEGAL MECHANISMS AND STANDARDS AT THE UN AND REGIONAL SYSTEMS

The right to housing is secured under international and regional human rights instruments, ensuring security of tenure and liveable conditions for a dignified life. Despite these guarantees, many people suffer from insecure housing and inadequate conditions due to economic policies that prioritise market dynamics over human rights. At the international level, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights guarantees the right to housing, while General Comments No. 4 and 7 provide further details. UN treaty bodies and special procedures oversee its enforcement. Regionally, the right to housing is addressed in Europe through the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Social Charter; in Africa through the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights with broad interpretations of rights, and in the Inter-American system, primarily in the context of indigenous peoples' rights. Each system has strengths and weaknesses: the European system, although comprehensive and well-founded, lacks sufficient safeguards against evictions; the African system is interpretative and lacks explicit provisions; the Inter-American system focuses on indigenous peoples' rights and thus offers limited protection. Considering these varied approaches, the United Nations system, with its detailed framework that takes into account economic developments and trends in the modern world, stands out as the strongest model for the protection of the right to housing. This study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of different approaches to housing rights protection through a comparative analysis of international and regional systems and their protection mechanisms