Our Voices Must Be Heard: A Grassroots Report on the U.S. Mission of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing
During the fall of 2009, Raquel Rolnik, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, toured the country to assess the impact of the current U.S. housing crisis and determine the extent of violations of the human right to housing in the United States. From October 22nd to November 8th 2009, the Rapporteur visited six cities, meeting with over 70 community-based organizations. The Rapporteur’s visit had the distinction of being the first official visit of its kind focusing on the failure of U.S. housing policy as a human rights concern. A central part of the Rapporteur’s mission was to meet with members of impacted communities, hear testimony from those most-affected, and dialogue with government officials at the local, state and federal level about the issues uncovered.
