Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These are rights that many of us take for granted: The right to marry and have a family. The right to an education. The right to not be held in slavery. And the right to shelter. Much of the world will probably do little to recognize the anniversary, because they live with these rights every day. But for many, this is not the case.

Just over a month ago, according to the United Nations, the world’s population passed the 7 billion mark. Much was made of the significance of that milestone – the impact of this number of people on the environment, how climate change will be exacerbated, whether there is enough food to feed everyone. But again, where and in what conditions the world’s people will live, received less attention.

For hundreds of millions of the world’s 7 billion people, home is a shack, a slum, a shanty town. Across Asia, where 60 per cent of the world lives and where typhoons, flooding, earthquakes and other disasters are too frequent, the poor and vulnerable live in grossly inadequate conditions. Such conditions breach human rights agreed upon in 1948. The human right to shelter is a key component in a “standard of living, adequate for health and well-being” (Article 25), to say nothing of the much less obvious “right to own property” (Article 17).

Experience and research shows that improving a family’s shelter conditions positively impacts the family’s life and future: children with a place they can study do better in school, parents with the room to set-up a home-based industry or to get a decent night’s sleep earn more money, not having an earth floor or a roof that leaks means better health. In short, helping families have a decent place to live is the catalyst in an upward spiral out of poverty. And it makes achieving many other human rights all that easier.

With focus currently on financial wranglings in Europe and the impact on an increasingly interconnected global market, it is not surprising that tackling the human right to shelter isn’t front of mind. Outside of the mainstream banking system, developments in microfinance are enabling low-income families to access credit and own their own home. Families with a decent place to live, and especially those who have home-ownership, contribute to a country’s economy. So, not only does addressing the human right to shelter help realize other human rights, but it also progressively supports greater national wealth and a more robust economy – something not so easily overlooked in these uncertain economic times.

The people living in Asia’s slums are the engines of the region’s economic prosperity. They work in the mines, plantations, ports and factories. And yet they are the last to benefit when times are good and the first to be hit when times are tough. Odds are that the 7 billionth person was born in Asia, which makes it more than likely that they were born into an inadequate house and their life chances hampered as a result. It is time to do more than spare a thought for the human right to shelter.

By Rick Hathaway, Asia-Pacific vice president for Habitat for Humanity Bangkok, Thailand

Contact

Heron Holloway
Media Relations and Disaster Communications Manager, Asia-Pacific
Habitat for Humanity International • Asia-Pacific Satellite Office
56 Lorong 23 Geylang, #05-00, Century Technology Building, Singapore 388381
Tel: +65 6744 2768 • Mobile: +65 9068 1892 • hholloway@habitat.org • habitat.org/asiapacific