is which are particularly high levels of homelessness, including nighted states, india, brazil, russia, and several countries in europe, and many developing countries. how was this is a growing problem due to a rapid organization and rising housing cost? in a conflict affected countries, displacement and forest migration can also contribute to homelessness. homelessness can have significant economic costs for communities, including increased health care costs, law enforcement costs and loss productivity. in fact, according to the national alliance to in homelessness, a person experiencing chronic homelessness costs the american taxpayer an average of $35000.00 a year. and that's just the average cost for the u. s. with other countries spinning more view and it's called for a comprehensive and a co ordinated approach to addressing homelessness involving and governments, civil society organizations and other stakeholders, their approaches on a human rights framework. but is it accurately address the needs and perspectives

of those who are directly affected by homelessness, and does not include the individual without a whole. so to discuss, i want to bring in la on a, a fair out global director of the shift. would you say a group aimed at the global movement to secure the right to housing? thanks for joining us. so i have to ask you, what are the current you and housing goals as they stand right now? so there's different goals within the un system with respect to housing. there's the sustainable development goals that should be realized by 2030 and in those goals, there's a whole set of them. there's 17 or something like that. one of them says that everyone should have secure affordable, decent housing. and that that should be accomplished again by 2030. so that would mean ending homelessness by 2030. that would mean insuring affordable housing for every one by 2030 that would mean no evictions into homelessness,

for example. so quite a ambitious and ambitious goal beyond that, governments from around the world have committed to the right to housing through international human rights law. and so they've signed and ratified a whole array of treaties that actually say, you know, we commit to the right to housing and in different context. so with respect to racial discrimination, so there shoot, you know, states around the world have committed to no racial discrimination with respect to housing with respect to women with respect to children with respect to persons with disabilities. so there's a, there's a lot that the international community has committed to and has to achieve in a pretty short period of time. what are the factors, do you believe contribute to the growing homeless population around the world? you said this is a major part of the un goals. how many of these factors can be controlled by the

government? oh, i mean, i think that in most cases, homelessness is manufactured by governments. and i say that, and i'm not trying to be cheeky. i say that because governments have adopted a whole range of laws and policies that are contributing to homelessness. and so my starting point is this, if governments took seriously that everyone has the human right to housing and that their laws and policies could make or break that right. then governments should have been on a path to ensuring that everything that you do really allows for people to have adequate secure, affordable housing. that's not what's happened. in fact, governments have taken a whole bunch of decisions that are, as i said, manufacturing or creating homelessness decisions like to removing themselves from providing social housing for those most in need. so many governments took

a big step back from the provision of deeply affordable housing or public housing back in the seventy's and eighty's and into the ninety's. and um, in so doing they, they said, okay, we're gonna leave this to the private market. the private market didn't see fit to start providing deeply affordable housing for those most in need because it's not profitable. and so that's just one example of decision taken by governments that has had a direct impact on increasing homelessness. they've also, many governments have created tax systems that really incentivize the corporate ownership of housing. and that has, we've found, especially in recent years, had really bad effect for tenants. because when you get in to big investor driven housing or investor owned housing, really for them, the bottom line is, you know,

making money and making money means raising rents. raising rents means housing is that affordable and people lose their housing have often fall into homelessness. so again, an example where governments took a pro active decision to, for example, exempt certain institutional investors and housing from paying corporate tax or from paying income tax and from paying capital gains, tax. those sorts of things can lead directly to homelessness. there is a direct correlation between drug use and homelessness, and america cities like san francisco, denver, with the most liberal drug policies have the highest homeless rate. should countries take this into consideration and enact more laws to restrict drugs rather than legalize them. first of all, the correlation i like to draw is between high income generating areas and you're sections and homelessness. so you'll see, for example,

california has the 4th largest economy in the world. there the economy of california, the g d. p is larger than germany's, and california has half the population of germany. in the last 2 years, california is g, d. p has increased as has its level of homelessness. if you look around the world, where are we seeing some of the worst levels of homelessness in developed western countries? so there is a direct correlation i like to draw, is the direct correlation between the rich and asked went jurisdictions and homelessness. first of all, 2nd of all, what i'd say about a drug use and homelessness. what i have found in my experience that i have met with homeless people in every region of the world. i've been up and down california for example. i've been across canada, i've met with a homeless people in all sorts of circumstances. one, i think there is an over emphasis on the amount of people living

and homelessness who actually are drug dependent. first of all, 2nd of all, my experience has been that many people had never touched drugs, never engaged with drugs until they became homeless. and that's and, and, you know, we have to understand what it's like to live in homelessness. you know, at the end of a really hard working week or work day, what many people, too many people will have a beer, have a glass of wine, and why do we do that? we do that to come and nama ourselves of just a little bit from the harshness of the day, the heart, grandma, who's dying in a hospital, for example, the, the harshness of living with cove it right? so imagine if you're on this one's natural inclination might very well to be, be to numb that experience and so being st. involved can i,

i think there's this misperception that always thing we do have to understand the relationship between being st. involved living in the harshest circumstances, really hanging by a thread to life itself and then that need to self medicate for personally i do understand that. and so now that's not to say, and i'm not trying to deny that, that there is a relationship between people living on the street and an access to drugs and drug use. and so that is exactly why we need our, the policies that ensure access to adequate, secure and affordable housing for people who are living on the streets. once we have people, we can then start dealing with any kind of dependencies or any kind of psycho social problems, any kind of health problems, etc. but absolutely the cornerstone to wellbeing. we know this is decent,

affordable, secure housing and many cities close to public transportation. you can only find apartments or homes for rent is the lack of affordable homes to purchase, a contributing factor, or preventing people from being able to buy their own home. and you said it's more profitable to keep raising rents then to sell someone a unit at a fixed rate for 30 years. yeah. so we used to live in a world, at least in the us and in canada, where, you know, you might leave home to go to school and you might live in student accommodation and then you might transition to an apartment. and then, you know, you might get a job after leaving school, get a job, you're paying your rent, but you have enough money at the end of every month to put into savings. and then over time, you could save and purchase a home. that reality is gone. if, if people are spending the bulk of their income on rent, how can they save for homes? and as the price of homes goes up,

it becomes harder and harder to save. but so to do rents. and so home ownership becomes, you know, a distant dream, a past dream, but definitely not a reality. so there's absolutely a correlation between the pressure on the rental market and one's ability or inability to purchase a home. a lot of the push it seems is to help people in urban environments find helps. but isn't the problem organization itself? i mean, the massive increase of people moving off the land to the cities to find work has given us this shantytown as we see globally. is there any initiatives that can help people moving back to rural areas and live a di, urbanized life in a farming community? for example? yeah, i mean, i think you identify a very important phenomenon urbanized ation and the fact that most jobs are in urban centers, which is why people are leaving rural areas where they can't make ends meet, they can earn a living and moving to cities also. i mean,

we have to understand that for some young people, there's the lower of the city, right. and the idea of living in a big city are, you know, bigger than you know, a rural community. so though that's a reality, but as we're talking about here, it's an expensive reality, and wages are just simply not keeping a pace with the cost of housing. i have seen, especially since cobit actually, which is pretty interesting. so some movement toward trying to figure out how can we ensure that smaller towns, villages, and even rural areas retain populations. and the only way to do that is to ensure their employment opportunities there. um i heard that in sweden, they were really trying to revive the idea of living in smaller villages and towns and moving employment. they were making those towns and villages quite self sufficient. which would mean having a bakery having

a small scale farming. you know, all the services are a hair dresser, a bar, a cafe at that are all the things that you would expect to have and need to have to live a good life in a village. and so trying to make that happen, of course, and we saw that many, many jobs can be done remotely. if you're in a non service industry in a white color kind of job, it can be done remotely. and so that also offers opportunity, but there has to be decent housing. and there has to be a amenities because people who are working online expect yoga studios, and cafe use and etc. right. so we would have to make sure that where people are locating it that's more reasonably um or less, less expensive or more affordable that they actually have the services that they need. there are also infrastructure issues around that. so of course, governments have to get their heads around, well, how are we going to ensure transportation because people still want to go to city

center for cultural events, for example, maybe for important medical procedures. so there will be in for structure needs that will be required as well as on site, you know, energy and access to the internet and all those, those sorts of things. what is national governments choose not to enact you and policies regarding housing initiative? is that something the u. n. is already willing to accept. i mean, you said the goal is 2030, or will there be some kind of sanction coming from the you in towards those nations? yeah, so the, the un secretary general has expressed concern that states around the world are not going to meet their 2030 goals. so there is no real sanctioning capacity of either un, for the sustainable development goals. so, so there, that's one answer. that being said, i did mention that the states are governments have signed and ratified

international law through a variety of treaties with every treaty. there is a un committee that is attached to that treaty and that committee's job is to review government compliance with the treaty to every 5 years. governments are reviewed for their compliance with different opportunity for committees to me. now they are just a set of recommendations. so it's really up to civil society, back home and governments to go back home and actually implement those recommendations. that doesn't always happen. and again, there isn't always a way to sanction governments. there are some mechanisms within the u. n. system where there's like, almost like a judicial hearing where a government can be held accountable in a more serious way. but the government has to have signed a very particular instrument saying that they allow themselves to be open to that mechanism. and not all governments have signed all of those and all of the

mechanisms that are available so. so, you know, what, what does this have governments to take seriously, their international human rights commitments and developed mechanisms of accountability back home so that they can be held accountable by the people who are . so depending on them to do what's necessary for people to have a good life. thank you so much. do i wanna continue this conversation? so stick around. because after the break, we're going to continue the discussion with le lani a farrah and ask about if a housing has ever been considered a right by a touch of the

the the the only one main thing is important for not isn't internationally speaking. that is, a nation's products are allowed to do anything, all the mazda races, and then you have the mine and agents who are the slaves. americans, rock obama and others have had a concept of american exceptionalism. international law exist as long as it serves the american interest. if it doesn't,

it doesn't exist by turning those russians. and so it is dangerous boy, a man that wants to take over the world. that was the culture of strategy. so the, the, in your industry, i'm a, b, i not fi leashed, it's often zip on in tablet block. nato said it's ours. we move east. the reason us, hey jim, it is dangerous. is it the by the sovereignty of all the countries, the exceptionalism that america uses and its international war planning is one of the greatest threats to the populations of different nations. of nature, what is founded shareholders in the united states and elsewhere in large arms companies would lose millions and millions or is business businesses good? and that is the reality of what we're facing, which especially the

the idea of brit started out as a wall street in investment gimmick, focusing on developing nations today. this is the organization many in the global south one to be part of. and the reason is simple to avoid. and finally, the freed from western agenda. we're back with loni fair global director of the shift is a group aimed at the global movement to secure the right to housing. thanks for staying with us. i, lonnie, all of us about in history. has any country or society ever designated housing as an actual right? oh, yes, i would say all of the western european countries have the right to housing and their constitutions. so several states in africa have the right to housing and their constitutions, including kenya, for example, in south africa. so, many asian states also recognize the right,

the housing and their constitutions. the philippines is a good example. so it is a widely recognized human right? canada just for example, adopted national legislation. so it's not in our constitution. i'm from canada. it's not in our constitution, but it is in legislation recognizing that housing is a fundamental human. right. and i know there's a big push, for example, in new zealand to recognize housing is a fundamental human right as well. so. so it is, it's out there, shall we say, in domestic legislation and constitutions. interesting. tell me more about this and these countries, like you said, the philippines and western europe have this and their cost has to do these countries. and you have to remember that the right to housing, when it's legislated and even an international human rights law where it's legislated, it is understood as an income mentally realized. right? so it happens progressively, right? so it's not everyone is going to be adequately and securely housed over night,

right? this is going to happen in, in stages and over time. and so what we do see is, in certain parts of europe, less homelessness. i can't say no homelessness. we do know, for example, finland is likely to meet their 2030 goals, probably in advance of 2030 by ending homelessness i think by about 2027 and they do have the right to housing and in their constitution. so you know, that would be the high watermark of a state really coming good on their constitutional requirements and commitments. but, you know, i would say it's hard to generalize across europe because there's so many countries in europe, but many of the european states, while they do have homeless as it might not be as acute a problem as it is in the us and in canada for example, um, so, you know, i wouldn't want to say that just simply because you have a constitutional right to housing. you're going to see less homelessness because

there has to still be the to do something about that constitutional right. you know, and not just we go through the courts for failing to meet their constitutional rob obligations. i should also say this, in some states, there might be a constitutional right to housing. but in order for it to have life, it has to be accompanied by domestic legislation. and in some cases, a country will put a constitutional right to housing in their constitution. but then they won't actually do the enabling legislation that that's required. and the kenya is an example of that. so, you know, obviously that's not great. and, and so the advocacy groups are, you know, trying to push the government to actually adopt the enabling legislation. so it's a constant kind of fight to get government to do this. which i always have to admit find kind of surprising because society is, are more peaceful and more equitable. if people have decent,

affordable and secure housing, they want it, you said some governments have it in their constitutions. but actually, what are the specific details you feel every human has a right to in regards to housing? yeah, so let's start with a very popular mess, which is that the right to housing means. governments have to provide every one with a house that's actually not what the right, the housing means. and so i just said before that housing happens incrementally. and so there's a whole variety of things that governments have to do in order for someone to enjoy the right. and so, i mean that there are cases where of course, some kind of housing is required. so example where people are living in homelessness. obviously, that's a life and death situation, and so governments have to act expeditiously to address homelessness that they can start by providing shelters, for example. and then from there, they should be moving as quickly as possible to ensuring people have access to

adequate, secure and, and affordable housing with supports if they need. so, you know, some kind of supports um, but the, the, on the understanding and, and, you know, rights come from human beings. and if you talk to anyone living in inadequate housing, or i've met a lot of people living in what we call informal settlements. so people living in on lands that are public in kind of ram shackle conditions, sometimes tense. i mean, you have a homeless and cameron's in the us and skid row. and l a is a good example. um, what i, what i've never encountered is someone who says, oh, i want housing for free. most people understand that something, and most people will say, i just want housing that's can measure it with my income, right? they, they want to pay, they're willing to pay for housing, but they can't pay their entire paycheck for housing. right? that wouldn't make sense because then they wouldn't have any money for food or for

any other expenses, medical expenses, etc. and so we generally use this 30 percent, the criteria, so you shouldn't be spending more than 30 percent of your income on rent or on housing charges. and so, so affordability is really key and is, and, and it's the notion is affordable, not free, right? right. the housing doesn't mean free housing. the right housing needs, affordable housing. that's one of the criteria. housing is also the only considered adequate under human rights law if it is close to employment opportunities at child care services, for example, and health care services and education, high schools, elementary schools, colleges, universities, etc. so that's very important. and it also suggests that it is understood that people who are housed will be working in so far as they can work and find

employment. that's why housing should be close to employment opportunities. what import discussion, what i think more people need to have. thank you. they lani farrah for joining us. the nursing homelessness is a complex issue which requires a range of policy and programmatic interventions. past strategies which have been effective in some countries include providing access to affordable housing, supporting education and employment opportunities for writing health and social services to homeless individuals and working towards this poverty and the quality collaborations between government, civil society, organizations and other stakeholders is a central for addressing homelessness and promoting the human rights and dignity of all and divide individuals and the way should not fall on one single entity and is not a problem which can be solved over night. however, the most important foundation of any house begins with a person or people who reside inside it. unfortunately, in present day, we continue to see policies which do not support the individual to grow themselves

. rather just be reliant on a government entity until this is re established as the standard and goals. there will never be a long term solution to the homeless problem. i'm scared of hughes, and this has been your 360 view of the news affecting you. thanks for watching the at the end of the 18th century, britain began the illegal opium frayed in china. this hard drug causing addiction and literally destroying the human body became a gold mine, or businessman from the foggy l. b. a. however,

the ruling chinese dream dynastee tried to resist and to stop the illegal trade, which provoked the wrath of the london business community. in 1840 without a declaration of war, the english fleet began to seize and plunder chinese coastal boards. the bar lee are dead, poorly trained chinese army was unable to provide adequate resistance. the jing empire was forced to hand hong, gone over to england and open it sports for trading the legal good. in 1856 branch of the united states joined in the robbery of china. the anglo french troops defeated the chinese and committed an unprecedented route will be in wars fled to the transformation of the celestial empire into a semi colony of european states. and started each age of humiliation. and the sale of opium took on collazo proportions and led to the horrible depths of millions of

ordinary chinese the we are in saint petersburg and the capital of washing ballet. preserving the classic art and a touring model of the next, the city continues to define culture that the now can you use visa, typically from here yet to nothing. you know, look comes in the book. and that's what should see where it gets to that young showcase. i use the skinny to the by the ways that the boys, the,

the most noun that will be for them. i'm not sure if this slaughter doesn't want that extra them. but adults of under that the breaking news had ronald c. a passenger train derailment in india reportedly leaves doesn't said to be black, killed and see whether the engine is ukraine. shells, a busy road to the russian for the region of bellville rose, also this out, the

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