UN warns housing crisis is eroding young people’s trust in the political system

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned this Monday that the “apparent indifference” of political leaders to the housing crisis, “particularly noticeable in most industrialized countries,” is undermining the confidence of young people.

Speaking at the opening of the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which runs from Monday to October 13 in Geneva, Switzerland, Volker Türk focused on one part of his traditional “global renewal” of the state: human rights in the world to the phenomenon of the housing crisis, recalling that access to affordable and quality housing is a human right that, like all others, “imposes obligations on all states” and “must be enshrined in law and respected everywhere.”

“However, in many countries housing is seen as a commodity for speculative investment, a plaything of financial markets, rather than as a fundamental right,” he complained.

Turk emphasized that “the affordable housing crisis is reducing household incomes, deepening inequality, harming children’s health, impoverishing young people, and leading to a growing homelessness crisis,” then noting that “this situation has become especially evident in most industrialized countries,” in including Europe.

“In many European countries, housing costs have risen much faster than incomes, putting stable and secure housing out of reach for large numbers of young people and others on low or irregular incomes,” he said.

Using official statistics published this year, he noted that “nearly one million people are homeless in the European Union, up almost 30% from the already high level in 2021” and “young people are among the those who suffered the most.”

Also in the US, he continued, again citing official data, “more than half a million people were homeless in January 2022” and “more than 40% of them were people of African descent, who make up 12% of the population.” .

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned at the time that “elected officials’ apparent indifference to the plight of young people and others is contributing to their frustration, undermining their trust in political systems.”

“Ending homelessness and providing affordable housing are firmly integrated into the Sustainable Development Goals. They are also a human rights imperative,” he stressed.

Volker Türk argued that “states must recognize homelessness as a human rights violation that deprives people of the necessary protection of dignity” and therefore calls for “all countries, especially the most developed, to devote the maximum available resources to the realization of these rights.” as required by international law.”