Thursday, October 8, 2009
PPEHRC disrupts US Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Event in Washington DC in conjuction with World Zero Evictions Days 2009
ShareThis
On the occasion of the UN’s World Habitat Day, poor people in the US are losing their homes at a record pace due to predatory lending and speculation and massive demolition of low cost housing, causing massive homelessness, unjust evictions and displacement across the nation.
“We are losing our homes to predatory lenders and landlords. We have driven all the way from Minneapolis, Mississippi and Pennsylvania to tell President Obama and Congress to restore our homes and stand up for our Right to Housing,” says Rosemary Williams of the Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). “We demand Zero Evictions and a moratorium on foreclosures to save people’s homes.”
“It is hypocritical for the US to host UN World Habitat Day when it is the only major nation that has not ratified the Right to Housing Treaty,” states John Parvensky, President of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). “With millions of Americans experiencing homelessness each year, it is past time for action to ensure adequate housing for all.” Signed by President Carter in 1978 but never ratified by the US Senate, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which includes the Right to Housing, has been ratified by 159 nations, including the European Union and the G8 nations.
“In Daytona, my family and neighbors face bankruptcy, foreclosure and homelessness within 30 days, while our landlord could walk away scot free with millions of dollars stolen from the tenants and other taxpayers,” says Erica Sipp, Vice President/South of the National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT). “We call on HUD and Congress to support legislation and ratify the Treaty to Save Our Homes.” So far, the Obama Administration has not supported a Right of First Purchase sought by NAHT on Capitol Hill to stop the steady loss of affordable housing. More than 400,000 apartments have been lost due to owner or HUD decisions since 1996.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, PPEHRC is a nationwide movement of poor people with 114 chapters that has fought for the rights of homeless people, the poor and people of color in cities across the nation, including “Bushville” encampments at national party conventions in 2004 and 2008 (www.economichumanrights.org.) . NAHT is the only national tenant union in the US, representing 1.7 million lower income families who live in privately-owned, HUD subsidized apartments (www.saveourhomes.org). NCH is the leading advocacy organization for the 3.5 million Americans who are homeless each year (www.nationalhomeless.org)
On Monday, groups were joined by the General Secretary of the Habitat International Coalition (HIC), the leading global housing rights coalition, headquartered in Santiago, Chile, which has issued a global call for International Housing Rights Days of Action to coincide with the UN event. (See www.hic-net.org).
“We are losing our homes to predatory lenders and landlords. We have driven all the way from Minneapolis, Mississippi and Pennsylvania to tell President Obama and Congress to restore our homes and stand up for our Right to Housing,” says Rosemary Williams of the Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign (PPEHRC). “We demand Zero Evictions and a moratorium on foreclosures to save people’s homes.”
“It is hypocritical for the US to host UN World Habitat Day when it is the only major nation that has not ratified the Right to Housing Treaty,” states John Parvensky, President of the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). “With millions of Americans experiencing homelessness each year, it is past time for action to ensure adequate housing for all.” Signed by President Carter in 1978 but never ratified by the US Senate, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which includes the Right to Housing, has been ratified by 159 nations, including the European Union and the G8 nations.
“In Daytona, my family and neighbors face bankruptcy, foreclosure and homelessness within 30 days, while our landlord could walk away scot free with millions of dollars stolen from the tenants and other taxpayers,” says Erica Sipp, Vice President/South of the National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT). “We call on HUD and Congress to support legislation and ratify the Treaty to Save Our Homes.” So far, the Obama Administration has not supported a Right of First Purchase sought by NAHT on Capitol Hill to stop the steady loss of affordable housing. More than 400,000 apartments have been lost due to owner or HUD decisions since 1996.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, PPEHRC is a nationwide movement of poor people with 114 chapters that has fought for the rights of homeless people, the poor and people of color in cities across the nation, including “Bushville” encampments at national party conventions in 2004 and 2008 (www.economichumanrights.org.) . NAHT is the only national tenant union in the US, representing 1.7 million lower income families who live in privately-owned, HUD subsidized apartments (www.saveourhomes.org). NCH is the leading advocacy organization for the 3.5 million Americans who are homeless each year (www.nationalhomeless.org)
On Monday, groups were joined by the General Secretary of the Habitat International Coalition (HIC), the leading global housing rights coalition, headquartered in Santiago, Chile, which has issued a global call for International Housing Rights Days of Action to coincide with the UN event. (See www.hic-net.org).
Labels: International Alliance of Inhabitants, World Zero Evictions Days 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
IAI Message to PPEHRC and SWAA
ShareThis
Dear friends,
The International Alliance of Inhabitants congratulates you on your conference, Building the Unsettling Force: A National Conference to Abolish Poverty (Kentucky, July 16-19, 2009), which is a very important step in the creation of an independent body striving for structural change in the United States.
Indeed, although the Obama administration represents a certain break with the past, we must still take up the challenge of the struggles of the poor, workers, women, youth and seniors of all colour to open up spaces, win rights and obtain support policies.
Because your struggles and triumphs are significant not only in the United States but also on a global level, we would like to develop with you an experience exchange and the establishment of international solidarity.
In this regard, we would like to inform you that, thanks to our united action, we have succeeded in arranging two international missions whose aim will be to examine how the right to housing is respected in your country. The first mission, organized by the UN-Habitat’s Advisory Group on Forced Evictions will take place in New Orleans from July 26-31, 2009, and the second one, which will be at the national level, will be in November 2009 under the aegis of the UN Special Rapporteur for Housing Rights.
For all these reasons, we invite you to participate in the process of creating the World Assembly of Inhabitants (WSF Dakar, January 2011), an initiative that aims to create a shared space that is global and supportive and that is based not only on recognizing cultural diversity, but also on complementarity and equilibrium in respecting our right to organize ourselves independently as an international urban movement by establishing the Urban Way (Vía Urbana).
The goal of this space will be to promote initiatives of shared and supportive action to defend our legitimate right to housing and to the city in the face of neoliberal globalization, to be build together another possible world and other possible cities.
To do this, we can already count on the support of more than 200 organizations in more than 40 countries, as well as, following the WSF in Belem, on all the international networks working in the field of the right to housing and to the city.
The next stage is the establishment of united WAI promoter committees at the national and international level, and, given your commitment and strong involvement in this area, we would like to count on your participation in this initiative.
Therefore, we invite you to fully participate in the development of this process, starting with the creation of initiatives that will take on the struggle in the context of the World Zero Evictions Days (October 2009), and by taking into account that preparatory meetings of the WAI are on the agenda during the World Days for the Right to Housing (Bobigny, France, November 15-22, 2009) and the World Urban Forum (Rio de Janeiro, March 22-26, 2010).
Finally, in wishing you a successful conference, we invite you to send us its results, which we will make available globally on www.habitants.org.
We look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Ciao in solidarity,
Cesare Ottolini
IAI coordinator
PDF of this message:
The International Alliance of Inhabitants congratulates you on your conference, Building the Unsettling Force: A National Conference to Abolish Poverty (Kentucky, July 16-19, 2009), which is a very important step in the creation of an independent body striving for structural change in the United States.
Indeed, although the Obama administration represents a certain break with the past, we must still take up the challenge of the struggles of the poor, workers, women, youth and seniors of all colour to open up spaces, win rights and obtain support policies.
Because your struggles and triumphs are significant not only in the United States but also on a global level, we would like to develop with you an experience exchange and the establishment of international solidarity.
In this regard, we would like to inform you that, thanks to our united action, we have succeeded in arranging two international missions whose aim will be to examine how the right to housing is respected in your country. The first mission, organized by the UN-Habitat’s Advisory Group on Forced Evictions will take place in New Orleans from July 26-31, 2009, and the second one, which will be at the national level, will be in November 2009 under the aegis of the UN Special Rapporteur for Housing Rights.
For all these reasons, we invite you to participate in the process of creating the World Assembly of Inhabitants (WSF Dakar, January 2011), an initiative that aims to create a shared space that is global and supportive and that is based not only on recognizing cultural diversity, but also on complementarity and equilibrium in respecting our right to organize ourselves independently as an international urban movement by establishing the Urban Way (Vía Urbana).
The goal of this space will be to promote initiatives of shared and supportive action to defend our legitimate right to housing and to the city in the face of neoliberal globalization, to be build together another possible world and other possible cities.
To do this, we can already count on the support of more than 200 organizations in more than 40 countries, as well as, following the WSF in Belem, on all the international networks working in the field of the right to housing and to the city.
The next stage is the establishment of united WAI promoter committees at the national and international level, and, given your commitment and strong involvement in this area, we would like to count on your participation in this initiative.
Therefore, we invite you to fully participate in the development of this process, starting with the creation of initiatives that will take on the struggle in the context of the World Zero Evictions Days (October 2009), and by taking into account that preparatory meetings of the WAI are on the agenda during the World Days for the Right to Housing (Bobigny, France, November 15-22, 2009) and the World Urban Forum (Rio de Janeiro, March 22-26, 2010).
Finally, in wishing you a successful conference, we invite you to send us its results, which we will make available globally on www.habitants.org.
We look forward to your comments and suggestions.
Ciao in solidarity,
Cesare Ottolini
IAI coordinator
PDF of this message:
Labels: Building the Unsettling Force: A National Conference to Abolish Poverty, IAI, International Alliance of Inhabitants, PPEHRC, Social Welfare Action Alliance, SWAA
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]