Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing

Miloon Kothari is a leading voice at national, regional and international forums on human rights, especially economic, social and cultural rights. Mr. Kothari was appointed in September 2000 by the UN Commission on Human Rights as the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing. His mandate involves reporting annually to the Commission on the status throughout the world of the realisation of the rights that are related to the right to adequate housing, and identifying practical solutions and good practices towards this end. In addition, the Commission requested the Special Rapporteur to promote cooperation among and assistance to Governments in their efforts to secure these rights; apply a gender perspective in the work; develop regular dialogue and collaboration with Governments, relevant UN bodies, specialised agencies, civil society and international financial institutions.

An architect by training, Mr. Kothari, who resides in New Delhi, India, has extensive experience in the area of housing and land rights. He is the coordinator of the South Asian Regional Programme of the Habitat International Coalition’s (HIC) Housing and Land Rights Network and is founding member of the International NGO Committee on Human Rights in Trade and Investment (INCHRITI). Mr. Kothari is also a member of the Leadership Council of the Global Women and AIDS Coalition, UNAIDS.

In recent years, he has been particularly active on issues such as Women’s rights to land, inheritance, property, housing and globalization, trade liberalization and their impacts on the right to adequate housing and other related rights. In addition to housing and land rights, he has also been actively involved in works related to human rights dimension on poverty, water and sanitation.