Across the world persons experiencing homelessness or poverty are penalised for performing life-sustaining activities such as sleeping, eating, sitting and hygiene-related conduct, as well as forms of economic survival such as informal trade, begging, street-based sex work or waste collection. Penalties may involve fines, arrest or imprisonment. For those who cannot comply with the law for reasons of homelessness or extreme poverty these measures raise significant human rights concerns.
Guided by the joint study on the decriminalisation of homelessness and poverty by the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, experts will discuss alternatives to criminalisation and how laws and law enforcement could be reformed to avoid entrenching discrimination and social exclusion.
Speakers:
- Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing
- Mr. Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights
- Ms. Zione Ntaba, Judge of the High Court of Malawi
- Ms. Annie Hudson-Price, Office for Access to Justice, U.S. Department of Justice
- Mr. Rob Robinson, Community Organizer and Activist
- Ms. Sandra Epal-Ratjen, International Commission of Jurists
Moderator:
- Ms. Leah Conklin, Advocacy Director, The International Legal Foundation (tbc)
Event co-sponsored by:
The Permanent Mission of Finland, the Permanent Mission of Germany and the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations in Geneva.