Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ human rights expert on housing today commended a large media initiative in the US city of San Francisco aimed at bringing the issue of homelessness to the forefront of discussions and encourage civil engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe portrayal of homeless people in the media has a significant impact on public perception and empathy,\u201d Leilani Farha, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing<\/a>, said in a statement<\/a> issued by the Office of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR<\/a>). \u201cI believe the San Francisco media push will encourage other media to report on homelessness in new ways, with a view to assessing accountability and offering solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n The five-day media initiative led by a local daily newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, and starting on 29 June, will feature stories on multiple causes of homelessness and potential solutions. It will involve almost 70 local, national and international news outlets.<\/p>\n Describing homelessness as a \u201chuman catastrophe,\u201d Ms. Farha urged all governments to recognize it as a human rights crisis and commit to eradicating this global phenomenon by 2030, in line with the new Sustainable Development Goals. \u201cThe media have an important role to play in this \u2013 without public pressure, this global crisis will continue,\u201d she noted.<\/p>\n Ms. Farha also noted that the initiative is an opportunity to \u201cshift the conversation\u201d on homelessness from one of individual failure to government responsibility and systemic causes.<\/p>\n In her latest report<\/a> to the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Human Rights Council<\/a>, the Special Rapporteur had noted that homelessness is a fact of life in all countries of the world, regardless of the level of development of their economic or governance systems. Underlining homelessness as \u201cone of the most egregious violations\u201d of the right to housing, she urged Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Member States to address its root causes by implementing national strategies \u201canchored\u201d in human rights.<\/p>\n Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ staff, nor are they paid for their work.<\/p>\n