A "special rapporteur" is "an independent expert appointed by the Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme." In a recent report to the U.N.'s Human Rights Council, which you can read in its entirety here, rapporteur Leilani Farha explains the pressing need for governments to champion their citizens' rights to housing, especially in advance of the U.N.'s 2016 "Habitat III" urbanization conference – a gathering that only takes place once every twenty years.

In her report, Farha is not optimistic about the direction urban development is headed: “Cities are on an untenable path, one that is encouraging vast inequalities which ultimately segregate those who have means from those who do not ... Urbanization can too often focus on wealth accumulation at the expense of the most vulnerable populations.” (via Archinect)

...

In her conclusion, Farha reformulates the New Urban Agenda — the global urbanization strategy that will come out of Habitat III — by calling for an “urban rights agenda”. This would, as a first step, commit to eliminating homelessness. Currently on the rise in cities around the world, including the U. N. Headquarters’ home city of New York, homelessness will be the subject of Farha’s next report.

“I am convinced we can end the scourge of homelessness and improve living conditions for over a billion people worldwide,” she told the U. N. General Assembly. She also announced the beginning of a yearlong campaign to ensure that a human rights framework is included in all aspects of the New Urban Agenda.1

• 1. http://citiscope.org/habitatIII/news/2015/10/un-special-rapporteur-housing-calls-urban-rights-agenda