California’s Dangerous Pivot on Homelessness: A Warning for the Nation

Leilani Farha & Kirsten McRae The U.S. Supreme Court recently delivered a devastating blow to homeless people, greenlighting the criminalization of poverty and denying the most vulnerable group in America potentially life-saving Constitutional protections. In a chilling decision, the Court ruled that jailing and fining people for sleeping outdoors on public property when they have […]

California’s Dangerous Pivot on Homelessness: A Warning for the Nation

The U.S. Supreme Court recently delivered a devastating blow to homeless people, greenlighting the criminalization of poverty and denying the most vulnerable group in America potentially life-saving Constitutional protections. In a chilling decision, the Court ruled that jailing and fining people for sleeping outdoors on public property when they have nowhere else to go is […]

California’s Dangerous Pivot on Homelessness: A Warning for the Nation

The U.S. Supreme Court recently delivered a devastating blow to homeless people, greenlighting the criminalization of poverty and denying the most vulnerable group in America potentially life-saving Constitutional protections. In a chilling decision, the Court ruled that jailing and fining people for sleeping outdoors on public property when they have nowhere else to go is […]

THE SHIFT AT URBAN FUTURE 2024: UNITING HOUSING RIGHTS AND CLIMATE ACTION

By Kirsten McRae The world is facing two dire crises; the global housing crisis and the climate crisis. The urgency of these crises cannot be overstated. Today, 1.8 billion people worldwide lack access to adequate housing, while in Europe alone, 80 million people face housing unaffordability. Simultaneously, to limit global warming to 1.5°C, we must […]

Stop RBC Takeover Campaign: Advocating for Sustainability and Indigenous Rights

By Kirsten McRae In November of 2023, The Shift joined an existing coalition of more than a dozen non-profits and human rights organizations that constituted the Stop RBC Takeover Campaign, aiming to halt the acquisition of HSBC Canada by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Although a smaller coalition of organizations had been fighting RBC’s […]

Letter of Concern from The Shift regarding Philadelphia Chinatown

On August 11, 2023, we issued an urgent letter expressing grave concerns about potential human rights violations in Philadelphia’s Chinatown to 76 Devcorp. The letter focuses on the contentious proposal to construct a new stadium within the heart of Chinatown, emphasizing that this is more than just an ordinary infrastructure project. The stadium proposal has […]

The Heat is On: Climate Resiliency and the Right to Housing

Building a more sustainable future, one home at a time: a call for housing resilience and adaptation in Canada Senator Rosa Galvez As a Canadian Senator, engineer, and grandmother, I firmly believe that the right to housing is one of the most fundamental human rights. Housing is a basic human need and a cornerstone of […]

An Ontario ruling defending those living in encampments is only a partial victory

Source: The Globe & Mail Leilani Farha is global director of The Shift, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to housing from 2014 to 2020 and the co-host of the bimonthly podcast, Pushback Talks. Diana Chan McNally is a front-line worker supporting homeless people. Last week, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decided that the Regional Municipality […]

The Global Housing Crisis: A Crisis Unlike Any Other

Source: Urbanet By Kirsten McRae Echoes of the same story can be heard in cities across the globe – homelessness is on the rise and the cost of housing is increasing at an alarming rate while the availability of decent housing dwindles. Kirsten McRae with recent statistics on the global housing crisis and why we […]

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