Thematic area: Human Rights, Development and Governance. Sector: Human Rights and Gender Equality

Housing for the Homeless Population – A Human Right

Partners:    Ministry of Human Rights  /    EU Delegation in Brazil.  

Year: 2017

Project Overview:

This project follows up on the work carried out in 2013 under the European Union-Brazil Sector Dialogues Support Facility. Its purpose is to build on the National Policy on Homeless People in Brazil. 

The goal is to design an approach to assist this population based on the European “Housing First” approach. In other words, what is proposes here is a transition from the welfare approach to a model where housing, work and people empowerment are at the core of the National Policy.

The project includes exchanges of experiences with three cities in the European Union that are considered successful cases in the provision of services and assistance to the homeless population under the "Housing First" model. These cases will be selected from a short list of municipal experiences, based on a survey that will be conducted by a senior European expert and reviewed by the Special Secretariat on Human Rights. 

Also, an international seminar on housing for the homeless will be held as part of the project, with the attendance of representatives from the European Union, the United Nations – UN, federal government managers in the housing, labour, health care, social assistance, education, and security policy areas, as well as representatives from civil society organisations, to discuss national and international experiences and to develop strategies for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have a direct impact on the homeless population. 

Finally, the project will release a publication on experiences and methodologies for the inclusion of the homeless population in housing programmes based primarily on the “Housing First” model and drawing on experiences in the European Union and Brazil. 

Annexes: