Providing shelter for the homeless

Description

Providing shelter for the homeless involves establishing safe, accessible, and temporary or permanent housing solutions to address immediate needs for security and stability. This strategy aims to reduce exposure to health risks, violence, and extreme weather, while facilitating access to essential services such as food, healthcare, and employment support. By offering reliable shelter, it directly remedies homelessness, supports social reintegration, and creates a foundation for individuals to pursue long-term self-sufficiency.

Implementation

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.

Agenda 21 recommends that, as a first step towards the goal of "providing adequate shelter for all", all countries should take immediate measures to provide shelter for their homeless poor, while the international community and financial institutions should undertake action to support the efforts of developing countries to provide shelter for the poor.