Thank you, President.

We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s Guiding Principles on Resettlement, which provide a unified, operational human rights framework to prevent forced evictions and to regulate any resettlement. These principles are particularly relevant for people affected by punitive drug policies, who are often excluded from housing, shelters, and resettlement programmes because of their drug use, dependence or criminal records associated with drug-offences. Conditioning access to housing on the grounds of abstinence or no criminal records undermines the rights to adequate standard of living and perpetuates stigma and discrimination.

States must allocate sufficient resources to progressively realise access to housing for all — and this requires a shift in spending priorities. Every year, governments spend over USD100 billion in drug law enforcement, while only a fraction is spent to support harm reduction and other social services, such as housing. Redirecting these funds from enforcement to housing and health reflects States’ human rights obligations to allocate the maximum of available resources towards measures that realise human rights.

Evidence from right-based and non-discriminatory housing initiatives shows that such approaches are more humane and cost-effective.2 We encourage States to guarantee access to housing without conditioning it on abstinence or criminalisation, and to advance inclusive resettlement policies that support harm reduction, social reintegration, and the full realisation of the rights to health, dignity, and equality.

We thank you.

Co-signed by:

Elementa

Harm Reduction International

International Drug Policy Consortium

Instituto RIA, AC

Skoun Lebanese Addictions Center