By Cynthia Mathew

United Nations, Feb 8, 2020: The United Nations will begin its 58th Session of the Commission for Social Development during February 10-19.

This year the UN is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the commission and the 25th anniversary of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development.

2020 is a crucial year for the accelerated realization of inclusive societies and reducing inequalities everywhere for people of all ages, an organizer explained.

The priority theme of the commission for this year is “Affordable housing and social protection systems for all to address homelessness.”

It is the first dialogue in UN history and the organizers credit civil society group including the Religious at the UN (RUN) who advocate on behalf of 150 million homeless people around the world.

The organizers say homelessness is more than not having a roof over one’s head, The civil society urges the UN member states to agree that homelessness is a condition where a person, family or household lacks habitable space with security of tenure, rights, and ability to enjoy political participation and social relations, including birth recognition and legal identity, and safety.

According to the Expert Group Meeting, Nairobi 2019, homelessness is a manifestation of extreme poverty, growing inequalities and of the failure to implement earlier decisions on social protection systems and human rights.

Homelessness is a global problem, affecting people with diverse economic, social and cultural backgrounds, in both developed and developing countries. According to UN-Habitat, globally, 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing conditions, with about 15 million forcefully evicted every year.

Homelessness is a preventable tragedy, the organizers assert. “Together we can end it. When we compete with each other to build huge houses, churches, temples, and mosques, let us think of the millions of our brothers and sisters who are homeless.”

They hailed Pope Francis, who converted the 19th century Palazzo Migliori into a shelter for the homeless. “The pontiff has shown us the way to share our resources and to make our palaces to a ‘palace for the poor,’ the organizers added.