- 147 - Annex VII Letter addressed by the Chairperson of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to Mr. Wally N’Dow, Assistant Secretary-General, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) Dear Mr. N’Dow, 1. I am writing to you in my capacity as Chairperson of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in relation to resolution 15/2, entitled "Report on housing rights strategy", adopted by the Commission on Human Settlements on 1 May 1995. The resolution requests the Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) to undertake, in consultation with other relevant United Nations bodies, a review and update of the report entitled "Towards a housing rights strategy" (HS/C/15/2/Add.2) with a view to taking into account, inter alia, concerns expressed by some Member States "regarding the existence and/or legal status of the right to adequate housing". 2. On the basis of detailed reports that I have received, I understand that at least one delegation argued, in very strong terms, in favour of the proposition that there is no such human right as a right to adequate housing, that this right is not recognized in international human rights law and that the right has never been recognized in international treaties. The delegation indicated that it attached great importance to this issue, that it would call for a vote on any paragraph referring to the right to housing and that it would vote against the inclusion of any such reference. 3. I do not wish to become engaged in the policy debate which is clearly a matter for those States participating in the work of the Commission. However, as Chairperson of the Committee which is charged with monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, it is incumbent on me to seek to clarify the legal doubts that have been expressed in relation to the right to housing. 4. The right to housing was first recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has always been regarded as the foundation stone on which the international human rights system is based. Article 25, paragraph 1, of the Universal Declaration states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself [sic] and of his family, including ... housing ..." 5. This formulation actually derives to a very significant extent from a draft placed before the United Nations in 1946 by a singularly authoritative and distinguished body of United States legal scholars and practitioners, the American Law Institute (ALI). ALI’s "Statement of Essential Rights" made express provision for "the right to adequate food and housing". The statement was, in turn, inspired by US President Roosevelt’s State of the Union Address in 1944, when he defended "the right of every family to a decent home".