4.3 UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing The Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council are an important feature of the UN’s human rights machinery. They confer the authority in thematic or geographical areas for an appointed expert to undertake country visits, receive individual communications and submit reports to the Council on States’ compliance with specific aspects of the human rights framework. These experts will also submit individual communications to States concerned, seeking their reply to allegations of or concerns relating to the commission of human rights violations. The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context, performs this function with respect to housing-related human rights. In around 2002 there were discussions with the then Rapporteur, Miloon Kothari, for him to undertake a country visit to the Philippines. It is understood that a mission was agreed in principle with the Philippine Government, but for various reasons the visit did not take place. No subsequent Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing has undertaken a mission to the Philippines. The CHR has recently raised concerns about the Philippine Government’s engagement with Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, specifically that ‘there are around thirteen (13) to fourteen (14) requests by the Special Procedures Mechanism to visit the Philippines [and] some requests have been pending for almost eight (8) years’.55 The request for a visit by the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing would appear to fall within this category. The OHCHR has identified that the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing has previously received individual communications from human rights advocates in the Philippines raising serious concerns about forced evictions. However, only limited dialogue ensued between the Rapporteur and the Government in relation to these concerns.56 The Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council represent an important instrument of international human rights protection. They also present an opportunity for governments to establish their status as a supporter of human rights in the area of the Special Procedures mandate. In light of the Philippines’ current membership of the Human Rights Council, and its position in the international community as a guardian of human rights, a stronger engagement with the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing should be taken up by the Government. 55 56 Commission on Human Rights, Advisory on Invitations of the Special Procedures Mechanism, CHR (IV) A2012-003, 2012, p. 2. See: above, n. 45. 29