News from France: Shame on Sarkozy! So much for the right to housing!







Shame on Sarkozy! So much for the right to housing! Whereas only two years ago the French Parliament voted a law for the right to housing opposable in the courts (called the DALO) there is now a total defacto renouncement of trying to implement that law. Now, faced with the crisis, the disastrous economic situation and much loss of jobs, the long list of the homeless and poorly housed in France can only grow longer. Instead of putting people back to work by building the needed housing, the government has reduced the funds allocated to social housing, and created a long precarious obstacle course for the homeless try to get on the list of those needing to be housed by the DALO . Once there, they still have to wait who knows how long to be housed, in what ? where? The DAL (Droit au Logement), long time member of HIC, and 29 other organisations, unions and political parties are demonstration on the 15th of March to demand lower rents , halt to evictions – .the 15th being the end of the winter period when evictions are prohibited the massive construction of new social housing and a real right to housing.

The very next day all the Emmaus associations ( NGOs founded by the Abbe Pierre to help the homeless) will dump a great pile of old mattresses on the Place de la Rpublique . Why? to signify their anger because an eviction is the most violent act of exclusion, and because to evict is like dumping someone in the street. They demand:

  • a halt to evictions with out a time limit. (The minister of housing Mme Boutin mentioned possibly stopping evictions for a couple of months);
  • an obligatory social inquiry into the cause and effect of each eviction; and,
  • an increase in the housing allowance by 12% for low income households.

There will be two other major demonstrations in March. On the 19th there will be a call for a General Strike by the Unions, joined by many other organisations, denouncing the present governments policies.

On the 28th of March in response to the meeting of the G20 in London a demonstration will take place in Paris supported approximately 50 NGOs, unions and political parties to echo the big demonstration that will take place that day in London . There will be similar ones in many other European countries. The slogan in Paris will be we wont pay for their crisis . Their track will say that as it is these same leading countries along with the OMC and the IMF that have caused the crisis we dont believe they can come up with the right solution.


 

Civil Society Messages to the 9th Africities Summit

Civil Society Messages to the 9th Africities Summit

A self-organized civil-society initiative hosted 45 civil organization representatives this week at Kisumu, Kenya on 15–16 May to deliberate and consolidate messages to the Africities9 Summit. The Civil Society Forum [...]