semi-abandoned school buildings – the state’s only “solution” to their housing needs. Each year they are joined by other young people who on leaving school have found themselves similarly homeless.10 In this case, Amnesty International called on the government to adopt comprehensive legislation dealing with leaving social care and aftercare, in accordance with international standards. 5. LACK OF ACCESS TO ESSENTIAL SERVICES With the growth of informal settlements in urban areas, the lack of access to essential services including minimum essential and safe levels of water and sanitation is a growing concern in several a majority of countries around the world. In Nairobi, Amnesty International found that women and girls living in these informal settlements are particularly affected by lack of adequate access to sanitation facilities for toilets and bathing. Many women have to walk more than 300m from their homes to reach the available latrines. This is unsafe for them, especially at night. Poor sanitary conditions led to greater levels of disease such a cholera, in turn requiring them to incur high health care costs at the expense of other basic needs. A high number of women and girls experienced rape and other forms of violence as a direct result of their attempt to find or walk to a toilet or latrine some distance away from their houses.11 Amnesty International’s recommendations to the government included enforcing legislation requiring landlords to construct latrines and bathrooms in the vicinity of their properties, and providing financial assistance to property owners who were unable to meet construction costs. In Slovenia, continuing discrimination against the Romani people condemned many of them to live in housing without basic public services. Some municipalities had refused to provide public services to Roma because their settlements are ‘irregular’ - despite the fact that families have been living there for decades. As a result, some Roma had to travel long distances with jerry cans to get water from petrol stations, cemeteries or polluted streams. Amnesty International called on the government of Slovenia to allocate additional and adequate resources to municipalities to support them in regularizing informal settlements, and providing access to services and infrastructure within settlements. In November 2016, Slovenia amended its constitution to guarantee the right to water to all. While this is certainly a welcome development, the extent of its implementation vis-à-vis Roma communities remains to be seen.12 6. GUARANTEEING PARTICIPATION, EQUALITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION In line with the principle, ‘leaving no one behind’ in the Sustainable Development Goals, Amnesty International advocates for national and local governments to ensure that housing strategies, plans and policies guarantee participation, equality and non-discrimination in all phases of planning and implementation. In order to achieve this, housing strategies must seek out and commit to reach the most disadvantaged, first. These include people living in poverty, social, religious, ethnic and sexual minorities, persons with disabilities (of whom more than 80 per cent live in poverty), people living with HIV/AIDS, older persons, indigenous peoples, refugees and internally displaced persons and migrants. In most contexts, women, youth and children also rank among the disadvantaged sections of society. Amnesty International has found that through acts of commission and omission, governments often fail to ensure that their policies related to housing are accessible to those who are most vulnerable to human rights violations. For example, the government of Nepal failed to reach the most disadvantaged sections in its postearthquake reconstruction efforts. It adopted an “owner-driven” housing reconstruction programme, to address the destruction caused by the 2015 earthquakes. This programme requires proof of land ownership See Amnesty International, ‘Young people leaving social care need dignity and housing – an appeal on National Orphans Day’, 20 May 2010, Index number: EUR 11/006/2010 11 For details, see Amnesty International, ‘Insecurity and Indignity: Women’s Experiences in the Slums of Nairobi, Kenya’, 2010, Index number: AFR 32/002/2010 10 12 See Amnesty International, ‘Constitutional right to water “must flow down to” Roma communities’ 17 November 2016 EFFECTIVE HUMAN RIGHTS-BASED HOUSING STRATEGIES SUBMISSION TO 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 Amnesty International 6