5th IALS Urban Law Day (2018) in cooperation with UN Habitat
The Urban Law Day is a specialised forum aiming to bring together a multidisciplinary circle of academics and practitioners interested in urban legislation, including planners, architects, policy makers, economists, urbanists, and lawyers. Its purpose is to facilitate discussion, the exchange of views, networking, and the presentation of new research findings or emerging issues.
The Sir William Dale Centre for Legislative Studies proudly organised the fifth Urban Law Day, which was held on 13 July 2018 at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and addressed legal issues linked to Human Rights in Cities. The 2018 Urban Law Day focused on human rights challenges in urban environments around the world.
Dr. Maria Mousmouti, Lecturer in Law at the IALS opened the event with an introduction to the Urban Law Initiative, the cooperation between the IALS and UN Habitat and the purpose of the 2018 Urban Law Day.
Robert Lewis-Lettington, Head of the Legislation Unit of UN–Habitat presented the commitments related to human rights included in the New Urban Agenda and main strategies for their implementation.
Malavika Vartak, Researcher/ Policy Adviser, ESCR Team, Amnesty International focused on forced evictions and homelessness as specific aspects of human rights violations in cities.
Abdirahman Mohamoud and Fathi Egal from the Joint Programme on Local Governance (JPLG) in Somalia presented the experience from their country. Alain Grimard, Senior Human Settlements Officer from the UN Habitat Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean presented the main challenges in Latin American cities.
Further, Ahmad El-Atrash, Senior National Urban Programme Officer at the UN Habitat in the Palestinian Territory presented a human rights assessment tool and the ways in which it has been used in Palestinian territories. Han Zhang from the Urban Legislation Unit of UN-Habitat presented the Slum Upgrading Tool and its contribution to improving human rights in cities.
The Urban Law Day falls within the context of the Urban Law Initiative which sets the framework for the research cooperation between UN Habitat and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
