Advocates for Human Rights and
Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.
are pleased to announce
Human Rights Speaker Series “Respect for Human Rights in the U.S.: The Challenge of the 21st Century”
Challenged to Provide Adequate Housing
presented by
Mayra Gómez, PhD and Bret Thiele, JD
Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE)
Thursday, April 19, 12:00-1:00 P.M.
at
Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.,
U.S. Bank Plaza, 200 South Sixth Street, Suite 4000, Minneapolis, MN
Undisputedly the wealthiest country in the world, the United States of America is home to millions of people who do not have access to adequate, affordable housing. While the human right to adequate housing has been long regarded as essential to ensuring the well-being and dignity of the human person, there continues to be a stark gap between these human rights principles and the current housing rights situation within the United States.
Bret Thiele and Mayra Gomez of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), an international human rights organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, will discuss the content of the human right to adequate housing under international human rights law and how this framework can be used successfully to advocate on behalf of housing strategies and policies here in the United States which benefit the poor and promote justice.
Mayra Gómez, PhD is the Acting Coordinator of the Housing and Property Restitution Programme (HPRP) with the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), an international human rights organization dedicated to the promoting housing rights for everyone, everywhere. Mayra has extensive experience as an advocate in the field of housing rights, and regularly coordinates and participates in COHRE fact-finding missions, training missions and other field experiences. Throughout the course of her work, Mayra has travelled to over thirty countries at all levels of development and in all regions of the world. She regularly authors advocacy reports on behalf of COHRE, addressing specific country-situations as well as various thematic issues. She has also represented COHRE at United Nations meetings and other international human rights.
Bret Thiele, JD is the Coordinator of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Litigation Programme (LP) with the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE). Bret is an international human rights lawyer with extensive knowledge of economic, social and cultural rights, with particular focus on the justifiability of such rights as well as on the right to adequate housing. Bret regularly conducts investigations into housing rights violations, facilitates community organizing and mobilization, has conducted several workshops on ESC rights and strategic advocacy around the world, and has litigated ESC rights before various international bodies.
Please R.S.V.P. to Julia Kashaeva at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
by noon on Tuesday, April 17.
Phone: (612) 341-3302 ext. 127 • Email: jkashaeva@mnadvocates.org
Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP. Application will be made for one CLE credit.
This human rights speaker series will be held on the third Thursday of every other month throughout 2007. Lectures are free and open to the public (registration required). Lunch will be provided for those who pre-register. Application will be made for one Elimination of Bias credit. For more information, please contact Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. You may find directions to Fredrikson & Byron at: www.fredlaw.com/contact.htm
