Cold Temperatures and the Right to Healthy Housing - Kazakhstan and the ICESCR

Abstract

The protests in Kazakhstan have brought a number of human rights issues into the spotlight. Using the ongoing situation as a point of departure, this short text looks at the protection of the right to adequate housing, in particular as a right to healthy housing, under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural, to which most countries are parties. The discussion will be placed in the context of the situation in Kazakhstan, one of the coldest countries on Earth, in particular in the context of energy poverty and the right to access to heating.

Keywords: human rights, right to adequate housing, health, heating, Kazakhstan

JEL Classification: K33