International Union of Tenants

Founded in 1926 in Zurich, Switzerland, the International Union of Tenants (IUT) focuses on issues of poverty and homelessness by exploring them as they specifically apply to tenants. A nongovernmental organization with forty-eight member groups in forty-two countries, the IUT has one regional office in Prague, Czech Republic, which manages the member organizations in central and eastern Europe, and another in Tanzania, which manages members in East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Benin, and Uganda). The IUT remains in direct contact with and receives direction and guidance from the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

As stated on its website, the IUT's five main objectives in working for tenant rights are as follows: “(1) Cooperation between tenants through sharing information, (2) aiming to realize the right of everyone, both to good housing and to a sound and healthy residential environment, and to an affordable and fair rent, (3) residential/tenants democracy and a right to participation, (4) no discrimination with regard to sex, racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, and (5) the right to organize.” The IUT regards housing as a basic human right, and its members feel strongly that housing issues need to be addressed on local, national, and international levels for progress and change to be made. The IUT sees housing as an essential component for providing provides people with a sense of security and peace.

To obtain its objectives, the IUT works in partnership with U.N. agencies, such as the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe and the U.N. Center for Habitat Studies, as well as with the International Federation for Housing and Planning, the Habitat International Coalition, the EU Network, and the European Housing Forum. The IUT disseminates information on housing issues on its website (http://www.iut.nu) and in its quarterly publication, The Global Tenant magazine.