A week-long series of actions across Belgium kicks off on Saturday and aims to highlight the right to housing.
The fifth edition of 'Woon Actie Logement' (Housing Action) will run until 6 April, finishing with a national demonstration at 14:30 from Porte de Hal in Brussels on the last day.
The week will feature around 20 initiatives organised by a coalition of associations across Belgium.
The coalition includes groups such as Réseau Wallon de Lutte contre la Pauvreté, Inter-Environnement Bruxelles, La Voix des Sans-papiers, Vie Féminine, and ATD Quart Monde.
They plan to hold rallies, community interventions, marches and film screenings in over ten locations including Liège, Charleroi and Wavre, as well as hundreds of events across Europe. All actions are part of the European-wide Housing Action Days.
'The result of political choices'
In Europe, nearly 20 million people live in substandard housing, and at least 895,000 people are homeless. This is equivalent to the population of a city like Marseille or Turin, according to a statement released by the collective on Thursday.
In Belgium, thousands cannot afford their rent, while tens of thousands are on waiting lists for social housing.
The collective noted that many people live in housing that is unfit or too small, to the point of falling ill.
Woon Actie Logement stated that this "injustice is the result of political and societal choices."
The organisation is calling for a massive increase in social housing, a halt to evictions without rehousing, an ambitious plan to eradicate homelessness and the regularisation of undocumented migrants.
More information is available here.
