Cities & Social Justice: Human Rights & Public Policy in Latin America Wednesday, October 7, 2015 at 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall<http://events.newschool.edu/theresa-lang-community-and-student-center> 55 West 13th Street, Room I202, New York, NY 10011 <http://events.newschool.edu/photo/302374> This two-part event will bring together UN Habitat Executive Director, Joan Clos, investigative journalist Horacio Verbitsky, urbanist Eduardo Reese, and urban rights specialist Edesio Fernandez, to discuss urban human rights and public policy in the Americas. The first session will respond to current issues in Latin America in order to critically examine human rights from an urban perspective. The second session will illuminate the topic of human rights from a broader policy perspective through a consideration of policies that have successfully dealt with urban human rights issues in Latin America, the United States, and the world and and a discussion of what policies are needed. Joan Clos is the Executive Director of the United Nations' Program on Human Settlements, Habitat, based in Nairobi. Clos is a former Mayor of Barcelona and Minister of Industry in Spain. He has been one of the leading spokesmen for the importance of cities in development policy. He is also the Secretary-General of the United Nations' Habitat III Conference to be held in Quito in October 2016. Horacio Verbitsky is one of Argentina's leading investigative journalists, as well as a columnist and press freedom activist. Verbitsky has built his distinguished career by fearlessly exposing government corruption and battling restrictive press laws. His book The Flight contained the first public confessions of an official involved in Argentina's "dirty war". Verbitsky has played a front-line role in strengthening democracy and safeguarding press freedoms in Argentina and Latin America. Eduardo Reese is an architect who specializes in urban and regional planning and is the deputy administrator of the Institute for Housing of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is currently a professor of urban management at the National University General Sarmiento in Buenos Aires and directs the master planning of the Matanza-Riachuelo watershed in Buenos Aires. Previously, Reese provided technical advice for the master plans of more than 20 cities in Argentina; was secretary of socioeconomic policies at the Ministry of Human Development and Labor of the Province of Buenos Aires; and planning secretary in the City of Avellaneda. Edesio Fernandez is a Brazilian lawyer and social scientist who is a Professor of Urban Studies at University College, London. He has extensive global experience working on urban human rights. Most recently he has been involved in the Right to the City movement which has gathered growing support in Latin America. This event is sponsored by The Observatory on Latin America<http://www.observatorylatinamerica.org/> at The New School