Green Party councillor Pete Fry and One City councillor Lucy Maloney are introducing a motion to protect human rights during the FIFA World Cup \u2014 including stronger protections for unhoused residents.<\/p>\n
FIFA required all World Cup host cities to create and implement a Human Rights Action Plan, of which Vancouver released its draft version<\/a> on Feb. 19, 2026. It needs to be finalized in May.<\/p>\n However, according to a release from the Green Party of Vancouver, it\u00a0\u201clacks specific commitments, measurable outcomes, and accountability mechanisms needed to ensure human rights protections are upheld around the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve heard from advocates and people in the community that there are some serious gaps in that human rights action plan,\u201d said Fry, in an interview with Daily Hive.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an opportunity now to provide feedback, and this is some of the feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n Fry said he\u2019s concerned that the plan lacks \u201ca robust reporting mechanism\u201d to track human rights violations.<\/p>\n \u201cIt recommends that complaints could go through the Human Rights Tribunal, which actually takes years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n His and Maloney\u2019s motion calls for the City to develop a \u201chuman rights measurement framework,\u201d with clear indicators, baseline data, targets, and public reporting to Council.<\/p>\n Protections for unhoused people<\/p>\n The motion also calls for stronger protections for unhoused and precariously housed people.<\/p>\n It includes a \u201cno displacement commitment\u201d without safe and dignified alternatives, increased access to low-barrier spaces and essential services, real-time tracking and reporting on shelter availability and service access, and documentation around enforcement interactions.<\/p>\n The FIFA World Cup is running from June 11 to July 19. On each match day, there will be a two-kilometre controlled area<\/a> (also known as \u201cthe bubble zone\u201d) around BC Place for security and crowd control.<\/p>\n Fry noted that this area encompasses the Downtown Eastside and Granville South, where there are \u201centrenched populations of vulnerable people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to ensure that we are appropriately resourcing alternative spaces for folks to go, so we\u2019re not just seeing them pushed out of the bubble zone and into another zone or into an unsafe situation,\u201d Fry said.<\/p>\n