Access to sustainable housing is key in the region

• At the 4th Latin American and Caribbean Housing and Habitat Forum, international organisations, governments and NGOs discussed how to improve access to sustainable housing.

June 2021. Solving the housing and health crisis and promoting economic recovery in Latin America and the Caribbean were among the main topics discussed at the 4th Housing and Habitat Forum, organised by Habitat for Humanity and convened by the Urban Housing Practitioners Hub (UHPH).

It brought together organisations such as UN-Habitat, ECLAC, the World Bank and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), as well as governments, academia, community leaders and NGOs, to work on joint actions to reduce the region’s housing deficit during and after the current pandemic.

The event featured lectures and panels with experts and social actors, who shared their experience of implementing actions to reduce the housing deficit and poverty in their countries. Governments including those of Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and El Salvador shared their public policies for providing housing to the most vulnerable populations, also with private sector support.

“At Habitat for Humanity, we are clear that we must create spaces like the Forum so that players in the sector can come together, hear success stories in housing and urban habitat interventions, and replicate them in their own countries. This year we focused entirely on the actions we must keep taking during and after COVID-19 to reduce the growing housing deficit in Latin America and the Caribbean”, says Ernesto Castro, area vice-president of Habitat for Humanity in Latin America and the Caribbean.

One of the most important topics at the Forum was access to housing for vulnerable populations and how financing mechanisms can serve this part of the population. In this regard, CABEI reported that through its Housing and Sustainable Habitat Development Programme, it has approved US$596.7 million since 2015 to finance the construction and improvement of homes and access to mortgage loans, benefiting 109,122 families in Central America.

For its part, Habitat for Humanity presented its Report on the Central American Dry Corridor, in which the organisation summarises the causes and effects and proposes three possible areas of intervention to mitigate the impact of climate change, migration and violence in this part of the continent.

“More than 1,000 people and more than 30 high-level speakers took part during Forum week. The event became a space for clear, actionable measures that governments and organisations can apply to improve the housing situation in times of pandemic”, adds Cesarina Fabián, national director of Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic.

In addition, the UHPH platform launched its State of the Art of Housing in the Region report, which was widely discussed by regional experts from the IDB, the World Bank and UN-Habitat. ECLAC also announced the creation of the Urban Platform for Cities of Latin America and the Caribbean, which aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences and ideas in order to strengthen sustainable urban development and foster cooperation as a mechanism for peer learning in the region.

Recognising social impact.

The 4th Housing Forum also presented the 12 winning initiatives of the UHPH 2021 Competition, which have had a positive impact on vulnerable communities across the continent. Winners included OffGrid Single-Family Systems, a Colombian project that provides access to clean energy in rural communities through solar energy solutions, giving them access to electricity and so improving their living conditions; and Outdoor Classroom, recognised for its efforts to improve the wellbeing of children and adolescents in eastern Cali, who, in light of the impact of the pandemic, created a biosafe outdoor classroom for meeting, learning, exercise, fun and knowledge sharing, in order to improve the social, mental and physical wellbeing of young people and the community during the current crisis.

“It is vital to showcase successful housing intervention practices so that other local and national governments and companies can learn about them, promote them and support their replication in other countries. Those chosen by attendees as ‘Best in Show’ received a significant extra prize to further boost their projects”, explains Castro.

The 4th Latin American and Caribbean Housing and Habitat Forum was held virtually from 17 to 21 May.

There are many families to help and we want to reach them, so Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic invites people to get involved and donate through habitatdominicana.org and learn more about us on social media at @habitatdominicana

Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic

Habitat for Humanity is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation working to ensure everyone has a decent place to live, through programmes focused on housing microfinance, minimising risk and increasing disaster response.

Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic empowers families to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. Since it began its work in 1986, the organisation has delivered more than 30,000 housing solutions and impacted around 150,000 people.