Habitat Dominicana marks World Habitat Day with the virtual talk Safe Homes

• Almost 50% of homes in Latin America and the Caribbean are built with poor-quality materials, have no access to drinking water and stand on land that doesn’t belong to the family.

• Habitat works to reduce the housing deficit in 17 countries through its programmes.

Santo Domingo, 5 October 2022. To mark World Habitat Day on Monday 3 October, Habitat for Humanity joined the United Nations in celebrating the day, to remind the world that decent, resilient and safe housing is a fundamental human right that 1.8 billion people around the world do not enjoy.

According to the Inter-American Development Bank, the qualitative housing deficit affects almost half of households in Latin America and the Caribbean. This means millions of homes built with poor-quality materials, without access to drinking water, toilets or showers, standing on land that doesn’t belong to the family and with dirt floors.

As part of the celebration, Habitat Dominicana held the virtual talk Safe Homes on Wednesday 5 October. The event aimed to raise awareness of the importance of habitat, the need for housing solutions for a growing population, the insecurity of vulnerable homes in the country, and collaboration in building homes that are safe, resilient and sustaining spaces for families in the Dominican Republic.

The session featured presentations by Julissa Báez, executive director of the Dominican Association of Cement Producers (Adocem); architect Luis Gabriel Ardila, lecturer at the PUCMM School of Architecture and Design; engineer Rosivanna Ruiz, director of construction and projects at the Ministry of Housing and Buildings (MIVED); and, representing Habitat Dominicana, engineer Francis Medina, construction and risk management coordinator – all construction experts with extensive experience in social housing – moderated by architect Betsaida Santana, programme manager at Habitat Dominicana.

Water and sanitation, resilient housing, access to decent housing and social housing were the topics covered during the virtual event, which was streamed via Zoom, Facebook LIVE and YouTube.

“Now more than ever we are convinced that housing represents the strength, stability and self-reliance a family needs to thrive. As an organisation, we are very happy that this event took place as part of World Habitat Day. The challenges are many; we hope more people will join our cause so we can keep building together to empower through shelter,” said Cesarina Fabián, national director of Habitat Dominicana.

Habitat for Humanity‘s mandate is to reduce vulnerability and build resilient communities by integrating housing initiatives that provide basic sanitation services such as roofs and floors.

After Hurricane Fiona passed through the country, many families were left unprotected; their safe place, their home, was destroyed by the storm’s strong winds.

Habitat Dominicana has been coordinating the inter-agency response to rebuild, support and assist affected families.

Starting in El Seibo and Miches, in a collaborative effort with the Ministry of Housing and Buildings (MIVED) and the NGO World Vision Dominican Republic.

The storm confirmed once again that the home is the safest place a family has.

A safe home offers protection from the storm and is a refuge in which to be safe.

Habitat has been present in the country for 36 years, has built or improved homes for 196,455 people and has delivered around 39,289 housing solutions. It works so that everyone has a decent place to live, through programmes focused on housing microfinance, risk reduction and disaster response.

It has empowered families to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.

About Habitat for Humanity

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began as a Christian-based movement on a community farm in southern Georgia, United States. The organisation has grown into an affordable housing NGO working in all 50 US states and in more than 70 countries around the world. Today, more than 39 million people worldwide have a safe place to call home thanks to Habitat’s work.

Families and individuals in need of support partner with Habitat to build or improve a place to call home. In fiscal year 2021, Habitat helped improve the housing conditions of more than 4.2 million people around the world, 1.4 million of them in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through shelter, we empower people.

More information: https://www.habitat.org/lac-es. And Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic at www.habitatdominicana.org

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