Habitat for Humanity’s Global Urban Approach (GUA) addresses urban housing challenges in 70+ countries worldwide, building better cities through increasing access to adequate and affordable housing.
Location
Monrovia, Liberia and Asunción, Paraguay
Organisation
Population
Monrovia: 1.4 million1
Asunción: 3.2 million1
Growth Rate
Monrovia: 3.36%2
Asunción: 1.67%2
Key Stakeholders
Informal Residents
Whole Community
Other Stakeholders
Local NGOs, CSOs, CBOs
International NGOs
City Authorities
Other Service Providers
State / Federal Actors
Academia
Private Sector
Local Small Business
Donors
Multilateral Organisations
Relevant SDGS
Disruption
City and Sector
Scaleability
International
Summary
Context
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An estimated 1.6 billion people live in sub-standard housing and 1 billion live in slums – that’s 1 in 8 people around the world – projected to double by 2030. In many developing countries, more than 50% of the urban populations live in slums.3
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In Liberia, the country’s urban population is just over 50%, 70% of that population live in slum settlements around the capital greater Monrovia, originally constructed for 500,000 residents but currently with 1.4 million. The vast majority of people cannot afford housing: only 20% of the highest income group can afford new housing.4
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In Asunción, Paraguay, in one of the city’s first neighbourhoods, Chacarita, a wave of migration to the lower flood-prone river wetlands part of the district resulted in an informal population of 1,300 households with low-quality housing, overcrowding and a lack of basic services.4
Interview
In this interview, Sanjee Singh, Director – International Housing Programs at Habitat for Humanity International, tells us about the organisation’s comprehensive housing ecosystem strategy and why it is driven by people, public and private partnerships.
Sanjee describes how the co-creation through these partnerships of context-relevant and evidence-based interventions at three different levels – community, market and policy – have transformed the living conditions for low-income communities in Monrovia, Liberia and Asunción, Paraguay, and led to longer-term systematic changes in the whole affordable housing sector.
In the short excerpt below, Sanjee briefly explains the big idea behind Habitat’s Global Urban Approach. For the FULL INTERVIEW, please visit Soundcloud or Spotify.
Key Programme Activities
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Community engagement
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Comprehensive assessments
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Organisational training/skills building
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Community infrastructure
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Improved service delivery
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Market engagement
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Policy/advocacy
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Stakeholder co-ordination, network-building
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Technical support
Key Outcomes
Since 2016, Habitat for Humanity’s Global Urban Approach has improved living conditions, health status, resilience and reduction of threat of evictions for slum dwellers. In the examples from Liberia and Paraguay:
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In the slum community of Peace Island, Monrovia, 24,300 people (90%) will have access to clean water, 1,800 people will have access to improved sanitation, and 20,250 people (75%) will be served with improved solid waste collection by the government-authorised Community Based Enterprise.
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The biogas sanitation facility to be built in Peace Island will serve as an example for onsite sustainable sanitation solutions for other slum communities. Local youth employment and urban agriculture opportunities have also emerged in the community as additional benefits.
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There has been a significant shift in government housing policy and mindsets to support slum upgrading, including the establishment of the Slum Upgrading Unit within the National Housing Authority.
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In Asunción, Paraguay, 1,000 families were voluntarily relocated to new housing units, with new community spaces and services, 8km from their old flood-prone neighbourhood. Stronger relationships between community and government have also resulted in improved public policy and planning around relocations.
- Photo Credits
- – Habitat for Humanity International
- Notes
- – 1 Statistics from UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018)
- – 2 Statistics from UN World Urbanization Prospects (2018), estimated average annual growth rate (2020-25)
- – 3 Statistics from UN-Habitat (2016), World Cities Report
- – 4 Statistics from Habitat for Humanity International
