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World Habitat’s Deputy CEO Louise Winterburn is visiting Jakarta, Indonesia, from the UK this Sunday 25th and Monday 26th August to celebrate the groundbreaking success of the Housing Rights in Jakarta: Collective Action and Policy Advocacy project.
She will also be facilitating an important workshop for civil and government leaders on ways to solve the housing emergency in Indonesia.
The project, which won a Gold World Habitat Award this year, has been instrumental in protecting the rights of thousands of kampung residents in Jakarta. Through organised and collaborative efforts between different groups – kampung residents, civil society, Non-Governmental Organisations, political groups and research centres – the project has achieved significant victories in halting forced evictions, building new homes, improving living conditions and advocating for legal and political changes that protect the rights of kampung residents.
The global housing crisis demands urgent and innovative solutions. In Indonesia, it is made worse by a severe housing shortage, which reached 12.7 million houses in 2023. With the ambitious target set by the President-elect to build three million homes each year, there is no better time to explore how new policies and models of collective housing, including the cooperative model used by the Housing Rights in Jakarta project, can help to solve the crisis.
That is the goal of this important event which will be attended by local and national policymakers, government officials and international housing experts. The event on Sunday will provide the opportunity to speak directly to those affected by the evictions, as well as housing activists, academics and researchers. It will also include a public tour of some of the upgraded and protected kampungs, a World Habitat Award trophy presentation, films, food and talks.
On Monday, the event organisers and World Habitat will run a workshop for government and civil society to discuss the national housing crisis, explore strategies to achieve the President’s housing target and agree on specific commitments and policies across ministries.
Louise Winterburn’s presence at the event highlights the importance of grassroots activism and the power of community-led initiatives in driving positive social change. She commented: “I am delighted to be here, to celebrate with this year’s Gold World Habitat Award winners. It is clear to see how the project has dramatically affected the lives of Jakarta’s kampung residents. It also provides further evidence that cooperative housing models can be transferred and adapted to new contexts. They have the potential to create homes, improve health and well-being, strengthen communities and empower people, not just in Indonesia, but across the world.”
Dian Tri Irawaty Ph.D, Program Director at Rujak Center for Urban Studies and one of the organisers of the event, said: “Today is a very proud and exciting moment for the Housing Rights in Jakarta project. More and more people are beginning to realise that cooperative housing can contribute to healthy and successful communities. We are thrilled to have World Habitat here, as well as government officials and policymakers who are united with us in fighting the housing crisis.”
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