Search results for - ‘poverty’

Using a pro-poor approach, and in defiance of initial government relocation policy, Uplink is working with 23 of the villages worst affected by the 2004 tsunami to provide 3,500 homes and infrastructure and to increase community cohesion and reconciliation. Community members are involved at every level, and employed wherever possible. A combination of training and village based loan funds provides increased opportunities to improve long-term livelihood prospects.

Liter of Light uses cheap, readily available materials to provide high quality lighting to homes in poor communities. Recycled plastic bottles filled with water and a bit of bleach are fitted into the roof to provide daylighting and can be upgraded with an LED bulb, micro-solar panels and a battery to provide a low cost night lighting system. Liter of Light works with the local community to produce the lighting systems creating jobs locally. By embracing social media and the philosophy of open-source technology, the project has grown from nothing to lighting up 160,000 homes in the Philippines and has now spread around the world.

The autonomous region of Gorno-Badakhshan in Tajikistan is home to some of the world’s highest mountains. Winters are long and very cold – average night-time temperatures remain below freezing for seven months of the year. The region is sparsely populated and most of its 250,000 inhabitants live in poorly insulated homes that are in disrepair […]

Food preparation is an essential part of daily life but for women living in impoverished rural Pakistan it is a time-consuming and arduous task that puts both their own health and that of their family at risk. This is because millions of rural households depend on open-flame wood-burning stoves, which fill homes with smoke causing […]

A government run initiative, this programme works with the private sector to provide stand alone solar energy systems to homes in remote rural areas. Improved lighting reduces kerosene and pinewood use and improves air quality and health. It allows children to study at home and gives flexibility in working time. The partnership has installed 41,379 home systems to date at a cost of US$ 133 per house and provides maintenance and installation training to rural people.      

Over 15,000 families have benefited to date from the Bento Rubião Foundation’s pioneering work with the Right to Land and Right to Housing programmes in Rio de Janeiro. These programmes address issues of land tenure and urban regularisation, as well as innovative approaches to housing provision. In addition to empowering communities to improve their living conditions, FBR is also working successfully to influence both local and national government policy.      

Established in 1998, Home Ownership Alternatives (HOA) is a non-profit financial corporation operating in Greater Toronto which finances the development of affordable ownership housing. It uses a range of innovative financial mechanisms, including shared appreciation second mortgages, to enable low and moderate income families become home owners. Working with development partners, HOA has supported 11 housing developments providing 2,350 homes to date. A range of housing types are provided including apartments, duplexes and townhouses, all of which are more affordable to those families who fall in the gap between social housing provision and conventional home ownership provision.

The Rural Health and Environment Programme successfully demonstrates how communities can be involved in the sustainable and affordable development of their own community infrastructure and housing. This holistic approach starts with the provision of water and sanitation and moves on to the self-funded development of housing. Over 8,000 households have been involved to date in the programme which continues to expand throughout the state of Orissa. A total loan approach is used for the housing so that all costs are met by the villagers themselves. The housing programme is linked to the provision of training and income generation opportunities to ensure its long-term economic sustainability.     

Project Description ‘More than Housing’ is a large housing cooperative development that seeks to anticipate the future needs of its community and design buildings and ways of living that meet them. The building is designed to use as little energy as possible but it also promotes sustainable lifestyles with low car use and low heating […]

Project Description Following the prolonged civil war in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009, the Government of India took the decision to provide humanitarian and financial support to the Government and people of Sri Lanka to help them recover from the trauma of war. In total, the Government of India is supporting a number of […]

Project Description Since the hurricanes of September 2013, Cooperación Comunitaria has been working in the Montaña de Guerrero region in Mexico. The Reconstruction of Habitat project was implemented first in the community of Obispo, in the Municipality of Malinaltepec, after assessing the magnitude of the problems caused by hurricanes and is designed to enable replication […]

Project Description Through this eco-sanitation project, the Umande Trust seeks to involve marginalised communities living in urban informal settlements in accessing basic services through community-led provision of bio-centres. The Trust facilitates community participation and provides training and support to enable informal settlers to lead on the planning, design and management of the facilities. This community […]

Project Description Passiv Solar Verandas are wood-framed structures built against the south-facing wall of a house. The project installs them in the highland region of Afghanistan where winter temperatures are cold and access to fuel is expensive and difficult. They act like a greenhouse using the sun’s warmth to heat the air. The warm air […]

Tanzania Women Architects for Humanity (TAWAH), was formed in June 2010 by a group of Tanzanian women architects and engineers, united by a strong commitment to enhancing social justice in the country and wider region. Since its establishment, TAWAH has designed and built a secondary school as well as additional classrooms in rural areas, improved […]

One of the biggest challenges facing social housing providers across the world is the need to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Old buildings use a lot of energy, making them a major source of carbon emissions as well as being uncomfortable and expensive to live in. Many countries have introduced carbon reduction targets […]

At least 1.6 billion people worldwide live in substandard housing – but for low-income families in the developing world, the options for financial support to improve their homes are extremely limited. These households typically have undocumented and volatile incomes and usually lack the collateral needed for a mortgage. Many work in the informal sector and […]

State investment in new social homes has been decreasing in the UK since the late 1970s. Existing social housing stock was further depleted by the right-to-buy policy introduced in the 1980s, which allowed tenants to buy their homes at greatly subsidised prices. The lack of social homes means low-income households are increasingly seeking accommodation in […]

In September 2017, Mexico was shaken by two powerful earthquakes. The first occurred on 7 September in the Pacific Ocean, close to south-western states of Oaxaca and Chiapas and was followed just 12 days later by an independent earthquake (not an aftershock) near the metropolis of Puebla and only 120 km away from Mexico City. […]

When Spain’s housing bubble ‘burst’ following the 2008 global financial crisis, thousands of families lost their homes to repossession. With homeownership now out of reach for many, pressure on the rental market has increased exponentially, resulting in year after year of soaring rents and unstable tenancies. In the face of this growing housing crisis, a […]

Established in 1981, the Tenderloin Neighbourhood Development Corporation (TNDC) serves San Francisco’s hardest-to-house populations, including many with histories of homelessness. TNDC creates and maintains affordable housing, promotes stabilisation and revitalisation of the neighbourhood, and offers essential support services for its residents. TNDC owns and operates 30 buildings, housing over 3,000 residents. The 990 Polk Street project was designed to provide affordable housing for 150 vulnerable older people; housing formerly homeless older people with mental health problems, together with low-income older persons. The programme is expected to be transferred and TNDC has already been collaborating with other local and national organisations.

In partnership with micro-credit institutions, Enda Océan Indien (Enda OI) established a savings scheme enabling families living in the Lower City of Antananarivo to save and borrow money for a new house and/or pit latrine. Enda OI supports the families throughout the process, from saving and adjusting to a new credit culture through to building and maintaining their new property.

The Community Programme for Neighbourhood Improvement (PCMB) is a community-driven neighbourhood improvement programme that was established in 2007 by the Social Development Secretariat (SDS) of the Federal District government of Mexico City. It uses a participatory approach to improving public spaces in informal settlements and low-income neighbourhoods, particularly those with high levels of social conflict, marginalisation and/or urban decay. Projects developed through the programme include illumination and paving of streets, provision of recreational, community and sports facilities, rain collection and drainage systems as well as small parks. Funds are distributed directly to the local communities, who are given full responsibility for delivering the projects selected, after training in financial and project management and with the support of the municipality. Over 500 million pesos (US$40 million) have been disbursed to date and the programme is ongoing, with 600 projects due to be completed by 2012.

The Federal Housing and Habitat Improvement Programme for Indigenous and Rural People is a state-run programme under the Under-secretariat for Urban Development and Housing (SSDUV), which aims to support and improve the living conditions of indigenous groups and low-income households in rural areas of Argentina. The construction of new homes, improvement of existing homes, development of rural infrastructure works and the creation of stable livelihoods are its four main areas of activities. National government funding is transferred to local partners or executive bodies, which work directly with beneficiaries and communities where the programme is operating. These bodies may be either provincial or municipal governments, NGOs and/or communities of indigenous peoples and are generally made up of professional technicians, social scientists and accountants. The total investment to date for 2,625 homes is US$ 70 million with an average of US$ 29,000 per unit. The autonomous programme’s work began in 2010 and is currently operating in 9 of the 23 provinces of Argentina.

A community land trust is helping transform an informal settlement around a polluted and flood prone river channel into a sustainable community. It provides a new model for improving informal settlements in cities without them then becoming unaffordable for the original residents.

Since 2006, Actions Solidaires de Soutien aux Organisations et d'Appui aux Libertés (Solidarity Actions of Support to Organisations Promoting Freedom – ASSOAL ) has been working with the grassroots network Réseau National des Habitants du Cameroun (National Network of the Inhabitants of Cameroon - RNHC) to develop new ways to improve access to affordable housing, and to advocate for their application, which culminated in the formulation of propositions for nation-wide policies. The issues addressed include: access to property ownership; rental housing; neighbourhood improvement, through inclusive and democratic processes. ASSOAL and the RNHC started a series of pilot interventions to demonstrate the validity of the new approaches such as participatory budgeting and housing cooperatives funded by a revolving fund. To support these various initiatives, ASSOAL runs dissemination and knowledge-sharing activities, as well as building the capacity of various actors.