Search results for - ‘poverty’

The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) is a semi-governmental organisation dedicated to the revitalisation of the Old City of Hebron. The HRC offices are located within the Old City, in an area which is currently under Israeli military control. The main components of the project include the securing of decent housing, infrastructure and services, the stimulation of economic activity, and the provision of legal assistance to protect the residents' rights. As a result of the programme, several thousand new residents have moved into the Old City. Economic conditions are improving and the social fabric of the area has been strengthened by social integration awareness and community participation.

The Odisha Alliance is a partnership involving the NGO Urban Development Resource Centre (UDRC), the grassroots women’s organisation Mahila Milan, the Odisha/National Slum Dwellers’ Federation (O/NSDF) and the Society of Promotion of Area Resources Centre (Sparc) – in 225 settlements in five cities of the state of Odisha and in three cities in the state of West Bengal. The Alliance’s project benefits the bottom 30 per cent of the economic pyramid of city dwellers who live in informal settlements, focusing on the community-led development of model houses that are affordable and adapted to local needs, as a basis for negotiating with government actors. These models act as ‘precedents’, demonstrating that slum dwellers can be the agents of their own development, while providing solutions that can be scaled up. The initiative is ongoing with many schemes at different stages of development. Sixty model houses have been built and two government programmes are running, with 400 additional houses currently under construction.

The MEDINA Project involves the participatory urban renewal of historic cities in Yemen, using heritage preservation as a starting point to address the needs of a living community and develop wider urban renewal processes, improvements in housing conditions and local economic development. Historic residential buildings are renovated and restored using locally-available materials and reviving traditional skills and construction techniques. Residents are involved throughout the process and engage with the local authorities in defining recommendations and strategies for the rehabilitation of their cities. Initiated in 2007 under a bilateral agreement between the Yemeni and German governments, the project began with the historic cities of Shibam and Zabid and is now being adapted and transferred to other cities across the country.

The Dajopen Waste Management (DWM) group is a community-based organisation based in the town of Kitale, Kenya. It aims at tackling the economic, social and environmental conditions of vulnerable communities through a community-based waste management strategy, including the collection of waste, the production of recycled items, and the training of other self-help groups and actors regarding alternative livelihood opportunities, waste management and organic farming. Since this project was first initiated in 2007, 95 per cent of the DWM members have changed their waste disposal method. More than 21,000 people have been trained in waste management and organic farming and eight community groups have been trained by DWM in producing a range of recycled products.

The Calakmul Rural Housing Programme was initiated in 2004 by Échale a tu Casa, a social franchise programme developed by Ecoblock International. It aims to facilitate self-build processes in the Calakmul area of Campeche, by providing technical training and assistance as well as financial support to low-income rural families, and by facilitating collective organisation processes. Using Échale’s Adoblock building technology, the programme has supported the assisted self-build construction of 1,000 new homes as well as 1,610 home improvements, generating employment for 500 people. The approach is being scaled up via a social franchising model, whereby community leaders take on a supervisory role for self-build projects within a certain geographic region.

Working to support community-led, high-density urban-housing initiatives, this project has worked with nearly 5,000 families from more than 15 urban popular movements across São Paulo. Appropriate technologies have been developed to allow for the construction of complex multi-storey buildings by the residents themselves. Following construction, community facilities and income-generating activities are developed, including community bakeries, childcare facilities and professional training courses.

The Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development is an Egyptian NGO established in 1995. Better Life seeks to improve the quality of life for the poor and marginalised in the Minia governorate, through a rights-based approach. It works in three main villages and several small affiliated villages, surrounded by the River Nile from the west and the Eastern Desert from the east. To date, housing has been improved for nearly 1,000 families and potable water and latrines provided for over 5,900 families. Furthermore, Better Life is the first NGO in Egypt to formally advocate and work on behalf of quarry-workers, fishermen, low-income farmers and their children. The organisation’s activities aim to empower local communities by improving livelihoods and health, reducing pollution, and encouraging and supporting them to organise around their own needs and rights, including with respect to land tenure. The organisation has also initiated innovative financing mechanisms.

Founded in 1927, the Public Housing Service (SPV) is a department of the Rosario municipal government, working within a system of decentralised management of resources. In addition to its urban upgrading activities and housing improvement programmes, SPV is involved in the construction of new housing units for low and moderate income households in Rosario, as well as land tenure regularisation. The Rosario Habitat programme has helped 5,298 families to upgrade their homes and strengthen their local economy and environment using participatory methods. The programme is expected to be scaled up and has already been transferred to other major cities in Argentina.

Working with vulnerable, low-income families, unable to access government housing grants, PASO A PASO has provided 1,252 loans to low-income, predominantly women-headed households across Ecuador. An innovative, self-sustaining, housing finance system combines residents’ savings with micro-credit through a revolving fund to make up the deposit required to access the federal housing subsidy. Seventeen housing programmes have been supported enabling 725 homes to be built.

Tent City is a 269 unit mixed-income housing complex of outstanding design in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. Originating from popular protest against the gentrification of the area, the project remains affordable to low-income households due to innovative and sustainable funding mechanisms. It provides an outstanding example of how to preserve the economically and racially integrated population mix that is typical of older urban areas, as well as providing a model for how successful developments can change public policy.   

Initiated in the wake of the 1999 super-cyclone, this project provides technical support and expertise in the use of alternative, cost-effective, disaster-resistant building technologies. Over 3,500 families have been able to construct safer homes at a lower cost. The training programme has helped over 3,650 masons organise into groups, enabling them to develop successful small businesses and increase their monthly income by over 45 per cent.

Located in the heart of San Francisco, this environmentally responsible, mixed-use development provides homes and support to 106 low-income individuals, many of whom were chronically homeless and have complex medical and behavioural issues. Fully equipped studio apartments encourage independent living and the supportive environment and ongoing capacity-building programme aims to improve the health, mental and financial-wellbeing of Plaza residents.

CLIFF starts from the philosophy that the poor are worthy of investment. Instead of giving one-off grants, CLIFF helps establish organisations in Asia and Africa with the capacity to provide slum dwellers with access to affordable housing finance. This approach not only facilitates the construction of affordable homes and neighbourhoods, it also generates enough financial return to allow the organisations it funds to achieve financial sustainability. In Nepal, this approach has enabled CLIFF investment to act as venture capital, proving the viability of projects that then achieve investment from established banks and lenders. Currently operating in fourteen countries, CLIFF has supported more than 70 housing and infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa between 2010 and 2014.

848,000 houses were destroyed and 9.7 million people affected by severe floods in western Pakistan in 2011. This project developed and provided support to build over 20,000 flood resistant houses by the most vulnerable families based on local and traditional building designs. The houses were built using local labour and construction skills. Water resistant and lighter weight materials, such as lime and bamboo were introduced, creating huge savings in cost and embodied carbon over standard reconstruction approaches.

The Roma are among the most vulnerable communities in Europe with a long history of persecution and discrimination perpetrated against them. Most live in segregated areas in poor quality and unhealthy housing. The project seeks to improve housing conditions and better integrate Roma people within wider society, including lobbying for equal access to public services. It has upgraded houses, improved sanitation, helped to improve school attendance, learning and helped people into work. The project’s ‘Dweller-driven Upgrading of Roma Settlements Model’ is now being successfully scaled up across Serbia.

Over 6,000 dwellings have been built in Montreal under this programme which provides affordable homes for low-income households to buy. A further 4,000 dwellings have been built throughout Canada and the United States. Building costs are halved through the use of innovative design and construction methods and by giving the buyers the option of partial internal completion. This allows them to complete the basement or top storey of the house as and when resources and needs permit. High energy-efficiency levels are achieved, as well as a reduction in urban sprawl due to the higher density of development.

A project led by FUNDASAL (the Salvadoran Foundation for Development and Low-cost Housing) to improve health and housing standards in the deprived rural settlements of canton El Pinalito in county Santa Ana, where the risk from disasters caused by natural phenomena such as earthquakes is high and services and infrastructure are poor. Supported by a wide partnership of organisations, the project has helped to significantly reduce the incidence of Chagas disease and other illnesses related to the poor condition of the habitat and has improved the durability of housing. Chagas disease is a tropical parasitic disease spread by insects that live in cracks and gaps found in poor quality housing, it is endemic to South and Central America. The objective of FUNDASAL and partners is to achieve a transferable model of intervention which will not require external funding, so the project embeds knowledge within the local communities and enables the use of locally sourced building materials. The inclusion and training of local households and support groups is integral to this project.

The world is in the grip of a refugee crisis. Millions of people have fled conflict or persecution in their homelands in the hope of finding safety abroad. In the year ending June 2018, Britain received 27,044 asylum applications – less than 4 per cent of all asylum claims made in the EU during that […]

Velokhaya is a special place for the residents of Khayelitsha. The cycling school is a refuge for hundreds of disadvantaged children, where they can ride bikes, learn, play, and escape from the harsh realities of life in the township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. Velokhaya is easy to spot among the vast […]

Initiated by the Palmyrah Workers' Development Society (PWDS), this project works to enable families to build their own secure, fire-resistant homes whilst improving their livelihoods. To date, 11,000 homes have been built through a participatory, mutual-help process and the housing movement continues to grow and extend itself through community solidarity and social networks and mainstream service linkages.    

The work of Johannesburg Housing Company (JHC) involves the development and adaptive re-use of city-centre buildings to deliver mixed-tenure, affordable rental housing whilst acting as a trigger for the regeneration of the surrounding area. To date JHC has provided nearly 3,000 homes in 24 buildings, adding a further eight per cent to the residential stock of Johannesburg’s inner city.

With guidance from low-income communities, Rural Opportunities, Inc. develops and operates programs that empower low-income rural families throughout six states and Puerto Rico, promoting the responsible development of the communities in which they live. The Windy Hill Apartments located in New York State involved the redevelopment of a foreclosed, blighted apartment complex in the village of Clyde, providing affordable rental housing for 30 families earning below 60 per cent of the area median income.

To date the Ocean View Development Trust has assisted 700 poor and marginalised families to build and improve their own homes in one of the overcrowded Western Cape townships. Mutual aid and sweat equity help to reduce costs and workshops are used to develop and spread skills within the community. Innovative financing systems encourage the retention of wealth within the community, as well as creating jobs and a much improved living environment.  

The Housing Center is an NGO working to improve the housing conditions for socially vulnerable groups in Serbia, particularly refugees and internally displaced persons. Not only does the Housing Center construct new social housing units, it also helps to create a supportive environment for residents through the provision of a ‘host family’ in each of the small apartment blocks. The project is delivered in close cooperation with local municipalities and their centres for social work. To date 430 new apartments have been completed in 22 different municipalities and the project approach is now being implemented ever more widely.

Project Description Many historic town and city centres in El Salvador have suffered years of neglect and a lack of investment. Housing within these areas is often in disrepair, lacks basic services and puts residents at risk of eviction and poor health. Through a programme of training, funding and collaboration, a network of organisations including […]