Informality persists as the most visible manifestation of inequity. And yet, informal settlements are also spaces of the “social production of habitat” and exemplify people-led development of housing and home, considering complex power dynamics and exclusion from formal decision-making systems.
Governments can counteract the compounding stresses adding to the global housing deficit by ensuring equitable access to housing – a key asset and pathway out of poverty. While the global housing deficit requires multiple solutions by various actors to be adequately addressed, the lives of millions can be improved if the defining qualities of informal settlements are addressed so that their inhabitants are enabled to ensure their housing is safe, adequate and sustainable.
We commit to mobilizing our Habitat national organizations, our partners, our volunteers and community members in collaboration with government decision-makers and other stakeholders to find solutions and help create policies or systems that will lead to equitable access to housing in informal settlements.
This session focuses on equitable access to housing in informal settlements through policy and systems change, with examples from Latin America and Africa, achieved through empowered participation, climate resilience, inclusive basic services and freedom from eviction.
Moderator: Achilles Kallergis – Assistant Professor, New School for Social Research and Director of Cities and Migration, Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility
Speakers:
- Mathabo Makuta – national director, Habitat for Humanity Zambia
- Farouk Braimah – Slum Dwellers International
- Raquel Ludermir Bernardino – advocacy coordinator, Habitat for Humanity Brazil
Interested in learning more? Watch other sessions here.