Beyond building houses, Habitat builds awareness of the underlying tenure issues that affect homeownership around the world
by Shala Carlson
Habitat for Humanity has long preached the message of simple, decent and affordable housing around the world. “Secure” should not be forgotten.
In so many of the countries in which Habitat works, having affordable housing isn’t just about building an affordable house. Policy is the deepest foundation on which simple, decent housing is built, and policy means systems and social norms in place that address land ownership, property rights, stability of rental agreements, inheritance planning — and a whole host of related issues that affect a family’s ability to have a house and know that it’s really theirs. These most-urgent, underlying issues fall into a category of housing concerns called “secure tenure.”
Secure tenure comes into play in different ways around the world. In Asia or South America, a man moves his family into a booming city center, looking for work and finding affordable shelter only in a crowded informal settlement perched on public land. In Europe, a growing family learns that they cannot stay in their dilapidated apartment building because the ownership of the land on which it sits is suddenly in question. In Africa, a widow worries that she and her young children will be driven from their house by a community that frowns on women owning property.
Because tragedies like these happen to millions of families every day, the very families that Habitat wants to reach, the tenets of secure tenure are incredibly important to the work of the organization. Each year, on the first Monday of October, institutions and individuals around the globe mark World Habitat Day, a United Nations-designated day dedicated to the basic right of adequate shelter for all. For World Habitat Day 2008, Habitat for Humanity has chosen secure tenure as its special emphasis.“To ensure affordable housing remains a priority, we must leverage our voices and bring the attention of key decision-makers at all levels of society to the issue — and World Habitat Day is a key strategy to helping make that happen,” says Jenny Russell, Habitat’s senior director of government relations and advocacy.
Oct. 6 is one day, an important day, for calling the world’s attention to the difficulties that too many face in their search for affordable housing. The stories on the following pages share Habitat’s work on other days, the work that attempts to address the larger issues surrounding affordable housing without losing sight of the central idea of home.
