As millions of refugees flee violence in Ukraine, Habitat for Humanity continues responding in neighboring Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Slovakia to help meet the shelter needs of both families on the move to other destinations and those seeking a place to live for at least the next few months.
The loud explosions jolted Marina and her husband from their slumber just before dawn outside Dnipro, a central Ukrainian city that spreads out from the banks of the Dnieper River. Confused, they wandered outside their nine-story apartment building and couldn’t believe what they saw: plumes of smoke rising high in the distance. Bombs had hit the airport, just 5 kilometers away.
Housing experts, policymakers, industry leaders, international nonprofits, multilateral organizations, and various other stakeholders across the housing ecosystem will be assembling at the Africa Housing Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, May 12-14, 2022. The forum, featuring both in-person and virtual formats, will act as a platform for solutions that promote affordable housing as a driver of economic growth in Africa.
Global nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity has opened applications for the ShelterTech sub-Saharan Africa accelerator program, and is now inviting startups with scalable solutions to today’s affordable housing challenges to apply.
More than 500 people from at least 25 countries in Africa came together in person and remotely today in Kenya’s capital for Habitat for Humanity’s first-ever Africa Housing Forum. Attendees focused on the urgent need for sustainable and innovative solutions that don’t leave vulnerable groups behind during the forum, which runs through Saturday.
In Mexico, 53.3 million people do not have the financial means to buy or build decent housing, despite the right to housing being enshrined in the constitution. Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter and Holcim have announced a new partnership to provide low-income families with better access to affordable housing products, services and financing. The project will be implemented in Veracruz state, where a quarter of families lack adequate housing.
Habitat for Humanity and its partner organization World Hope International, along with YMCA and the government of Liberia, completed construction works of a multi-year complex slum upgrading project to improve access to water, sanitation, solid waste collection services and a community infrastructure facility to promote social cohesion in Peace Island, Congo Town.
In episode 3 of our podcast series, we talk about informal settlements in Africa with Charles Witbooi, Program Head for Advocacy and Volunteering Engagement at Habitat for Humanity South Africa.
Read news about Habitat’s work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.