HABITAT FACTS:
- Habitat began working in Paraguay in 1998.
- Individuals served in FY2021 – 3,445
- Through new constructions – 225
- Through incremental building -- 1,005
- Through repairs – 2,215
- Volunteers hosted in FY2021 – 301
COUNTRY FACTS:
Capital city – Asunción
Population – 7 million
Life expectancy – 70 years
Unemployment rate -- 7.6%
Below poverty line -- 23.5%
The housing need in Paraguay
According to the Ministry of Urban Planning, Housing and Habitat, Paraguay needed 1.1 million houses in 2011, a figure that increases each year. The high cost of housing loans is seen to contribute to the steep backlog. More than 80% of the housing deficit is qualitative.
It is estimated that 52.9% of the country’s poor lives in urban areas. By 2025, 64.4% of Paraguay’s population will be concentrated in urban areas, according to the General Directorate of Statistics, Surveys, and Censuses. In the capital city of Asunción, 20% of the families live in informal settlements without access to basic services.
How Habitat addresses the need
Improving living conditions of vulnerable groups
Habitat Paraguay promotes better living conditions, especially for children, vulnerable families, and communities, through safe, healthy, and durable homes.
Corporate partnerships
In alliance with companies and within the framework of their social responsibility programs, we provide opportunities to their staff members to build or improve their homes.
Financing services projects
We partner with banking entities such as Visión Bank and Itaú Bank to provide low-income families with accessible financing and technical assistance for building safe and quality homes.
Awareness-raising, volunteer engagement, and advocacy
In the 2021 fiscal year, we raised awareness of housing needs and mobilized both national and international volunteers through the following:
- Mujeres Construyen, or Women Build, promoted awareness of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality.
- Más Baños Saludables, or Healthier Toilets, was a fundraising and awareness-raising initiative contributing to the Sustainable Development Goal 6 on clean water and sanitation for all.
- Habitat Paraguay’s volunteer program that brought together hundreds of international and local volunteers to build or improve homes together with low-income families.
- Our advocacy efforts focused on water and sanitation, financing affordable housing for women, land-use and urban planning.
What you can do
DONATE
Donate at http://www.habitat.org.py/dona/
VOLUNTEER
The Global Village program was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please go to habitat.org/gv for updates, including when and where the program will resume.
TITHE
Habitat affiliates in the U.S. can establish a tithe partnership to help build houses. Write PARAGUAY on checks sent to: Habitat for Humanity International, Attn: Affiliate Tithe, 322 West Lamar St., Americus, GA 31709
CONTACT
Habitat for Humanity Paraguay, Sargento Tomas Lombardo 352, Loma Pyta – Asunción, Phone: +595 21 328 2773, +595 21 328 7499, [email protected], www.habitat.org.py
