Bangkok--14 Sep--Total Quality PR
- Recovery and long-term reconstruction plans need to be formulated immediately after a disaster strikes, alongside tackling immediate needs
- NGOs, civil society organizations and community groups need to work with governments and financial institutions to remove obstacles preventing low-income families from accessing housing loans
- Affordable and appropriate construction materials, from reeds to steel, should be considered when building homes
Today, the 3rd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum and Exhibition concluded with recommendations on housing policy, finance, technology for more resilient homes and communities, disaster mitigation and response.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 3rd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum, Jonathan Reckford, Chief Executive of Habitat for Humanity International, said: “Tackling the challenge of substandard housing and disasters must involve mitigation — to avoid the unmanageable — and adaptation — to manage the unavoidable.”
When disaster strikes, tackling immediate needs is the understandable focus. However, without attention given to longer-term recovery and reconstruction from the beginning, the transition from emergency response to reconstruction is disjointed and uncoordinated.
One of the recommendations of the Forum focused on removing the difficulties faced by low-income families when trying to access housing loans. Obstacles like not having official identification or credit history need to be overcome by NGOs, civil society organizations and community groups, working together with governments and financial institutions.
“When you are poor, you cannot think of the future because you face eviction. But once you have secure housing, you can start to think about your welfare and that of your community. Once your house is secure, you can do a lot of things,” said Mrs Sanong Roeysungnoen, community leader from Champae city, Khonkaen Province, Thailand.
A variety of affordable and appropriate building materials were presented at the Forum, including reeds and bamboo. Other materials were presented as useful in disaster mitigation, like used tires. Construction experts at the Forum stressed that humanitarian agencies should not simply experiment with new technologies in low-income communities, but rather work with local residents to identify suitable solutions.
Rick Hathaway, Habitat for Humanity International’s vice president for Asia-Pacific, announced that the location for the next Asia-Pacific Housing Forum in 2013 will be Jakarta, Indonesia.
Organized by Habitat for Humanity and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), 700 delegates attended the 3rd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum in Bangkok, Thailand. More than 220 organizations from 35 countries were represented, drawn from governments, international and local NGOs, private sector, academia, civil society organizations, and local communities. The theme was ‘Sustainable shelter in an age of climate change and disasters.’ Visit aphousingforum.org for more information.
Notes to editors
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About Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity is a global non-government organization that welcomes to its work all people dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 500,000 houses (October 2011) worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 2.5 million people.
3rd Asia-Pacific Housing Forum (APHF) sponsors
Government Housing Bank (Thailand) is supporting the housing forum as a Gold Sponsor, with Citi and Aditya Birla Group as Silver Sponsors. Other sponsors include SCG, The Imperial Queen's Park Hotel, True Visions, Siam City Cement, Amway (Thailand), Ananda Development, BlueScope Lysaght (Thailand), INTL Global Currencies, Raimon Land, JW Marriot Bangkok, Thai Airways and DHL.