The role of housing in achieving Millennium Development Goals
| Goal 1: Eradicate poverty & hunger |
- Residential activities can provide job opportunities and income and thereby allow urban poor to invest in food and other basic needs.
- Residential activities improve a nation’s wealth (e.g. Taxes & savings) and allow governments and agencies to invest in social oriented programmes to reduce poverty.
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| Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education |
- Improved, and access to, housing in appropriate locations lowers absenteeism from school.
- Secure tenure allows parents to engage in income-generating activities allowing them to cater for educational expenses.
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| Goal 3: Promote gender equality & empower women |
- Secure tenure contributes to household stability and provides women with a peaceful atmosphere to engage in economic-generating activities.
- Good housing reduces stress and contributes to women’s productivity.
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| Goal 4: Reduce child morality |
- Good housing and related services (e.g. water, electricity, and sanitation) reduces the risk of disease among children.
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| Goal 5: Improve maternal health |
- Improved housing lowers the risk of illness for women.
- Secure tenure reduces stress, especially for women.
- Safeguards nurturing of the young.
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| Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, & other diseases |
- Access to housing reduces homelessness and risks of social vices associated with living on the street.
- Good housing brings comfort, reduces overcrowding, and limits the transmission of communicable diseases (e.g. tuberculosis). It also facilitates and enhances care-giving.
- Health conditions depend largely on good living environment.
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| Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability |
- Good housing conditions and related services contribute to a good environment and improvement in the lives of slum-dwellers.
- Use of environmentally-friendly building materials, including energy-efficient materials, contributes to environmental protection.
- Good housing and urban design are cornerstones for mitigating ecological footprints of settlements and reducing vulnerability to climate change.
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| Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development |
- Partnership between national government and international development agencies creates synergy and reduces vulnerability to climate change.
- Partnership between national government and international development agencies for housing ensures realistic policies and programmes and sharing of best practices.
- Programmes that involve partnerships among national governments, international development agencies, local communities, and slum-dwellers have a better chance of long-term sustainability.
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Credit: Tibaijuka, A. (2009) Building Prosperity – Housing and Economic Development, Earthscan: London.