Helsinki: Community-based and non-commercial housing models should be supported in order to resolve the housing crisis, President of Habitat International Coalition Grace Chikumo-Mtonga said during the panel titled ‘The Global Housing Crisis – What’s the Plan?’ held within the framework of WUF13, APA-Economics reports.
According to Azeri-Press News Agency, one of the main problems deepening the global housing crisis is the lack of sufficient support for housing models formed through community initiatives and non-commercial housing solutions. Grace Chikumo-Mtonga stated that the experience of local communities, collective housing initiatives, and the knowledge of indigenous peoples are often overlooked.
She noted that women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and low-income groups are more exposed to discrimination and are among the groups most affected by the housing crisis. According to the expert, preventing forced evictions, protecting human rights, and creating compensation mechanisms for affected people should be among the important elements of housing policy.
Grace Chikumo-Mtonga emphasized that the human rights approach in affordable housing policy should be strengthened and community-based housing models should be officially recognized.