Home Equals Global Advocacy Campaign

Summary

In 2023, Habitat for Humanity International launched a five-year commitment focused on its five-year global advocacy campaign, Home Equals, to advance policies in 40 countries that increase access to adequate housing in informal settlements through four thematic areas: 1) Empowered Participation 2) Basic Services 3) Climate Resilience 4) Secure Tenure. With policy solutions in these four areas, will enable a projected 15 million individuals living in informal settlements to improve their housing, create inclusive neighborhoods, address long-held power dynamics, and contribute to the security, ecology, and sustainability of their broader community.

Approach

As a leading global voice in affordable and adequate housing, Habitat for Humanity is launching a five-year global advocacy campaign, Home Equals. Home Equals is committed to advancing policies that increase access to adequate housing in informal settlements through four thematic areas: 1) Empowered Participation 2) Basic Services 3) Climate Resilience 4) Secure Tenure.

With policy solutions in these four areas, people living in informal settlements will be able to improve their housing, create inclusive neighborhoods, address long-held power dynamics, and contribute to the security, ecology, and sustainability of the broader community.

Habitat national organizations in over 40 countries will be implementing the advocacy campaign in contextually appropriate ways, focused on the specific barriers to adequate housing affecting populations in informal settlements. Building on the experiences, successes, and learnings from past advocacy campaigns and programmatic work, the Home Equals campaign seeks to improve the lives of 15 million people living in informal settlements through policy change at all levels.

Systemic changes, however, takes time, and requires governments and policy makers with the power to remove structural barriers to pay attention to the needs of all communities. Habitat national organizations are committed to using their expertise in housing to inform policy discourse, and to work alongside informal settlement residents, community members and allies, to influence both local and national governments, as well as members of the international community, to address barriers to adequate housing through policy change.

To complement local and national level work, Habitat for Humanity International will be coordinating action to call on G7 member states to recognize that housing is foundational to sustainable development. Housing in informal settlements requires urgent solutions if G7 members are to reach global sustainable development goals related to education, health, well-being, and economic growth.

Action Plan

Through a global, coordinated effort, over a five-year period, in collaboration with people living in informal settlements, Habitat for Humanity’s Home Equals global advocacy campaign will seek to influence policy and systems through the four policy areas, ensure participatory engagement in policy processes, raising visibility of the issue, and deepening cross-sectoral relationships to influence policy and system changes.

Internally, Habitat for Humanity is committed to advancing organizational alignment around housing in informal settlements, ensuring people are at the center of the Home Equals advocacy campaign and mobilizing resources to support the campaign.

On a quarterly basis, a global logical framework is updated to track campaign progress and impact. At the national level, participating entities provide regular reporting on Home Equals grants and key advocacy outcome metrics. These include both qualitative and quantitative inputs. Quarterly reporting aligns with Habitat’s Fiscal Year quarters (July-September/October-December/January-March/April-June) . It should be noted that an internal validation process is conducted by Habitat for Humanity International on any policy and advocacy successes that are reported and can delay quarterly reporting of numbers. Additionally, opportunities for sharing learnings and experiences are facilitated with various stakeholders.

There will also be a mid-term review at the halfway mark of the campaign, and a final report on all impacts achieved through the campaign at the end of the five-year campaign, including all successes at local, regional and global levels.

Background

In 1976, the year that Habitat for Humanity was founded, two thirds of people lived in rural areas, globally. Today, the world is experiencing what the U.N. calls the largest wave of urban growth in history, with over half of the world’s population now living in towns and cities. By 2030, that figure is projected to be 5 billion. And by 2050, two out of three people worldwide will likely live in cities or urban areas.

The global housing deficit, matched with rapid urbanization, is resulting in increasing numbers of people living in inadequate housing, without access to services, impacting their ability to escape poverty and provide for their families.

Inadequate housing risks people’s health, safety, and prospects to earn a living. Homes in informal settlements often do not have secure land rights, access to basic services, or are in hazard prone areas. This means people live in fear of eviction, they are at risk of life-threatening diseases and are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to live in an affordable home that has sufficient space, is structurally sound, and is connected to basic services such as water and sewers. However, the over 1 billion people currently living in informal settlements and the 2.8 billion people living in inadequate housing, are not treated as equals.

Governments at all levels struggle with ensuring equitable access to the human right to housing and are unable to keep pace with the housing need. It will take the power of communities coupled with policy change to ensure access to adequate housing for all. With fewer systemic barriers in their way, people living in informal settlements can improve their homes, creating benefits for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Progress Update

Partnership Opportunities

Habitat is seeking financial resources, campaign endorsers, and pro bono media support

Habitat has a corporate benefits matrix for partners, campaign endorsers- global organizations who sign on to endorse the campaign, signifying their support of the campaign’s goals- are listed on our website. The campaign also creates a best practice information platform for shared learning for others wanting to create systemic change and also those specifically working with people living in informal settlements.