NEWS RELEASE
Contact:
Arlene Corbin Lewis
Habitat for Humanity
(202) 617-1768
newsroom@habitat.org
www.habitat.org/newsroom
Global Housing Indicators provide a new perspective on adequate and affordable housing
WASHINGTON (June 18, 2012) – Habitat for Humanity International, the Inter-American Development
Bank and UN-HABITAT today unveiled the Global Housing Indicators during an event at the National
Building Museum.
Years in the making, GlobalHousingIndicators.org is an extensive web-based assessment tool that
includes information on the policies and practices under which housing around the world is owned,
rented, financed, subsidized, serviced, regulated, planned, and built. The Indicators project grew out of
the recognition among housing experts that a standard format was needed for collecting and analyzing
housing policies across cities and countries.
“We see the development of the Global Housing Indicators project as a powerful tool to help advocate for
better housing policies,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “Our vision
at Habitat is to have a world where everyone has a decent place to live. However, without the freedom to
live free from the fear of eviction, without access to finance and other resources, without adequate
infrastructure and without incentives to build appropriately and affordably, millions of families
worldwide will remain poorly housed.”
“This initiative is a great contribution to the fulfillment of our mission in the Latin American and
Caribbean region,” said Vicente Fretes, Inter-American Development Bank Chief of the Fiscal and
Municipal Division.
Relatively few housing policy indicators exist. Some indicators collect information about one aspect of
housing policy such as property rights, while others focus on finance in the formal, developed real estate
sector. Still others are data collections of housing conditions.
The GHI are different because they consider housing policy holistically by focusing on property rights,
infrastructure, housing subsidies, housing finance, and regulations. Nearly 25 cities are expected to be
evaluated using the new indicators by December 2012.
Providing evidence for action, the GHI create a basis for advocates to engage with national and local
officials to embrace policies that work and to change those that impede progress.
GlobalHousingIndicators.org is a one-stop portal for data, discussion, debate and dissemination and
allows visitors to compare housing data by location or by subtopics.
“Too many people today live in fear of eviction with little knowledge of their rights as tenants or land
owners,” said Joan Clos, Executive Director of UN-Habitat. “The Global Housing Indicators provide an
important addition to our tool kit in improving security of tenure for the world’s most vulnerable people
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and promoting adequate shelter for all. Under UN-Habitat’s World Urban Campaign we are committed to
working with key partners, such as Habitat for Humanity, to provide such tools where they are most
needed.”
Standing behind the GHI is a consortium of partners led by Habitat for Humanity
International and including the Rockefeller Foundation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the
World Bank, the International Housing Coalition, Cities Alliance and others. You can learn more about
the GHI at GlobalHousingIndicators.org.
About Habitat for Humanity International
Habitat for Humanity International is a global nonprofit Christian housing organization that seeks to put
God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities and hope. Since 1976,
Habitat has served more than 500,000 families by welcoming people of all races, religions and
nationalities to construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies;
and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. For
more information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit www.habitat.org, or follow us at
www.facebook.com/habitat or at www.twitter.com/habitat_org or join Habitat’s blog community at
www.habitat.org/blog.
About the Inter-American Development Bank
The IDB is the main source of multilateral financing and expertise for sustainable economic, social and
institutional development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Established in 1959, the IDB is the
largest source of development financing for LAC, with a strong commitment to achieve measurable
results, increased integrity, transparency and accountability. Besides loans, the IDB also provide grants,
technical assistance and do research to its 48 member countries, including 26 LAC borrowing members,
who have a majority ownership of the IDB.
About the World Urban Campaign
The World Urban Campaign is a global partnership designed to promote a positive vision for sustainable
urbanization and place the urban agenda at the highest level in development policies. Coordinated by
UN-Habitat, the Campaign’s mission is to achieve these objectives by engaging and mobilizing partners
around the world from every walk of life. While civil society organizations, the private sector, policy
makers and professionals can join the Campaign, individuals are encouraged to contribute through I’m A
City Changer, a global movement to share and spread positive initiatives that can make a difference in
cities. To find out more visit www.unhabitat.org/wuc and www.imacitychanger.org
UN-Habitat is the United Nations’ agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It
promotes timely and realistic planning for cities and the right to adequate shelter for all.
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