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The International Housing Coalition (IHC) held a
successful seminar on July 23, 2007 at the Rayburn
House Office Building to highlight the problems of
housing and urbanisation in Africa. Forty people
attended including Billy Cobbett, Programme Manager
of Cities Alliance. A background paper which
summarised the housing situation in Africa and
presented program and policy options for the US
government to play a more active role in addressing
those problems was distributed to participants and
helped to stimulate a lively discussion at the
seminar. Mr. Cobbett commented on the importance of
slum upgrading. He stated that the large number of
people living in slums is not a slum problem; rather
it is a city problem. Another problem he identified
is that very few players are coming in at scale with
cash. Furthermore, he is not convinced that in
dealing with the private sector you can push private
sector money downmarket.
The IHC has initiated a follow on program to
continue the dialogue with the US government, donor
agencies and government officials in the developing
world on the importance of housing and urban
infrastructure in order to address the crisis in
Africa’s cities.
The IHC’s mission is to advocate for “Housing for
All” and to raise the priority of housing and slum
upgrading on the international development agenda.
The IHC supports the basic principles of private
property rights, secure tenure, effective titling
systems, and efficient and equitable housing finance
systems—all essential elements to furthering
economic growth and development, civic stability and
democratic values. The IHC carries out its mission
through programs of advocacy, public information,
coalition building and technical assistance.
To download the Africa Housing Policy paper, click
here. To download the 11 point list of
actions to increase US support for housing and the
urban development sector, click
here. To join the IHC, go to
www.intlhc.org
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