It may sound overly ambitious. It may sound impossible. And it may sound incredible. But these are the attributes of which dreams are made.
In committing to delivery of half a million houses by 2016, there are those who believe that ASO Savings and Loans plc is indulging in a flight of fancy. But going by the enthusiasm with which stakeholders have responded to the International Conference on Affordable Housing, the ASO dream seems an achievable one.
The forum, the 2013 of which starts today at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, with a housing exhibition to boot, targets various stakeholders in the housing industry. Its organisers envisage it as a one-stop shop for Nigerians looking to own their dream homes.
The 2012 edition is believed to have attracted over 4,000 participants. This year’s edition is organised around the same objective of “Achieving Affordable Housing Delivery in Nigeria by Creating 500,000 Housing Units by 2016”.
With stakeholders who understand the dynamics of affordable housing on hand to discuss current policies, the aim will be to put in place projects that would give low-income earners in Nigeria access to affordable housing. This will require follow-up actions to the outcomes of the conference, whose stated goals are:
(1) To instigate (a) sustained, methodical, objective and fact-based thinking and planning aimed at creating a new national vision on housing; and (b) a fresh look at and review of current legislation concerning housing by governments (federal and local) and lawmakers.
(2) To assist in: (a) developing a new national housing policy; and (b) evolve a system for consistent delivery of affordable housing over coming decades.
If the success of conference and exhibition hinges on the quality of participation and the dynamism of the debates in order to arrive at the desired results, there will not be a shortage of the resources to deliver on this objective. “Therefore,” according to the organisers, “we would like to call attention to the initiative’s method of work which is dependent on active participation and sharing of practical experience by panellists.”
Integrating the perspectives of various stakeholder teams, an action plan is expected from the conference, to underline the milestones towards the realisation of set objectives of providing low-income earners in Nigeria access to affordable housing.
In addition, each team will be expected to meet periodically at designated locations.
Agenda topics will include: funding, legal issues, delivery and infrastructure, mortgage as a tool for achieving project objectives.
Participants are expected from: federal and state governments; ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs); financial institutions; development finance institutions (DFIs)/development banks; professional/trade associations; private equity and other investors; real estate/housing associations; developers; educational, research and development institutes; building materials suppliers; and the general public.
People have often referred to a housing boom in the country in recent times, arising from governments withdrawing from direct provision of services in the sector. Researchers have an obligation to show where this policy is leading Nigeria in terms of meeting the global objectives of housing for all and the concern for the right to housing. What, indeed, is the right to housing?
There probably will not be a better forum to share ideas with stakeholders in the housing sector than this one on the subject of the right to housing. Although much of the interest of many of the participants is how to get better returns on their investments in the housing sector, this has to be tempered with the appreciation of housing as a developmental issue. Housing, like health, is critical to every sector of development.
So this page is delighted to commend the following (culled from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
The right to housing is recognised in a number of international human rights instruments. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises the right to housing as part of the right to an adequate standard of living. It states:
“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”
Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) also guarantees the right to housing as part of the right to an adequate standard of living.
In international human rights law the right to housing is regarded as a freestanding right. This was clarified in the 1991 General Comment no 4 on Adequate Housing by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The general comment provides an authoritative interpretation of the right to housing in legal terms under international law.
The Yogyakarta Principles on the application of international human rights law in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity affirm that “everyone has the right to adequate housing, including protection from eviction, without discrimination and that States shall:
a. take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure security of tenure and access to affordable, habitable, accessible, culturally appropriate and safe housing, including shelters and other emergency accommodation, without discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or material or family status;
b. take all necessary legislative, administrative and other measures to prohibit the execution of evictions that are not in conformity with their international human rights obligations, and ensure that adequate and effective legal or other appropriate remedies are available to any person claiming that a right to protection against forced evictions has been violated or is under threat of violation, including the right to resettlement, which includes the right to alternative land of better or equal quality and to adequate housing, without discrimination.”
The right to housing is also enshrined in Article 16 of the European Social Charter (Article 31 of the Revised European Social charter) and in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. According to UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, aspects of right to housing under ICESCR include: legal security of tenure; availability of services, materials, facilities and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location and cultural adequacy. As a political goal, right to housing was declared in F. D. Roosevelt’s 1944 speech on the Second Bill of Rights.
Tommy ODEMWINGIE
tommy@s19080.p615.sites.pressdns.com/en
+2348033068074
