The Global Housing Crisis
The world is experiencing a global housing crisis. According to UN statistics, 1.6 billion people worldwide live in substandard housing and 100 million are homeless. Included in this number, is a growing proportion of women and children.
Rapid population growth and urbanisation adds greater urgency to this crisis. Every week more than a million people are born in or move to cities in the developing world, increasing the demand for housing, water supply, sanitation and other urban infrastructure.
Today, a billion people – 32 percent of the global urban population – live in urban slums. Nowhere are housing needs more real than in the Asia-Pacific region, which accounts for nearly two thirds of the world's slum dwellers.
UN Habitat defines slums as delapidated housing areas characterised by:
- Poor structural quality
- Over-crowding
- Squalor
- Lack of tenure security
- Poor access to water and sanitation
The Millenium Development Goals
The ambitious Millenium Development Goals represent a global commitment to combat poverty and advance peace, security and sustainable human development. This commitment was formalised by the Millennium Declaration, agreed to by 189 nations – including Australia – in September 2000.
Included among these goals are 18 specific targets to be achieved by 2015 in order to respond to the world's most urgent development challenges. Habitat for Humanity Australia is working to make these goals a reality. Our focus is on transforming lives by delivering permanent housing solutions and investing in sustainable community development. Learn more about the Millenium Development Goals.