In this year’s World Habitat Day, Habitat Vietnam has a companion, United Nations International School’s 90 teachers and students to altogether shared the sweats and efforts to build 5 houses for the vulnerable families in Dai Tu District, Thai Nguyen Province and shared the best wishes to not only the homeowners during the build but also everyone to have a decent place to live. Habitat Vietnam and UNIS joined with our partners, friends and families around the world to rededicate ourselves to recognizing the basic rights to adequate shelter.
Indeed, everyone deserves a decent place to live and has a right to have a place to shelter themselves and their beloved families. A safe place is a decent place which “is like a platform, when you are there with your friends and family. Once you have a decent house and your family and friends are there with you, you actually enjoy the moment. You don’t have to worry about rain and natural disaster”, shared Minh, grade 12, from UNIS.
Everyone has a yearning for a safe, cozy home with full of joy and pleasure, whether it’s temporary or long lasting. After all, we fall for home because that’s the only nest we stop by, rest, and recharge our energy before facing life challenges. More or less, it’s still the essential foundation that protects, nurtures and fosters every individual and more broadly, pay vital importance to shape the society’s future by benefiting every element in it.
That is why Habitat sees home as a driving force to build a qualified life and thus, reinforce the community to take action. Driven by the vision and mission set by our incredible co-founder Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, Habitat Vietnam also proactively put our strategy into action through housing improvements; water and sanitation solutions; disaster risk reduction & climate change adaptation; and volunteer mobilization.
To date Habitat Vietnam has served over 16,000 families and 138,000 individuals through projects cover 9 provinces, namely Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, Long An, Tien Giang and Dong Thap province.
However, there are more housing needs in Vietnam than you can imagine.
- 9 million Vietnamese still live in extreme poverty below poverty line of 700,000 VND (US$30)/person with 4 people in a family
- 9% of 96.6 million Vietnamese is recorded to need safe, quality and affordable housing. Among them, people living in poverty, migrant workers, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities are facing the most urgent housing needs.
- By 2049, 14 million new urban households will not be able to afford to purchase small modern permanent units and unable to qualify for housing loans.
- Urban population is 37% (35.7 million people), 20% live in slums needing access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, enough living area, and durability of housing
- Asbestos is still widely used in homes
- Vietnam is highly exposed to droughts, floods, forest fires, landslides, sea water intrusion, tsunami, and typhoon. Its 3,200 km coastline crosses 28 provinces, 50% include major urban centers.
- 90% of the rural population dispose waste in open areas, causing environmental pollution and health problems.
We could not achieve our goals without the community-driven pioneers. On World Habitat Day, we seek your attention and participation to make a positive change in Vietnam.
Let’s build a unified voice amplifying the importance of housing for all!
