2017 World Habitat Awards announced

The first
certified Zero Net Energy Ready rental housing development in the USA providing
year-round housing to agricultural workers in California and a project that
helped more than 15,000 families rebuild their homes following Typhoon Haiyan
in the Philippines are the winners of this year’s World Habitat Awards.

Each year the
World Habitat Awards are presented to two outstanding and innovative housing
projects – from over 100 entries from across the world. The judges are
particularly keen to award projects and providers that have not only produced
outstanding housing solutions but those that can also be copied elsewhere.

The two World
Habitat Award winners 2017 are:

Post-Haiyan
Self-Recovery Housing Programme, 
Philippines
after
the widespread devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, this project helped over
15,500 families to self-recover. Instead of relocating families, the project
helped people rebuild their housing using locally available materials and
debris from destroyed houses. This means fewer families were relocated and they
have gained useful skills, as well as enabling people to be reached and helped
more quickly.

Mutual
Housing at Spring Lake, USA
based in Woodland in Yolo County, California, this project
provides year-round housing to agricultural workers. The estimated 6,000+
agricultural workers in the county endure some of the worst housing conditions
and most dangerous jobs in the country. Mutual Housing worked with families to
provide secure affordable homes which was also the first certified 100% Zero
Net Energy Ready rental housing development in the USA, meaning utility bills
are extremely low.

Alongside the
winners are eight finalists including two who received a special mention from
the judges:

Residential Energy Efficiency for Low Income
Households,
Armenia, Bosnia
& Herzegovina and Macedonia (Special Mention)

Helping low income homeowners in former state-owned
multi-apartment blocks to improve their energy efficiency.

Bringing
light and air to homes in informal settlements, India (Special Mention)

Improving lighting and ventilation in homes of self-employed
women with a simple dormer window specially designed for corrugated roofs.

Building
Malaria Prevention, Cameroon

Reducing the number of malaria-carrying mosquitoes entering
homes with simple adaptations in one of the poorest informal urban settlements
in the country.

How
the community rescued the historic centre of San Salvador, El Salvador

Regenerating the historic centre through community cooperatives
working together to dramatically improve their own neighbourhoods.

From Disaster to Dignity,El Salvador
Rebuilding the community after years of civil unrest and two
successive earthquakes with a savings and credit cooperative run by and for
women.

Empowering
marginalised women through home ownership, India

Helping the most vulnerable women in rural communities to
establish and fulfil their right to land and housing with self-build homes.

Düzce
Hope Homes, Turkey

Extending the right to housing to all those affected by major earthquakes
through community-led activism and campaigning.

Hemsworth
Court, United Kingdom

Providing purpose-built supported housing for people with
dementia and cognitive impairment in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

David Ireland,
Director of World Habitat, funders and co-ordinators of the World Habitat
Awards, said: “Billions of people across the world still lack a safe home.
These remarkable projects show that it doesn’t have to be like that. Brilliant
people and brilliant ideas have come together to show that people on
low-incomes can live safely, free from the fear of disease, natural disasters
and insecurity.”

Judge of the
awards, Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate
housing, explains: “All of this year’s World Habitat Awards finalists are
interesting and important. They are helping so many people in difficult and
vulnerable circumstances. Worldwide the right to adequate housing is under
threat. So it’s incredibly heartening to know that there are groups of people
working together to ensure a dignified and improved life through adequate
housing. ”

Full details
can be found at www.worldhabitatawards.org.


Notes
to editors:

The World
Habitat Awards established in 1985 are the world’s leading housing awards. They
are run with support from UN-Habitat. The two winners receive £10,000 and
international peer exchange activities to inspire, showcase and transfer world
beating ideas.

To arrange
interviews with the winners or for photography please contact: Kim Salt,
Communications Manager, email kim.salt@world-habitat.org tel +44
(0)1530 510444.

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