housing

by Carlos Arenas
Executive Director

Housing is one of the most complex social issues, and an area where it is very difficult to deliver fast and concrete results. That is even more true in a country such as Nicaragua, where housing needs are overwhelming, with a housing deficit estimated at around 400,000 units. To make things worse, there are not enough resources nor institutional memory and expertise in the country to try to overcome this huge problem.

This paper by Jessica Athens focuses on the negative impacts Nicaragua’s substandard housing can have on the health—physical, mental, and social—of its population. It examines resources from the World Health Organization, the Pan-American Health Organization, and the Inter-American Healthy Housing Network to establish a framework for understanding the many relationships between housing quality and health status. It offers suggestions to urban planners, non-governmental organizations, and others looking to implement housing programs as a component of public health initiatives.

In collaboration with the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) and the Nicaraguan Human Rights Center, WCCN co-produced this report based on interviews with current and former Government officials, politicians, political analysts, indigenous leaders, housing rights advocates, community leaders and community-based organizations working on housing issues. The reports examines issues including housing availability; property disputes during the Sandinista revolution and under subsequent governments; housing issues affecting indigenous groups and women; and other issues affecting the affordability, habitability and accessibility of housing. A Spanish-language version of this report is also available.