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Shelter
February 1985
>> This Is USAID >> USAID Policy Papers >> Shelter
[Download original document] V. USAID's Instruments for Implementing Shelter Programs
USAID's shelter sector objectives are to be achieved through joint activities of U.S. USAID Missions, their respective Bureaus, and the Office of Housing and Urban Programs (PRE/H) as defined in Handbook VIII. The following program instruments are available to implement shelter programs:
1. Shelter Sector Assessments (SSAS)
For countries where USAID is considering a shelter program, the first step is to conduct a Shelter Sector Assessment in order to obtain an over view of the shelter problems and opportunities. SSAs are designed to identify the problems and policy issues that need to be addressed in the shelter sector as they relate to overall national development objectives and the Mission's Country Development Support Strategy (CDSS). Shelter Sector Assessments are particularly important in those countries where USAID is considering urban programs. PRE/H has prepared a Shelter Sector Assessment methodology designed for this purpose. SSAs have been prepared for most countries in which USAID has carried out Housing Guaranty projects (see Appendix 1). Missions are encouraged to use PRE/H skills and expertise. In countries vulnerable to natural disasters, inclusion of appropriate wind and seismic-resistant features should be examined.
2. Technical Assistance
USAID provides both long-term and short-term technical assistance that can contribute to the achievement of shelter sector objectives. Technical assistance is frequently interwoven into the process of preparing and implementing HG loans but can also be provided through grant funds, independent of a capital assistance program. Where country risk of repetitive disasters warrants, assistance may be offered on techniques for reducing vulnerability of the local housing.
Long-term technical assistance involving resident advisers is usually focused on enhancing institutional capacity, improving the shelter delivery systems and financial structure, or the development of housing policies.
Short-term technical assistance frequently involves assistance in project design and implementation, and responding to specific needs and requests from participating country institutions and agencies.
3. Training
USAID's shelter training activities are directed toward the development of improved competence and skills in the LDCs, the communication, through training, of USAID's shelter policies and approaches; and the development of a network of shelter professionals and local institutions linked to U.S. and international organizations engaged in implementing shelter programs.
The range of USAID's shelter training activities include annual regional conferences, the annual one month Shelter Sector Workshop, support for university short-courses in shelter-related subjects, support for short-term training at regional institutions in third world countries, and the design and presentation of in-country courses and training seminars. Short-term technical assistance to LDC shelter training institutions can also be provided.
U.S. USAID Missions are encouraged to nominate country participants from the shelter sector to participate in these various training activates.
4. Research and Information Dissemination
USAID supports a variety of individual research efforts which have been designed to provide LDC technicians with specific, practical information on innovative approaches to shelter sector issues supportive of its overall objectives. For example, USAID has supported research work on the use of indigenous building materials, building standards and designs, temporary housing for disaster victims, use of bonds and secondary mortgage markets, variable payment mortgages, computer applications in the shelter sector, and analytical case study research and evaluation.
USAID seeks to disseminate information on shelter sector issues and innovative approaches throughout the LDCs through publications, newsletters, and sponsorship and participation in conferences and seminars.
5. Capital Assistance
The primary mechanism for USAID capital assistance in the shelter sector is the Housing Guaranty (HG) program. This program was developed as part of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Program in 1961. It is a unique USAID activity in which the U.S. private sector provides long-term financing for low-income shelter and urban upgrading programs in developing countries. (See Appendix I for a full description of the HG program with a U.S. Government guaranty.) If consistent with the country strategy statement, shelter projects are appropriate for financing with DA and ESF resources and PL 480 or FAA generated local currencies in all countries eligible for FAA assistance. Furthermore, USAID will consider sympathetically requests for assistance for reconstruction of shelter in countries hit with earthquakes, floods, or other disasters with whatever resources are appropriate to the individual country's circumstances.
The combination of one of these more concessionary resources with a HG loan has been successfully demonstrated in Zimbabwe, Mauritius, and Costa Rica. It is recognized that USAID capital assistance is no substitute for locally mobilized finance, but it can meet specific important purposes in advancing USAID and LDC shelter objectives. These include:
- Providing assistance toward reaching USAID objectives over time in the broader national development-context. The incremental approach adopted to develop a shelter program, where specific policy objectives are established for each specific loan, provides a forum for on-going policy dialogue and a mechanism to accelerate change.
- Providing capital to create or expand new institutions where necessary and to demonstrate new shelter solutions or programs. Essentially, HG loans assist countries by sharing the risks of innovation and change.
Although the size of any given HG loan must depend on many factors, it is important to recognize that needed change is vastly enhanced by the prospect that a given loan may be part of a continuing series of loans. The series should include mutually agreed policy steps and accelerate problem recognition and design of solutions.
Since HG loans provide untied foreign exchange in excess of the immediate requirements of a particular project, they provide additional foreign exchange resources which can be invested in other productive ventures outside of the shelter sector. In this sense, HG loans can help Missions achieve the broader economic development objectives established for a given country. However, the basic purpose of HG loans is not to provide balance-payments assistance.
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Last Updated on: July 11, 2001 |
