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Shelter
February 1985
>> This Is USAID >> USAID Policy Papers >> Shelter
[Download original document] IV. USAID's Shelter Sector Objectives
USAID's shelter sector objectives recognize the relationship of shelter to the overall priorities of the agency: policy reform, institutional development, private enterprise development, and technology transfer. In the shelter sector, these Agency priorities address the basic problems faced by most LDCs in striving to improve the physical living conditions of their people and reflect the expertise and the 20-year experience of USAID.
The objectives of USAID's shelter programs are to:
- Assist in the formulation of rational housing policy:
to encourage the preparation and implementation of national housing policies that reflect USAID's basic objectives and that provide an internally consistent framework for future housing activities.- Demonstrate the feasibility of shelter solutions poor families can afford:
to promote the selection of appropriate physical standards, building codes, technologies which will help low-income families gain access to secure land tenure, basic services, and housing.- Facilitate mobilization of additional local resources for financing shelter:
to adopt interest rate policies which reflect the real cost of capital, to develop viable institutional systems for financing shelter and urban development, and to minimize the need for public subsidies.- Develop sustainable shelter and urban service institutions:
to develop production and delivery capabilities commensurate with the needs of the population with special emphasis on meeting the shelter needs of the urban poor; encourage appropriate user fees, cost accounting and cost recovery for utility expansion to facilitate more rapid expansion of these services.- Increase private sector participation:
to encourage and facilitate an increased role for both the formal and informal private sector, including cooperatives and other self-help institutions and credit institutions oriented to the homeowner and home improvement credit, in low-income shelter financing, production and delivery and to achieve an appropriate division of responsibilities between public and private sectors. Government interventions should normally be limited to services which people can not provide for themselves, such as infrastructure. HG assistance should be targeted toward expansion of demand for small contractors and other suppliers, including those in the informal sector. Conversely, support of public sector subsidized housing projects should normally be considered as low priority for USAID funds.- Encourage the use of energy and resource efficient housing designs, technologies and standards:
to foster development and application of housing designs that make use of local budding materials as appropriate to the varying regions of the country, that generate on-site utilities (e.g., rainwater collection systems) and that encourage and accommodate kitchen gardens, if appropriate.- Increase the survival rate of people and buildings in disaster prone areas:
to discourage development in areas prone to flood, severe storm and earthquake and to encourage adoption of hazard resistant building regulations and codes.
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Last Updated on: July 11, 2001 |
