Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Demanding Decent Housing

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TEGUCIGALPA, Aug 18 2003 (IPS) - “Decent and safe housing”, demanded experts and activists gathered in the Honduran capital to promote a common strategy for Latin America. Despite the geographic and cultural diversity of the Latin American peoples, it is possible to create a general housing plan for the region, concluded the participants of the Second Regional Conference on Housing and Habitat, held here Aug. 7-10.

Given the governments' neglect of policies for building homes, non-governmental organizations and cooperatives provide real options for homeless families, Benjamín Naohum, of the Uruguayan Federation of Housing Cooperatives, told Tierramérica.

With a population of more than six million, Honduras has a housing deficit of 750,000 homes, says Leonidas Avila, of the Honduran Institute of Cooperation and Development.