29 June 10 Habitat for Humanity Armenia’s Participation in Social Housing Program in Armenia Addressed to the Housing Needs of Low And Middle Income Families
Social housing program, launched in Armenia on March 15 2010, will be implemented by a consortium of three Armenian organizations, Social Housing Foundation, Habitat for Humanity Armenia and Community Association Armenia in partnership with several Dutch organizations active in housing sector in Netherlands, including Dutch International Guarantees for Housing (DIGH), Habitat for Humanity International, Woonbron, Housing Plus, WoonFriesland and Woonbelagen Weidegebied. The program is financially supported by the Social Transformation Program (Matra) of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ultimate goal of the project is to develop institutional foundations for promoting and developing social housing in Armenia, as well as the national government support in the development of national strategy. The positive experience gained in Netherlands and other countries will contribute to the effective solutions of the project problems. According to practical experience of those countries social housing refers to rental or owner occupied housing which is financed through and managed by non-profit organizations. In Netherlands the number of such organizations reaches up to 430.
Habitat for Humanity Armenia staff is involved in developing projects and financial models in social housing, as well as in developing national strategy. Social housing strategy outline, developed during the past month, was submitted to the stakeholders’ party for consideration. Social Housing Strategy includes the goal of sector development, problems, methods of implementation, management structure, authorities and responsibilities of different management sectors and possible sources of financing.
