About the Habitat International Women and Shelter Network

BACKGROUND

The Women and Shelter Network is a collection of organisations that recognise the particular struggle of women in accessing land and housing. Member organisations support and work with low-income communities in all areas of human settlements.

The Women and Shelter Group was formed in 1987 within the Habitat International Coalition (HIC). It was created to recognise the key role of women in HIC’s work for the right to land and housing for those living in poverty. In 1988, the Group evolved to a HIC Committee and developed a Network to carry out its activities. The Network has had a formal consulting relationship with UNCHS-Habitat since 1989. As part of our work together, UNCHS-Habitat has recommended to governments to work with HIC-WAS member organisations in their own countries.

The Network’s mission is to unite, promote and support women and their organisations in the development of human settlements that improve women’s and a community’s quality of life.

The Network operates under the principles of:

recognition of the major role women play in the development of human settlements
equality, justice, tolerance, pluralism, solidarity and change within society through concrete work
democracy and women’s right to participate directly in decision making, planning, execution and follow-up of urban, rural, land and housing policies

HIC-WAS works on local, national, regional and international levels,

to promote and strengthen horizontal exchanges among members
to support lobbying for land and housing rights for women
to link global processes with local action
to provide greater access to information and training on human settlements
to create public awareness about the priorities of women and habitat
to voice the concerns of women in low income communities
to ensure women’s concerns are policy priorities for agents working in human settlement development
to develop and deliver campaigns that ensure policies support women’s priorities
to promote the development of disaggregated data and clear indicators that measure women’s access to land and shelter

The Network is composed by Initiative Centres (IC) that actively promote the objectives and activities of the Network through concrete work in their countries. These name a regional or sub-regional Reference Centre (RC), which together form the Women and Shelter Group, the directing body of the Network. The Group formulates policies and designates the International Secretariat to facilitate and support the Network’s activities.

Membership is open to all organisations and individuals addressing issues of human settlements who have or want to develop a focus on women.

HOW DID THE NETWORK COME TO BE ?

The Habitat International Coalition was established after the UN Habitat Conference of 1976 as an ad hoc committee of over 180 NGOs. During the International Year for Shelter and the Homeless, HIC was re-structured to a regionally representative coalition based in developing countries, acting in defense of the rights of the homeless, the poor and the inadequately housed, promoting the right of everyone to a secure place to live in peace and dignity, in developing and developed countries.

In one of its first actions under the new structure, the HIC board, nominated, in November 1987, regional representatives and created the Women and Shelter Group in order to formulate a Plan of Action for HIC in the area of women and shelter. In their first meeting, in New Delhi, India, from 28th to 31st of March, 1988, the group worked to identify priority concerns, formulate a Plan of Action and define a structure that would allow and encourage women in community based organizations (CBOs) to identify shelter priorities, exchange experiences, acquire information and skills and influence shelter policy and planning.

During its formal presentation to the HIC Board on April 1, 1988, the group recommended the establishment of the Women and Shelter Network and the representation of the Women and Shelter Group in the HIC Board by three members. The group was formally adopted as a HIC Sub-Committee, and women and shelter representatives were named for the other three sub-committees. The group met again in December 1988 in Stockholm, Sweden, to produce documentation required by the HIC Board, draft an ammedment to the HIC Constitution to incorporate the three HIC-WAS representatives to the Board, and to begin the work of the Network itself.

Subsequent meetings in 1989 and 1990 served to further define the functions, structure and activities of the Network. In 1990, the Network officially designated the Mazingira Institute, Kenya, as the Network Secretariat, which continued until 1995. In January 1996, the Secretariat was transferred to Fedevivienda, Colombia, for an interim period of one year. In early 1997, the Secretariat was transferred for a three year term to Women Advancement Trust, Tanzania.

Women Advancement Trust (WAT) promotes the advancement of women through education, skills training, research, entrepreneurship and information dissemination in the specific area of human settlements development. As Secretariat of the Network, WAT acts as a clearinghouse of information for members, and coordinates the Network’s collaboration with other bodies and/or networks in influencing international agencies’ programs on women and in ensuring women’s participation in shelter-related issues.