With the grant, the IHC will produce a White Paper on housing and urban development in the developing world and follow it up with a series of dissemination events.
The Paper is expected to be completed this spring.
“Development agencies are struggling to get their hands around the fact that nearly half the people in the countries served now live in cities,” IHC Chairman Peter Kimm said in a February 20 press release.
“While today we welcome the job growth associated with urbanization, we cannot accept the dire living conditions and abysmal slums that too often accompany this growth,” he added.
The Rockefeller grant will help the IHC promote policy solutions to address the global challenges associated with urbanization and engage the US public and policymakers on these issues.
“The Rockefeller Foundation’s historical commitment to working on urban development issues makes the Foundation an important and ideally suited partner as we reach out to key constituencies. We look forward to working with them at such a critical time,” Kimm said.
The IHC is an international advocacy organization that promotes the goal of “Housing for All” as a key component of ending poverty worldwide.
It was established in 2005 by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) to make housing and urban slum improvement a priority on the world development agenda.
Today, the IHC is a broad coalition that, in addition to the original founders, includes 32 private companies, non-profit groups and academic/research institutions.
For more about IHC and the full text of the press release, please see IHC’s website.
