Minister Nabakooba Launches  Habitat For Hummanity's ‘Home Equals’ Project Campaign

Lands, Housing and Urban Development minister, Judith Nabakooba, has commissioned a-five year campaign dubbed Home Equals at an event held at Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala on June 14, 2023.

The project was initiated by Habitat for Humanity Uganda (HFHU), a Non-Governmental Organization, targeting 10,000 slum dwellers in Kisenyi, Kamwokya, Mutungo-Bbiina and Kumi district in Eastern Uganda, priotising sanitation, access to water and land tenure security.

While speaking at the event, Hon. Nabakooba pledged full support to HFHU during the course of the campaign.
“Count on my ministry for the necessary support. Even if it means contacting the respective stakeholders, we will be ready to help you so that we work as a team in a more coordinated way," she pledged.

She emphasized that government is working tirelessly to ensure sanitation in densely populated slum areas.
"It is in a home that we start to see the world and venture our dreams. As the government, we have put a lot of focus on a home as the best starting point for all pour interventions. In areas such as sanitation in Kampala, I have been reliably informed that Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), working together with National Water and Sewerage Corporation and other partners like Water for the People have commenced to construct two public toilets per parish. This points to the point of collaboration in this campaign." Ms. Nabakooba noted.

She however advised HFHU team to as well look at areas around social development because it is also very important.
"We can look at improving where someone is staying but also people need to improve their economic wellbeing. Government is implementing programmes that support households. As we are launching House Equals campaign, let’s as well embark and help these people benefit from Parish Development Model (PDM). It is good to improve the housings but those slum dwellers need social and economic development." She elaborated.

According to Mr. Robert Otim, the National Director Habitat for Humanity, after five years, the campaign will then spread to other parts of the country.

“We are going to start with these areas and later the campaign will be spread to all parts of the country," he said.

He revealed that there is a housing crisis in Uganda and youth are moving away from their homes in search for job opportunities and end up getting affordable houses in the city centers, leaving some of the homes that Habitat for Humanity have built.

"We have agreed that the time is now to address the crisis that we are experiencing. We need collaboration with the private society, the civil society, the government and fight for one cause."

Mr Otim said that today informal settlements are becoming the most urbanizing areas of our cities. Their residents are playing an incredibly important role as they find employment and housing solutions for themselves.

The Home Equals Campaign seeks to advocate for increased collaboration with settlers of informal settlements, accessible quality services and improved land governance and leadership by local government land.

"Today in Uganda, there might be many people who do not have a place that they call home. Let’s make a home where everyone be dignified," he added.

Ms. Yunia Yiga Musaazi, Executive Director, Uganda Water and Sanitation NGO Network (UWASNET) supported the initiative saying; 
"If you don’t have a place you call home, you cannot even fend for your family. Our aim is to ensure that access to basic services forexample water, sanitation,land access control. And if there are houses put up by the government, they are affordable for every one."
In Africa, she noted that Habitat for Humanity operates in nine countries but the campaign is going to be implemented only in Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and Malawi.

Mr Paul Mayende, Manager, Communication and Advocacy at Habitat said that this time, they are not constructing houses.
"We are just going to help slum dwellers to have peaceful and favourable life in their areas as we create awareness among them to embrace our goals of the campaign," he said.

A pilot study for this campaign undertaken within selected zones of Kampala Central. Kawempe and Nakawa divisions indicated that access to essential basic services such as clean water and safe sanitation facilities is a great challenge.