by Carlos Arenas
Executive Director
Housing is one of the most complex social issues, and an area where it is very difficult to deliver fast and concrete results. That is even more true in a country such as Nicaragua, where housing needs are overwhelming, with a housing deficit estimated at around 400,000 units. To make things worse, there are not enough resources nor institutional memory and expertise in the country to try to overcome this huge problem.
WCCN has been involved in housing since 2003, when we conducted a study on housing rights in Nicaragua. Every year since then, we have met with the authorities in charge of the Nicaraguan Institute of Urban and Rural Housing (INVUR) and several NGOs that work on housing to learn what is new in this field. When we visited in January 2007, we had the unique opportunity to talk with both the authorities that were leaving and the new authorities recently appointed by President Ortega. The new authorities were very candid about their lack of expertise in this field. In fact, Judith Silva, the new president of INVUR, who came from the labor movement, confessed to us that she had no prior experience in housing issues before she was appointed.
The reality is that housing has not been a priority for any Nicaraguan government in the last 18 years. Housing policies were totally abandoned for 13 years and the country lost its institutional capacity and memory on this topic. Encouraged by the Inter-American Development Bank, which offered some funding for housing projects, Bolaños’ administration restarted a housing policy in 2003. In fact, during his administration, INVUR developed a housing policy and financed the construction or improvement of 11,480 houses, or around 2,300 houses annually, a tiny outcome given the need. During his Presidential campaign, Daniel Ortega offered to build 200,000 new houses during his five year term, which translated to 40,000 new houses every year. However, during the first year of Ortega’s administration, INVUR was only able to oversee the conclusion of a few housing projects that were behind schedule from the previous administration. Judith Silva, President of INVUR told us, “what we did was finish projects that were unfinished, we didn’t build new houses.”1 As a result, during 2007, Ortega’s first year in office, not a single housing project was started.
INVUR’s officials now say that Ortega’s government expects to build 60,000 units during its remaining four years in office. That would mean 15,000 houses annually, although there is no evidence that they would have the resources, expertise, or even plans for this kind of project. In fact, one of the most discouraging aspects is the Ortega government’s prejudice against NGOs, and especially against microfinance organizations that could finance some of the housing programs. As a result, the new government is paradoxically pinning all its hopes on “convincing” commercial banks to lend to the poor for housing at low interest rates. With this approach, Ortega’s administration is ignoring the fact that microfinance organizations are currently lending to more people for housing than banks. During our interview with INVUR’s officials, we learned that they are convinced that housing programs should be implemented by private developers instead of NGOs that specialize in this field. Once again, Ortega’s officials are ignoring the reality that for the last 18 years, the main actors in housing have been NGOs, such as Habitar, Habitat for Humanity, Ceprodel, and Popol Nah, which have developed successful and participatory housing programs for the poor.
In 2007, the only encouraging news from the government on housing came at the end of the year with the approval by the Inter-American Development Bank of a $15 million loan for the second phase of a housing program in Nicaragua.2 With that loan, there are finally some resources available for a housing program starting this year.
Notes
1 Interview with INVUR’s officials. Managua, January 18, 2008.
2 Inter-American Development Bank. “IDB supports Nicaraguan housing program with US$15 million loan”. Press release. Washington, December 20, 2007.
