ELEMENTS OF CONTEXT
HISTORY
Located in the horn of Africa, Ethiopia is a country with long history. The Afar region, in the north east of the country is called the ‘cradle of mankind’ due to the discoveries of large numbers of hominid fossils aged to millions of years.
DEMOGRAPHY
SOCIO-ECONOMICAL CONTEXT
Ethiopia is rich in mineral resources and huge potential of tourist attractions but still it is one of the ten poorest nations in the world. The economy relies heavily on agriculture, and the country is one of Africa’s leading coffee producers.
HABITAT
HISTORY OF CITIES – HERITAGE
URBAN HOUSING
“Ethiopia is a giant sub-urban population. The country is both a vast country and a giant population in Africa. Despite the age of the urban is one of the five least urbanized countries in the world.
“Compared to other African countries, the growth of cities has been greatly hampered by the provisions of the 1975 agrarian reform, implemented in the spirit in which the city was seen as a negative for avatar development, a threat to the national identity and well-being.
“This delay in urbanization is characterized by weak secondary cities. This sub-urbanization, however, could abruptly switch to a much more chaotic, because of the rapid growth of the population and its distribution uneven, mostly concentrated in the highlands where the rural population density is very high. Densification campaigns could then lead to a massive phenomenon of uncontrolled urbanization (…) ”(1)
RURAL HOUSING
The majority of houses in Ethiopia are susceptible to easily collapse due to their poor construction. Homes are often cramped with dirt floors, leaking roofs and no windows or doors, leaving occupants vulnerable to adverse weather conditions, insects and rodents. Poor ventilation for inside cooking fires is a common cause of respiratory problems. Moreover, a staggering 90 percent of the population has no access to decent sanitation facilities, and 73 percent of the population does not have safe drinking water, causing disease to run rampant.
Substandard housing not only has an adverse effect on health, but also on education, job performance and overall quality of life. Most families living in such conditions have little chance of improving their situations without assistance, and life is a daily battle for most. The need for decent housing especially among vulnerable group families are very high. (3)
Legal Aspects
RIGHT TO HOUSING
FORCED EVICTION
LAND RIGHTS
LAND GRABBING
“Ethiopia, for its part, is expected to extend protections to commercial farms and provide investors with a one-stop service to reduce the administrative burden for the acquisition of land. The Ethiopian government has allocated more than three million hectares of land to large investors as part of a development plan that creates an intolerable human rights violations. Within the framework of cooperation with the Ethiopian G8, it suffices that the plan meets three indicators: “Improving the performance indicator of doing business”, “increasing the dollar value of new investments private sector in agriculture “and” percentage increase in private investment in commercial production and sale of seeds.” (2)
VULNERABLE GROUPS
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Homelessness
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Joungpeople
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Old people
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Women
SOME INTERESTING PRACTICES
Social and economic aspects
HOUSING MARKET
QUALITY OF HOUSING
INFORMAL HOUSING / SLUM / HOMELESS
ROLE OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES
Cultural aspects – Religious – Symbolic
Environmental aspects
Bibliography & Sitography
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Country file Ethiopia sur le site e-Geopolis
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Le G8 et l’accaparement des terres en Afrique, GRAIN, article en 2013. Read the article
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Habitat for Humanity Ethiopia
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Waiting Here for Death, Rapport Human Rights Watch, 2012. Report on Ethiopia
MAJOR PROBLEMS BY CIVIL SOCIETY
CLAIMS MAJOR CIVIL SOCIETY
CIVIL SOCIETY ACTORS
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HABITAT FOR HUMANITY ETHIOPIA = began construction in 1993 and has since expanded to build houses in several communities. Most houses are in urban and semi-urban areas within a 250-mile radius of the capital city, Addis Ababa. HFHE has integrated its operations with those of community-based organizations to be more effective in its work. HFHE’s houses vary from 22 to 36 square meters in size and are built from a number of different materials, including stabilized earth blocks, hollow concrete blocks and fired bricks. HFHE also recently started undertaking Water & Sanitation and Kitchen Improvement projects. Website