Name:Alia Al-Sabi

Focus of internship:

Community based housing for low income groups

 

Overall task 

My task is to provide a briefing paper for JOHUD about the relationship between housing and poverty in urban communities in Jordan to inform their strategy for a food security programme under their role in the Jordan Alliance Against Hunger. The production of the paper will be based on a review of secondary data, participation in primary research and field work to identify innovative strategies related to housing for the poor. The findings of the study will inform a wide range of decisions for JOHUD and other partners: 

1.      Help JOHUD develop a rationale for working with the housing sector

2.      Identify livelihood opportunity linked to housing (construction, repairs, materials supply, gardens, composting, home-based micro-enterprise etc)

3.      Identify linkages between access to (and control over) accommodation and the wellbeing of target communities (poor, vulnerable, marginalized).

4.      Create a map of who is doing what in the housing sector

5.      Identify potential niche role for JOHUD and partners   

6.      Inform design of training programmes for vulnerable groups (Iraqi and Jordanian) in house repairs / construction

7.      Inform policy position on housing - especially as the 2010 new rental laws come into force

8.      Inform JAAH how to address issues of heating / sanitation / cooking / clean water access in its support to the food insecure

9.      Inform issues of design for poor-poor housing - especially for integrated community based housing that incorporate livelihoods and social services. 

Progress report

What  I have achieved for myself

 

 

 

What my line manager says about my work 

I'm looking forward to seeing the results of the housing study in Irbid and Sahab as Alia analyses them.  

 

 

The most interesting parts of my internship so far

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background to my task:

Housing and food security

There is an increasing risk of significant food insecurity in Jordan - possibly affecting more than 20% of the population. This figure is likely to rise as the impact of the removal of subsidies on fuel, the escalating cost of oil on the global market and the rise in price of basic food commodities such as rice and wheat.

 

Poverty data

The 2002/3 HEIS provided data from which was derived the currently applied poverty line for Jordan of JD395 per person per year.  In 2004, it was estimated that just under 15% of the population survived on less than this income. It is likely that the figure has increased significantly.

 

Housing and poverty

The cost of housing (direct, indirect and hidden) is a main component of household expenditure. In Jordan the cost of housing - for both owned and renting has escalated (land price, cement shortage, fuel, materials cost, competition, the new housing law etc). This is impacting the poor.  Food security strategies will need to address this issue to identify ways to reduce the cost of housing, or to increase the quality of the goods /  services of housing so that the poor get better value for their expenditure.

 

Housing  and family life

The issue of the role of housing and the quality of family lifer has been little explored in Jordan. Studies tend to focus simply on costs - quality of infrastructure. However, housing also represents a key element of the transition to adulthood for young Jordanians. A recent study  carried out mainly in Egypt, but relevant to the whole region, makes the connection between access to affordable housing and the opportunity for the poor, especially poor men, to get married.