ESCAP, in partnership with the National Housing Bank (India) and UN-HABITAT, jointly launched the Regional Project on Pro-poor Housing Finance in 2008. The objective of the project is to assist governmental and non-governmental policy makers in developing and implementing pro-poor housing finance policies through networking and exchange of experience. Major activities included a Regional Policy Dialogue in New Delhi in 2008 and the commissioning of country reports on the State of Pro-poor Housing Finance from key housing finance institutions in India, Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The country reports and a regional comparative analysis are being edited and will be finalized by March 2010. Networking activities have included national multi-stakeholder workshops in India, Indonesia, Mongolia, and Thailand, which gave further inputs to the country reports and discussed key issues in pro-poor, regional networking through periodic tele-conferences and regional face-to-face meetings. In 2010 a regional high-level symposium on Pro-poor housing finance will be organized in New Delhi in April 2010 and in Bangkok, with the International Union for Housing Finance Congress in late October 2010.
Pro-poor Housing Finance