ADER's approach

Access to decent housing for the needy aims to promote in the long term :

• the reduction of poverty
• human development , through the improvement of living conditions, hygiene and health
• social development, by promoting social recognition and advancement. Access to property and housing gives to the underprivileged populations an identity and thus reasserts their social status.

The improvement of housing in Mali

In Mali, the improvement of housing conditions for the underprivileged populations, linked to the objective of reducing of poverty, entails :

• Access to property, which is an element of stability, social status and reduction of inequalities.
• The development and building of low cost housing, promoting the use of local materials, more suitable to local conditions and more environmentally friendly.
• The development of the local building industry using local materials thus creating jobs and professional skills.

The improvement of housing in India

In India, the improvement of housing conditions, linked to securing property ownership as well as to the rehabilitation and building of houses, is vital to the marginalized Indian populations, namely :

• the Dalit, or Untouchables, the lowest in the Indian social ladder, subject to social and economic discrimination ;
• the tribal families, who have been expelled from their natural environment ;
• the inhabitants of the shanty towns, living in unhealthy and primitive conditions.

ADER also supports the refugee Tibetan population, living in extreme poverty within cities and encampments , in unhealthy and dilapidated conditions. The programmes implemented to improve their housing conditions have also encouraged these populations to solicit the Tibetan Government in exile concerning their living conditions.