MINURVI forum at WUF13 raises housing inequality in Latin America, Caribbean

The organization of the MINURVI forum as part of WUF13 is a joint call for concrete action by hundreds of Latin American cities facing one of the main challenges of the modern era: creating decent, sustainable and inclusive housing conditions for every resident, Carlos Krykhtine, municipal secretary for urban planning of Niterói, Brazil, said.

Report informs that he made the remarks at the Forum of Ministers and High-Level Authorities of the Housing and Urban Development Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean (MINURVI), held as part of the 13th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13).

According to Krykhtine, Latin America is one of the most urbanized regions on the planet. He said more than 80% of the region's population is concentrated in cities, while millions of families continue to live in poor conditions, experiencing the consequences not only of deep social inequality but also of the growing impact of climate change.

He said floods, landslides, extreme heat, rising sea levels and environmental disasters have long ceased to be threats of the distant future. They have become an integral part of the daily lives of many communities in the region and across the Global South, he added.

Krykhtine noted that recognizing historically rooted racial and territorial inequality, which disproportionately affects peripheral communities, Afro-descendant populations, quilombola communities, Indigenous peoples and traditional communities across Latin America, make it necessary to integrate the principles of racial equality and territorial justice as cross-cutting guidelines for all areas of urban and housing policy in the context of the New Urban Agenda.