In 2000, 189 nations made a promise to eliminate extreme poverty and improve the standard of living for people in need across the globe. This promise came in the form of eight Millennium Development Goals  (MDGs) to be achieved by 2015.

The work of Habitat for Humanity is deeply embedded in these goals – proving that a house is far more than just four walls. Over a series of eight blog posts, we will explain how our work contributes towards the achievement of  all eight MDGs.

The first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1) is “to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger”. This MDG seeks to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the number of people who live on an income of less than $1 (U.S.) a day.  It also seeks to halve the number of people who suffer from hunger. Habitat for Humanity seeks to make this goal a reality.

Access to decent housing and basic services directly influences the quality of life of those living in poverty, and increases their economic productivity. Housing acts as a major stimulant for generating employment, output, and income. In this way, what housing ‘does’ is as important as what housing ‘is’ in alleviating poverty and hunger.

As well as working towards achieving MDG1 by providing the aforementioned access to decent and affordable housing, Habitat for Humanity also offers programmes to equip those in need with the skills needed to find employment and thus, alleviate poverty and hunger on a long term basis. These programmes include training young people in construction skills and providing microfinance loans for women to start up their own home-based businesses. In this way, a house can act, not just as a place to live, but as a place of work.

In addition, the provision of food gardens in many Habitat homes help fight both hunger and poverty by giving families the resources needed to grow their own food and also to produce food which can be sold for profit. Food gardens promote self-sufficiency amongst our homeowners and offer them a chance to make a regular income.

At Habitat for Humanity we believe that a house, offers more than just a home – it can increase economic opportunities, alleviate poverty and hunger and make a long term difference to people’s lives.