San Salvador, November 25, 2015 - The fourth edition of the Central Funders Forum took place in Sal Salvador last week with strong calls for decentralization of housing policies. Representatives of NGOs, banks, international cooperation and the United Nations, also discussed the promotion of decent housing for low-income families in the region.

Another aspect that generated consensus among the panelists was the need to understand that the biggest contributor to the problem of housing is poverty, and therefore should understand the different causes and different effects that entails to develop comprehensive approaches to solution.

"In many countries in the region talking to prioritize investment in education and health, which is good but we can´t forget that over 60% of Latin Americans live in crowded conditions. That directly affects the return levels of education policy or health, "said the representative of UN-Habitat in Mexico, Erik Vittrup, who had the opportunity to present information on the methodology of Urban Prosperity Index.

Specialist for Human Development and Social Infrastructure at the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, CABEI, Veronica Ruiz said “it not enough to be given a piece of land to families.

What was important at that time was to enable families to build their homes, and strengthen local governments to provide such technical assistance permanently. " In Central America the trend of migration of families from rural to urban neighborhoods remains.

It continues to generate more pressure to build in a disorderly manner and perpetuate the overcrowding in poor neighborhoods. In this regard, the representative of UN-Habitat agreed with Veronica Ruiz to mention that less than 5% of the funds from the states are destined to housing programs or technical assistance in municipalities.